Success under tokenism: Co-option of the newcomer and the prevention of collective protest

A laboratory analogue of North American intergroup context was used to inve stigate the responses of individuals who succeed in individual upward socia l mobility under conditions of highly restricted boundary permeability (i.e . tokenism). These successful tokens were compared with participants who ei ther (a) succeeded in an open/meritocratic intergroup context, or (b) were forced to remain in the disadvantaged group because of the tokenism restric tion. Although successful tokens recognized the collective injustice of tok enism, their behaviour did not differ from participants who succeeded in th e open/meritocratic condition. Those forced to remain in their disadvantage d position preferred non-normative action (relatively drastic actions known to be inconsistent with the rules of the broader social system), while suc cessful tokens supported only disadvantaged group members who accepted thei r disadvantaged position or took individual normative action. Experiment 2 suggests that successful tokens' lack of support for collective or non-norm ative actions does not result from (a) a failure to identify with the disad vantaged in-group; (b) compliance with perceived advantaged group norms; or (c) individualistic concerns for personal benefits. The present results pr ovide some evidence that tokens shift their identification from the disadva ntaged to the advantaged group. Thus, the consistent lack of support for so cially disruptive action by members of the disadvantaged group may represen t an attempt to support their new in-group-the high-status advantaged group .