Investigating the impact of structural racism explanations for discriminatory behavior on judgments of the perpetrator.

Abstract

Structural racism has become a household term used in the media and in everyday conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Despite increased discussion of structural racism, people often struggle to understand how structural racism is perpetuated by individuals. We integrate research on moral psychology, social cognition, and intergroup relations to investigate whether structural explanations can lead to reduced perceptions of responsibility and punishment for managers who engage in discriminatory hiring decisions. A field study of health care system employees who perceived discriminatory hiring as originating from structural factors (vs. individual factors) were less likely to hold the hiring manager accountable (Study 1). Explaining discriminatory hiring to participants as due to structural factors (vs. a no-information control condition; Studies 2a, 2b, 2c, and 3) decreased desires to hold the hiring manager accountable. We found evidence that this lessened accountability was due to participants' simultaneous perceptions that the hiring manager was less responsible for the lack of diversity and did not intend to discriminate under a structural racism explanation. However, when the relationship between individual and structural racism was explained, participants were more likely to hold perpetrators of discrimination accountable while allowing for crucial discussions around structural racism (Study 4). This work suggests that Americans may lack a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding structural racism, and that the connections between individuals and structural racism must be explained in order to motivate people to hold perpetrators of discrimination accountable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).