Social Psychological Challenges to Sharing Space and Sharing Goals With Diverse Groups

Abstract

In a diverse and unequal society, what pitfalls should we avoid when striving to share space as neighbors and share goals as political allies? In the first paper, I start by considering the current state of the national housing crisis and propose a theoretical framework that identifies cultural barriers to enacting housing solutions. I argue that our existing housing policies and stereotypes are not natural nor benign. Instead, they reflect and perpetuate cherished American values which overlook the multiplicity of ways to live while also exacerbating the dire shortage of housing. This theoretical framework clarifies why policymakers need to consider not just the economic feasibility of housing solutions, but the cultural feasibility as well. Next, in the second paper I investigate the potential psychological harms of a widespread urban phenomenon thought to promote thriving, mixed-income neighborhoods: gentrification. Using a combination of field surveys and controlled online experiments, I demonstrate that gentrification creates psychological disparities by harming lower-income individuals’ sense of belonging to their neighborhoods while boosting higher-income individuals’ belonging. To address this belonging gap, I show that neighborhood investment that reflects a community-driven effort, rather than a profit-driven effort that is typical of gentrification, is significantly more well-received by lower-income individuals. Lastly, in the third paper I examine how prevailing narratives of race and racism may inform flawed strategies for building coalitions between different racial minority groups. I find that among Asian Americans racism is more commonly understood as the relative advantages that White people have over people of color rather than the relative disadvantages Black people have compared to non-Black people. However, a downside of this framework is that it dampens Asian Americans’ perceived responsibility for addressing racism. This suggests that prevailing strategies for building intraminority coalitions, which rely on white supremacy frameworks of racism, may inadvertently shield Asian Americans from recognizing their own complicity in systems of oppression. Collectively, this dissertation identifies how some of our commonly proposed solutions can be incomplete or misguided, and underscores the value of interdisciplinary, applied research into the causes and consequences of inequality.