This study examines the effect of intergroup inequity on supportive attitudes toward government
policies to reduce this inequity, as well as causal inferences of individual negative results toward
companies in job hunting, focusing on the inequity that results from achieved status. We presented
vignettes depicting a job-hunting situation to undergraduates, followed by an interuniversity inequity
scenario. The results showed that for high in-group identifiers, intergroup inequity enhanced supportive
attitudes toward government policies that address inequity; however, for low in-group identifiers,
intergroup inequity did not influence these attitudes. The results also showed that for high in-group
identifiers, intergroup inequity enhanced causal inferences of individual negative results toward
companies, but for low in-group identifiers, intergroup inequity did not influence the inferences. We
discuss the psychological responses to intergroup inequity from the perspective of achieved status, which
has not been addressed in previous intergroup inequity studies. In addition, we constructed a new model
and expect that future studies will confirm the importance of intergroup inequity and achieved status on
attitudes and causal inferences.
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