Understanding Interpersonal Manifestations of “Reverse Discrimination” Through Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

This article reports on a study that explores the ways individuals describe being the targets of ‘reverse discrimination’—times when those traditionally discriminated against turn the tables against majority group members. Using an inductive, phenomenological form of inquiry, the study examines 104 narratives of ‘reverse discrimination’ (based on race, gender, age, and sexual orientation) collected as part of a larger study on uncertainty in oppressive forms of communication. Five essential themes are explicated: (1) being an (innocent) target; (2) discrimination due to cultural norm violations; (3) shifting power dynamics; (4) a case of mistaken identity; and (5) effects of reverse discrimination. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study, as well as implications for future research.

Keywords:

• Reverse Discrimination
• Affirmative Action
• Race
• Sex
• Age
• Phenomenology

Notes

1. Although it has garnered little media attention, reverse discrimination based on age has also drawn legal challenges. Initially, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1974 was designed to protect “older persons” (40 and older).

2. A copy of the complete survey instrument is available from the first author.

3. Bracketing involves a process through which researchers acknowledge and set aside their conscious experience with the phenomena under examination (Lanigan, 1979). In terms of this particular study, we discussed our preconceived ideas of how the participants would describe “reverse discrimination” as a means of pre-reflective bracketing (Nelson, 1989). As our phenomenological reduction and analysis took form, these set-aside perceptions were—at times—strategically utilized as a means to invoke a hermeneutic spiral of intellectualist and radical reflection (Merleau-Ponty, 1968).

4. Imaginative-free variation is crucial of accomplishing a phenomenological reduction (Lanigan, 1979). Within the context of our study, this involved a constant state of self-reflexivity where the essential elements of the narratives were compared and contrasted through one basic query: What patterns emerge when you attempt to imagine the phenomena with or without each thematic insight? (Orbe, 2000). This process was instrumental as our analysis reduced the large number paradigmatic themes into five syntagmatic themes.