Systemic Neglect of Individual-Structure Interplay: Interlevel Cycles of Invisibility, Ignorance, and Denial Perpetuate Racism

Racism is deeply embedded in American society, yet many Americans fail to recognize its pervasiveness or how interactions between individuals and structures (e.g., policies and institutions) create and sustain it. Among laypeople and perhaps social psychologists, this failure stems from a phenomenon we term “systemic neglect of individual-structure interplay”—a psychological and structural process through which people overlook the dynamic interplay between individual and structural forces that produce and sustain systemic racism. We identify three interconnected mechanisms that perpetuate this neglect: invisibility (failure to perceive systemic racism), ignorance (lack of knowledge and experience), and denial (motivated rejection of racism’s systemic nature). These mechanisms create a self-reinforcing cycle that obscures how structures shape individuals and how individuals reproduce those structures. We propose a framework highlighting these reciprocal influences and the consequences of neglecting them, including widespread misunderstanding of racism, misplaced blame, and ineffective interventions. We outline implications for social psychology, arguing that the field would benefit from greater attention to this interplay, as several researchers and theorists have previously recommended. By illuminating the process of systemic neglect, our framework offers a more comprehensive understanding of racism to laypeople and social-psychological researchers alike and identifies key leverage points for social change.