10. Prejudice and Discrimination Flashcards
Define prejudice.
Attitudes towards members of a Group that is based on only the Group Membership, usually negative
List aspects for which one can be discriminated against.
Diseases Hair Colour Profession Religion Sexual orientation Gender Ethnicity Weight Appearance Gender Physical State
Consequences of Prejudice
MILD - avoiding victims (e.g. fat, disabled People)
STRONG - keeping victims away from Jobs, educational institutions or neighbourhoods
EXTREME - Apartheid, open agression and violence, genocide
What are the components of prejudice?
an AFFECTIVE component
a COGNITIVE component
a BEHAVIOURAL component
Describe what is meant by the affective component of prejudice?
- type of Emotion linked with attitude (Anger, warmth)
- the extremity of the attitude (mild uneasiness, outright hostility)
Describe what is meant by the cognitive component of prejudice.
STEREOTYPE
- identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the Group, regardless of actual Variation among the members
Describe what is meant by the behavioural component of prejudice.
DISCRIMINATION
- the beoliefs/thoughts that make up the attitude
- unjustified negative/harmful Action towards the members of a Group simply because of their Membership of that group
Explain how discrimination is linked to prejudice.
Discrimination is the BEHAVIOUR that is consistent with the attitude prejudice
What study provides evidence for the weakness of the attitude-behaviour link?
LaPiere 1934
- Chinese couple visit more than 200 Restaurants, Hotels and Motels
- served at every single Business
- months later, a questionnaire is sent out to these businesses
- of the 128 replies he obtained 92% said they would NOT accept chinese guests at their establishments
The number of blatant acts of discrimination has decreased sharply. Why is discrimination often avoided?
Situational factors
- laws against it
- norms, social pressure
- fear of retaliation
Rothbart & Hallmark (1988)
- participants played the role of secretary of defense of one of two fictional countries (Takonia or Navalia)
- These two countries engaged in an arms race - their Task was to vote Policy Options with regard to effectiveness of Winning that arms race:
-Policy Options varied from:
MILD: one-sided stop of race plus 20% disarmament
HIGH: build up defense and threaten first strike if other Country does not reduce armament
RESULTS
- subjects viewed coercion as more effective in changing the behaviour of their OPPONENT than in chnaging the behaviour of their own Nation
- People perceive harsh Actions more justified when used on Outgroups than when used on their own in-group
Why is subtle discrimination exercised?
to avoid the Costs of overt discrimination
Name two types of subtle discrimination.
Tokenism, reverse discrimination
Explain Tokenism
— trivial positive Action in favor of the victim of prejudice
— provides an excuse for later negative actions
Reversed discrimination:
Definition and costs?
— behavior is too positive
Costs:
— inflated hopes —> unrealistic expectations —> later disappointment
— subtle strategy to avoid close contact
— envy of competitions
How to measure racial attitudes?
Explicit measures:
— lie detector test (bogus, convinces participants to respond honestly)
Implicit measures:
— stereotype priming (e.g. Payne 2001)
— Implicit Association Test
Theories for the existence of stereotypes/racism
— prejudice als personality trait — scape-goat theory — realistic conflict — social categorization —> the minimal group paradigm — social learning — sociobiological approaches
Prejudice as a personality trait:
The Freudian Perspective
— socialization of children involves a balance between discipline and self-affirmation
— if too much discipline (coerced conformity)
- natural aggression against parents is displaced towards alternative victims
- due to feared consequences of direct aggression to parents
— this leads to the authoritarian personality:
- obedience to authorities
- aggression to those further down the ladder
— rated using F-Scale
Prejudice as a personality trait:
Counterevidence
PETTIGREW 1958
— OPEN RACISM in south africa, yet normal values on F-Scale
— Uniformity of prejudice in some cultures and subgroups of societies
— change is often too fast for the cause of childhood experiences
Scapegoat Theory
Hovland & Sears, 1940
- frustration causes aggression against vulnerable targets
- aggression is driven by emotions, not group goals
The theory of realistic conflict as a cause of prejudice and discrimination
frequently, there is competition for scarce resources
e.g. jobs, status, houses
Consequences:
• negative attitudes towards opponent
• view of one’s own group as morally superior (more deserving)
• tendency to view the other group as a homogenous hostile group
• strong prejudice
Social Categorization as a cause of prejudice
- distinction between ingroup and our group “us” and “them”
- based on race, gender, religion
- affective component -> ingroup favouritism
- outgroup is seen as more homogenous
- the ultimate attribution error
higher entitativity of a group can lead to prejudice. Why?
- norms
- categorical differentiation
- self-interest
- social identity