18- Prejudice Flashcards
1- What is prejudice?
- Attitudinal preferences for some individuals over other individuals
based on cultural beliefs about their identity - Public opinion polls show steady decline in negative evaluations of
minority groups after WWII - But racial conflicts only show moderate reduction…
Ex:
George Floyd, increases in anti-asian racism after COVID, Joyce Echaquan
2- Is racial prejudice actually declining?
Measures of Racism
* Early work (pre-1970s) used Old Fashioned Racism Scale:
- “It is a bad idea for blacks and whites to marry one another”
- “It was wrong for the United States Supreme Court to outlaw segregation in its
1954 decision”
* Modern Racism Scale (1970s): Bias expressed in “rationalizable” ways
- “Blacks are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights”
- “Discrimination against Blacks is no longer a problem in the United States”
- “Over the past few years, Blacks have gotten more economically than they
deserve”
There are Decreases in Explicit Racism
Implicit Attitudes Test (IAT)
* Assesses unconscious evaluations of a target group
* Gets around issue of socially desirable responding
* Pro-White bias:
- Slower reaction to selecting “good” when linked with “Black” than when “good” is linked to
“White”
- Slower reaction to selecting “bad” when linked with “White” than when “bad” is linked with “Black”
Dissociation Between Explicit and Implicit Attitudes
Preference for Whites over Blacks:
Implicit for Whites= 0.83
Implicit for Blacks= 0.16
Explicit for Whites= 0.59
Explicit for Blacks= -0.80 (so preference for Blacks)
Why do Blacks Show Pro-White Bias?
* Social standing hypothesis: the IAT reflects the degree to which a group has greater standing in society
- White social status is internalized and reflected in minority groups pro-White bias
3- Does implicit bias predict
prejudicial behaviour?
Does IAT predict behaviour?
* Ability to predict individual behaviour over and above explicit measures is negligible
* IAT shows poor test-retest reliability
* Why?
* IAT scores are influenced by factors other than implicit prejudice
- Explicit bias, ability to process information quickly, mood
* BUT…
* IAT seems to be able to predict behaviour when examined on an aggregate, population level
Implicit Biases and Use of Lethal Force
* Do population-level IAT scores predict use of lethal force against Blacks?
* Method: Data from 2, 156, 053 American residents
* Project Implicit IAT scores
* Averaged over county
* Examined lethal force databases for county
* Accessed population demographic data for each county * Does county level implicit racism predict disproportionate use of force against Blacks?
Results:
* Higher county-level White implicit bias against Blacks predicts more disproportionate use of lethal force with Blacks
4- Is implicit prejudice declining?
- Method: Examined Project Implicit data from over 4 million respondents from 2007-2016
- Examined change in attitudes toward Blacks, homosexuality, age,
disability, and weight
Results:
YES - Both explicit and implicit prejudice against Blacks declined
- Both explicit and implicit prejudice against homosexuality declined
- Explicit age, disability, and weight attitudes became more neutral
- BUT, implicit attitudes for these did not change
5- Dehumanization
Dehumanization
* Attribution of fewer human qualities (traits, emotions, and experiences) to outgroup members compared to oneself or one’s ingroup
Ascent of Man Measure
In America: rated by Americans, lowest in measure= mexican immigrants, arabs and muslims
Consequences of Dehumanization
* Method: Assessed attitudes and behavior towards Arabs in Americans
* Participants completed Ascent of Man Scale
* Results: Dehumanization associated with…
* Support for minimizing Arab immigration (vs. other groups)
* Less compassionate responses to injustice experienced by an Arab person
* Less money donated to an Arab vs. American cause
* Support for Trump
* Support of torture to end terrorist attacks in Middle East
Why does dehumanization happen?
* Hypothesis: Dehumanization is a reaction to feeling threatened by
an outgroup
* Method: Online study conducted within 3 days of Boston Marathon
Attack
* Does dehumanization of Arabs spike after an act of violence perpetrated by an outgroup?
Results: (Boston marathon bombing)
* Suggests that feeling threatened is linked with dehumanization
Why does dehumanization happen?
* Personality also correlated with dehumanization and prejudice:
* Social dominance orientation (SDO) * To what extent do you support hierarchies between social groups (favor
inequality between groups) * “Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups” * “It is unjust to try to make groups equal”
Cycle of Dehumanization
* Being dehumanized can start a vicious cycle of dehumanization and
hostilities between groups
Implications
* An important reason why dehumanization occurs is that people feel that they are dehumanized and threatened by outgroups
* Can this be reversed with feeling like your ingroup is seen as human by an outgroup?
6- How can prejudice be
eliminated?
Being Seen as Human
* Does being seen as human by outgroup decrease dehumanization of
outgroup?
* Method:
* Experimental manipulation: * Humanization prime: Read article claiming that people in Muslim world admire
Americans * Control: No article
* Ascent of Man scale
Results:
* Being seen as human by an outgroup decreases dehumanization toward that
outgroup
Importance of Contact with Outgroups
* Most important factor in reducing prejudice is having interaction with outgroup members * Direct (vs. indirect contact), positive contact most beneficial
* Evidence across 515 studies
Intergroup Contact Quality
* Does intergroup contact also reduce prejudice in prejudice-prone
individuals?
* Method: Sample of White Americans
* Assessed: * Quality of contact with outgroup individual (pleasant, cooperative, sincere) * Various indicators of prejudice * Measured social dominance orientation (SDO)
* Results:
* More quality contact with Black individuals associated with less prejudice
* Less old-fashioned anti-Black racism
* Less racial stereotyping
* Less support for racial profiling
* Not moderated by SDO
- Suggests that intergroup contact reduces prejudice, even in people that are prone toprejudice
