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Question 1

Define & explain the assumption for social dominance theory

Answer 1

Assumes human societies. are hierarchical in nature.

A theory about the hierarchical nature of societies, how they remain stable, and how more powerful/privileged groups in society maintain their advantage.

Question 2

According to social dominance theory, what 3 methods are used to ensure hierarchies are kept in place?

Answer 2

1. Individual discrimination (groups in power discriminate against subordinate groups)
2. Institutional discrimination (laws & norms preserve the hierarchy)
3. Behavioural asymmetries (respect only shown to dominant groups, emphasizing self-fulfilling prophecies)

Question 3

What is the measure of how much I am worried about losing my dominant status in society?

Answer 3

Social Dominance orientation

Question 4

Define social dominance orientation

Answer 4

A personality trait that corresponds to a person’s support for socio-econoic hierarchy and the belief that different groups should occupy higher and lower positions in society.

Question 5

What does it mean if you score high on the scale of social dominance orientation?

Answer 5

You are really worried about losing your dominant status in society

Question 6

Why do some people who don’t score high on the social dominance orientation scale still let hierarchies and discrimination happen?

Answer 6

Legitimizing myths.

Myths that society is the way it should be; they make unequal treatment seem reasonable and highly desirable. T.ex. that crack cocaine is worse than powder so Black ppl deserve longer prison sentences

Question 7

What’s the issue with strict meritocracy?

Answer 7

Doesn’t take luck & privilege into account

Question 8

How is privilege explained in social dominance theory?

Answer 8

People in hierarchically powerful positions make it easier for members of their own group succeed.

Question 9

Define: just world hypothesis

Answer 9

The belief that people get what they deserve in life and deserve what they get.
e.g. victims of rape being responsible for the consequences

Question 10

Why do we buy into the just world hypothesis?

Answer 10

We want reassurance that if we do everything right we will have a good life; that bad things only happen to bad people

Question 11

How do meritocracies and just world hypothesis support social dominance theory?

Answer 11

The idea that if the everyone who does well will end up in the right place, then we have an excuse to accept the inequalities around us that support hierarchies.

Question 12

Define dehumanization

Answer 12

The attribution of nonhuman characteristics and denial of human qualities to groups.

Question 13

Whats the opposite of dehumanization

Answer 13

Anthropomorphism: the attribution of human traits, feelings, and intentions to nonhuman entities.

Question 14

When are we more likely to anthropomorphize?

Answer 14

When we’re in need on social connection.
When we’re feeling ineffective or helpless.

Question 15

Who and when are we most likely to dehumanise?

Answer 15

-People who do not look like us.
-When we feel a strong connection to our own ingroup & see it as distinct from other groups.
-When we see the world as chaotic & threatening.

Question 16

Define stereotype content model

Answer 16

A model that describes the nature of common group stereotypes, positing that they vary along the two prominent dimensions of warmth and competence.

Question 17

Who is envied and pitied on the stereotype content model?

Answer 17

People high-competence low-warmth are envied (asians)

People low-competence high-warmth are pitied (elderly)

Question 18

What dilemma does the stereotype content model pose for professional women?

Answer 18

To be very competent, you cannot be warm.
To be very warm, you are not perceived as competent.

Question 19

Competitors, allies, higher in status, lower in status. Who do we see as warm vs. competent

Answer 19

competitors = cold
allies = warm
high status = competent
low status = not competent

Question 20

If a country has very high income inequality, how will it perceive low-income people according to the stereotype content model?

Answer 20

high income inequality => poor people seen as more incompetent.

Question 21

Do people think you are moral when you are
-fast/slow at coming to moral decisions
-use intuition/rational deliberation to come to a moral decision

Answer 21

Ppl like ppl who use fast intuition to make their moral decisions.

Question 22

What does it mean to be disadvantaged by commission vs. omission?

Answer 22

commission -> actions that are done to disadvantage

omission -> resources that are lacking that lead to disadvantage.

Question 23

Systemic inequities

Answer 23

Historical or contemporary laws, policies, practices, and norms that advantage some groups and disadvantage others

Question 24

Why are mixed people relatively invisible?

Answer 24

Because they aren’t prototypical members of any of their constituent identity groups.

Question 25

What advantage do Black women have due to their intersectional identities?

Answer 25

When they do not act according to black / female stereotypes, there is less resistance. They can fire people firmly and not be seen as harsh the way white women are.

Question 26

How does language impact stereotypes?

Answer 26

Default language has consequences: it makes it more likely that some things will be present/absent in our minds, which can empower some groups and disadvantage others.

Question 27

Name 3 ways knowledge of someone stereotyping you can affect you

Answer 27

1. attributional ambiguity (being unsure if you were treated that way b/c you fucked up or b/c you’re a minority).
2. stereotype threat (not wanting to confirm the stereotypes)
3. the cost of concealment (trying to deny that you’re part of a minority group, like old people or gay. – linked to stress & physiological bad stuff)

Question 28

Define stereotype threat

Answer 28

The fear of confirming the stereotypes that others have about one another.

Question 29

How does stereotype threat affect women taking math tests?

Answer 29

If women are taking math tests & are reminded that men do better, they do significantly worse.

If women are performing math tests all together, they do better than when doing math tests around men.

Question 30

How does stereotype threat affect black men taking tests?

Answer 30

If they think researchers are developing the test, they perform as well as White men. When they think it is an intelligence test, they do far worse than white men.

Question 31

When do asian women (primed) perform better on math tests [stereotype threat]

Answer 31

when they are reminded of gender they do worse.
when they are reminded of race they do better.

Question 32

Why is cross-group interaction challenging?

Answer 32

-we think the other group doesn’t want to talk to us
-fear that we will ‘step on a land mine’ and talk in a prejudiced way
-stereotype threat.

Question 33

Why do white people perceive racial progress differently from margialized people?

Answer 33

White people: where we were (slavery) to where we are
POC: where we are to where we need to be (equality)

Marley hypothesis: white people know less about the oppression suffered (historically & now) by POC.

Question 34

Marley Hypothesis

Answer 34

The claim that different racial groups make different assessments of the amount of racism in society today because they differ in their knowledge of racial history

Question 35

Availability Heuristic

Answer 35

When people assess the likelihood of something by the ease with which relevant instances come to mind (mental shortcut)

Question 36

How does the availability heuristic explain how people ignore privilege?

Answer 36

It is much easier to think of instances of you facing obstacles than you benefitting from privilege; as such, you are more likely to think of obstacles, and by the availability heuristic, you think obstacles are much more common than they actually are.

Also, privilege often means absence of obstacle, not presence of advantage.