ch.9

Question 1

realistic conflict theory

Answer 1

Proposes that people dislike members of outgroups because their ingroup is competing with the outgroup for resources.
People are motivated by a desire to maximize the rewards they receive in life, even if that means taking those away from other people.
Competition leads to conflict between groups.
Results in prejudice against members of competing groups.
(Sheriff summer camp study)

Question 2

social identity theory

Answer 2

Social identity
The part of a person’s self-concept that derives from membership in groups that are important to the person.
People who identify with groups feel that what happens to the group is happening to them as well.
People have multiple social identities.
Social identity theory
People are motivated to develop and maintain social identities that clearly set their groups apart from other groups and that are positive.

Question 3

social identity and intergroup bias

Answer 3

Minimal group paradigm
Standard set of research procedure that creates artificial ingroups and outgroups based on minimally important, or artificial, differences between groups.
Ingroup bias
People’s bias in favor of members of their own group.

Question 4

factors that influence social identity

Answer 4

Five factors appear to affect which social identities are active:
Self-categorization
Need for optimal distinctiveness
Threat to the group
Chronic social identities
Individual differences

Question 5

self categorization

Answer 5

Motives for self-categorization:
Differentiation from outgroups motivates self-categorization.
Distinctiveness – extent to which a person feels that he or she differs along some dimension from other people.
Need for certainty motivates self-categorization.
Identifying with a group provides clear norms for structuring beliefs and guiding behavior.

Self-categorization results in an increase of social identity and a decrease of personal identity.
Group identity, group goals, and the influence of other group members become more important.
Self-stereotyping
Group members view themselves in terms of the stereotypes they have of their group.

Question 6

self categorization

Answer 6

People who _______________________ to join a group have a stronger social identity for that group than people who are ______________________________ a group.
People join groups that have attitudes and values similar to their own.
Once people make a choice, they tend to be committed to that choice and to see it in positive terms.

Question 7

optimal distinctiveness

Answer 7

Optimal distinctiveness theory holds that people are more likely to identify with groups that provide the most satisfying balance between personal identity and group identity.

Question 8

threat to the group

Answer 8

Events that threaten the well-being of the group generate stronger _____________________________________ with the group.
Reminders of threat can cause ingroup identification to increase.
Ex. Americans and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Question 9

chronic social identities

Answer 9

Chronic Identities
Identities that are always with us, regardless of the situation.
May be especially important for members of minority groups.

Question 10

individual differences

Answer 10

personal characteristics can also influence social identity.
personality
ideology
Some people may have a predisposition to identify more strongly with the groups to which they belong independent of any situational factors.

Question 11

relative deprivation theory

Answer 11

How do people become dissatisfied with some aspect of their lives and how do they react?
Relative deprivation theory proposes that people become dissatisfied if they:
Compare their current situation to a past situation or compare themselves to other people in their situation
Feel that they lack some resource that they deserve to have – Relative deprivation
If people blame another group for causing the deprivation, they come to dislike that group and its members.

Question 12

relative deprivation, dissatisfaction, resentment

Answer 12

People feel dissatisfied and deprived when their current outcome is lower than the standard they used to compare.
These feelings are relative to the standard they used to compare.
personal experience of past outcomes
social comparison from other’s outcomes

Question 13

distributed justice, procedural justice

Answer 13

Distributed justice – perception that outcomes are being distributed on the expected basis that people who deserve more get more, or on an unfair basis.
Can lead to dissatisfaction and resentment.
Procedural justice – the fairness of the process by which rewards are distributed.
High procedural justice can reduce dissatisfaction and resentment.
Dissatisfaction and resentment may lead to hostility toward the group perceived to be benefiting at one’s expense.

Question 14

personal, group relative deprivation

Answer 14

Personal (or egoistic) relative deprivation –
The degree to which a person feels deprived as an individual.
Group (or fraternal) relative deprivation –
The degree to which a person feels that a group he or she identifies with has been deprived of some benefit.
Group relative deprivation has been found to be related to prejudice whereas personal relative deprivation has not.

Question 15

relative gratification

Answer 15

The perception that things are getting better.
People who experience relative gratification also express more prejudice (along with people who experience relative deprivation).
Justify their relatively advantaged position by holding negative beliefs about outgroups.

Question 16

frustration- aggression-dipslacemnt theory

Answer 16

Frustration causes aggression.
The preferred target of aggression is the cause of the frustration.
If that is not possible, aggression will be displaced onto a more readily available target.
Research has failed to provide strong support.
Cannot explain why…
Individual frustration should result in scapegoating of groups and in group action.
Some outgroups are chosen as scapegoats while others are not.

Question 17

hate group membership

Answer 17

Hate Group
An organization whose central principles include hostility toward racial, ethnic, and religious minority groups.
Most espouse White racial supremacy and advocate the segregation or deportation of minority groups.
Despite violent rhetoric, the groups rarely initiate violent activities.
Want to project an image of people who prefer to disagree peacefully with government racial policy but who are also willing to engage in armed defense of what they see as their rights.

Question 18

why people join hate groups

Answer 18

Factors that lead people to accept the idea of joining a hate group:
racial attitudes – recruits hold everyday racist attitudes and socialized to hold extraordinary racist attitudes.
Everyday racism or cultural racism – assumptions inherent in American culture that the only correct social and cultural values are European Christian values.
Extraordinary racism – extreme racism

A search for solutions to philosophical and practical problems
Hate groups seem to provide answers and meaning to life.
Members are motivated to make the world a better place.
Youthful rebellion against established authority
Allure of violence, especially for young men
Gender – most members are men
Groups promote traditional gender roles and male leadership and dominance.

Question 19

myths about hate groups

Answer 19

Myths concerning hate group members
Stereotyped as poor and uneducated
Many members are middle-class and reasonably well educated.
The psychological functions of group membership
Membership serves as a function to relieve their fears, provide comradeship, reassuring activities, and social networks.

Question 20

recruiting for hate groups

Answer 20

Recruiting Hate Group Members
Most people who join are recruited through contacts with current members; do not seek the group out.
Recruiter gains the person’s trust and respect and feels out the potential new member for receptivity to the group’s ideology through a gradual process.
Group functions often have an appearance of normalcy.

Question 21

group socialization

Answer 21

socialization process
Hate groups socialize new members through formal and informal education and participation in rituals.
The process can be reinforced by isolating members from opposing viewpoints from family and friends outside the group.
The outcomes of socialization
Membership changes one’s self-concept and thoughts about the world.

Question 22

leaving the group

Answer 22

Hate group membership is very unstable.
Two factors:
Disenchantment with the group’s ideology or tactics
Can come from negative effects on members’ lives, loss of faith in ideology, and concern over group extremism.
The pull of social relationships outside the group
Having a rewarding relationship outside the group increases the likelihood the person will leave if group membership is not rewarding.