Chapter 11: Stereotyping, Discrimination, and Prejudice

Question 1

define stereotype

Answer 1

belief that certain attributes are characteristics of members of a particular group (beliefs/cognitions)

Question 2

define prejudice

Answer 2

attitudinal and affective response towards a group and its members (attitudes)

Question 3

define discrimination

Answer 3

favorable or unfavorable behavior directed toward a group and its members (behavior)

Question 4

what is the Modern Racism Job Study?

Answer 4

Participants filled out an attitudes towards black scale, then rated a sample of job applicants, who were
-Black or white
-Excellent, terrible or mixed
Results:
Excellent or terrible: no differences in ratings between applicants
Mixed: white applicants were rated better when applicants had mixed qualities
Modern racism is suppressed when a behavior would make you look clearly “racist”
-Ex: rejecting a black applicant who is excellent, accepting a white applicant who is terrible
But it emerges when racist behavior can be masked
Ex: rejecting a black applicant who has mixed qualities, accepting a white applicant who has mixed qualities

Question 5

what is the Modern Racism Bystander Study ?

Answer 5

White participants see either a white or black person who needs medical assistance
Participants are either alone or with other people
If participants are alone, they aid black person (94%) slightly more than white person (81%)
If participants are with others, they aid white person (75%) much more than black person (38%)

Question 6

define Implicit Association test

Answer 6

technique for revealing unconscious attitudes toward different stimuli

Question 7

define affect misattribution procedure

Answer 7

measures how people evaluate stimulus

Question 8

what is the stimulus evaluation study?

Answer 8

Participants shown image of a target group
Participants then shown neutral image
If people have negative associations with the target group, those associations should transfer onto the neutral image

Question 9

define realistic group conflict theory

Answer 9

when groups compete for limited resources (ex: territory, jobs, power), these groups experience conflict, prejudice, and discrimination

Question 10

define ethnocentrism

Answer 10

glorifying one’s group while vilifying other groups

Question 11

how did researchers try to reduce hostility in the Robbers Cave Experiment?

Answer 11

Attempt #1: non-competitive interaction
-Had groups interact without competition
-Hostility did not dissipate
Attempt #2: cooperative tasks
-Groups given superordinate goals-tasks that could only be done by both groups working together
-Hostility declined
-Rewards were shared

Question 12

what were the takeaways from Robber’s Cave experiment?

Answer 12

Intergroup hostility can develop from arbitrary differences
Intergroup hostility is not dependent on extreme traits
Competition against outsiders increases hostility
Intergroup hostility can be reduced through common goals

Question 13

define minimal group paradigm

Answer 13

researchers create groups based on arbitrary and seemingly meaningless criteria and then examine how the members of these minimal groups are inclined to behave toward one another
-people prefer their groups, even if they mean nothing

Question 14

define social identity theory

Answer 14

A person’s self-concept and self-esteem are partially derived from ingroup status and accomplishments

Question 15

define basking in reflected glory

Answer 15

taking pride in accomplishments we feel associated with in some way

Question 16

what is the Jewish job application study?

Answer 16

Researchers told half the participants they had performed poorly on a intelligence test
Non-jewish participants watched videotaped interview of job applicant
Half the participants told the candidate was Jewish
Participants who had done poorly on the test and were told candidate was Jewish rated candidate more poorly
These participants experiences a self-esteem increase

Question 17

what is the black doctor study?

Answer 17

Non-black participants received either praise or criticism from a white or black doctor
Participants identified whether a string of letters was a word
Participants who had been criticized by a black doctor were quick to recognize black stereotype words (rap, jazz)
Participants who had been praised by a black doctor were quick to recognize doctor stereotype words (hospital, prescription)

Question 18

what is the morning vs night study?

Answer 18

Participants came into the lab early in the morning or late at night
They identified themselves as “morning people” or “night people”
Read scenarios in which the main character belonged to different groups (e.g: the character was an athlete), and is accused of engaging in an undesirable behavior (e.g: cheating on a test)
Participants at the “low point” of their circadian rhythms (e.g: “night people” were there in the AM or “morning people” were there in the PM) were more likely to rely on stereotypes when making their judgements
Example: “night people” tested in the morning were more likely to say that an athlete cheated

Question 19

what is the use of stereotypes study?

Answer 19

Participants performed two tasks simultaneously: 1) formed an impression of a hypothetical person described by certain traits 2) watched a recorded lecture about Indonesia then took a quiz on lecture
Half the participants had stereotypes accompanying the first task, other half had only trait terms
Stereotype group found first task easier and did better on second task
–Stereotypes allow us to free up cognitive resources to spend on other tasks

Question 20

what is the hannah study?

Answer 20

Participants watched one of two videos about fourth-grader names Hannah
Video 1: hannah is upper middle-class with professional parents
Video 2: hannah is working class with poorer parents
All participants watched Hannah answer test questions: Hannah had a mixed response. Some right, some wrong on tests
Upper-middle class group said Hannah did better than average, working class group said Hannah did worse than average
–Stereotypes can create biased assessments and self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 21

define illusory correlations

Answer 21

seeing correlations that are not present but seem to be because distinctive events are more memorable

Question 22

define paired distinctiveness

Answer 22

two distinct events together stand out even more than they would separately
–a man dressed as a parrot robbing McDonalds

Question 23

what is the paired distinctiveness study?

Answer 23

Participants viewed a series of 39 slides, each describing a positive or negative action by someone in “Group A” or “Group B”
–“John, a member of Group A, visited a sick friend in the hospital.”
–“Bill, a member of Group B, always talks about his own problems.”
Group B was the minority group, meaning they showed up much less (1/3) than Group A (2/3) in the slides
Afterwards, participants were given a list of the behaviors, asked which group had done it.
Results: Group B was slightly overrepresented for positive actions and highly overrepresented for negative actions

Question 24

define biased information processing

Answer 24

we remember events that fit into our existing stereotypes better

Question 25

what is the pushing study?

Answer 25

White participants watch video of two men – one black, one white – interacting
One man pushes the other
If white man pushes black man, participants more likely to code interaction as “playing around”
If black man pushes white man, participants more likely to code interaction as “aggressive behavior”

Question 26

what is the white-black applicant study?

Answer 26

White participants interviewed white and black job applicants (confederates)
Participants sat further away from black applicants, seemed uncertain, and ended interviews earlier

Question 27

define subtyping

Answer 27

explaining away exceptions to a given stereotype by creating a subcategory of the stereotyped group that can be expected to differ from the group as a whole

Question 28

define outgroup homogeneity effect

Answer 28

tendency for people to assume that within-group similarity is much stronger for outgroups than ingroup
-(thinking groups that aren’t your group is similar to each other but yours id diverse)

Question 29

what is the Princeton and Rutgers homogeneity study?

Answer 29

Princeton and Rutgers students watched a videotape of another student making a simple decision, e.g., whether to “listen to rock or classical music”
Taped student was either from Princeton or Rutgers
Asked: “What percent of students from the same university as the student in the video would make the same choice”
Results: Ps make higher % estimates when viewing members of the other university
People see more ingroup variability of habit and opinion than the outgroup

Question 30

what is the shooting study?

Answer 30

In simulation, participants more likely to fail to shoot armed white men than accidentally shoot unarmed white men
Participants more likely to shoot unarmed black men than fail to shoot armed black men

Question 31

what is the police officer’s dilemma study?

Answer 31

Participants played a videogame in which they moved through a virtual building.
At unpredictable points, a person would pop out from behind an obstacle.
Some were white, some were black
Some held a gun, some held a neutral object -
Participants had to shoot as quickly as possible if the target was armed, and not do anything if he wasn’t
RESULTS: people were more likely to accidentally shoot unarmed black targets than unarmed black targets
-people were more likely to FAIL to shoot armed white targets than armed black targets

Question 32

define attributional ambiguity

Answer 32

members of stigmatized groups may be uncertain if the treatment they receive is due to themselves personally or due to their group membership

Question 33

what is the mirror and self-esteem study?

Answer 33

White and Black participants were given either positive or negative feedback
Half participants thought the other person could see them through a one-way mirror, half participants thought no one was watching them
White participants: Self-esteem increased after positive feedback, decreased after negative feedback, no matter what they thought.
Black participants: Self-esteem changed only if they thought the other person could not see them.

Question 34

how does stereotype threat undermine performance?

Answer 34

1) Increased arousal –> Poorer performance on complex tasks
2) Distraction –> Impairs concentration on the task
3) Elicits negative thinking –> Undermine performance, focus on avoiding failure

Question 35

define contact hypothesis

Answer 35

idea that prejudice would be reduced if members of minority and majority group were placed in frequent contact
-sounds good, but doesn’t work: Robber’s Cave experiment
cooperation only works with mutual goals