Chapter 11 - Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

Question 1

1. A) What is stereotyping?

Answer 1

Stereotypes: belief that certain attributes are
characteristic of a group of people * Can be positive, negative, or neutral. COGNITIVE component.

Question 2

1. B) What is prejudice?

Answer 2

An affect-laden judgment/evaluation of a group and its members * Can technically be positive or negative, but typically use term to refer to negative, unfavourable judgments. AFFECTIVE

Question 3

1. C) What is discrimination?

Answer 3

Differential treatment of individuals based on their membership in a particular group * Typically used to refer to negative behaviour directed against a group. BEHAVIOURAL

Question 4

1. D) How can stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination mix?

Answer 4

-Stereotypes can lead to prejudice, or can be used to justify prejudice, which may in turn lead to negative behaviour (i.e., discrimination)
-Attitudes do not always predict behaviour
* Laws, cultural norms, and egalitarian values may prevent people from acting on their prejudices
-Not all instances of discrimination derive from prejudice

Question 5

2. . What is ingroup favouritism? Explain how ingroup favouritism can contribute to discrimination.

Answer 5

While most extreme & violent forms of discrimination driven by prejudicial hatred, in many cases liking for the ingroup (“us) is stronger than dislike of the outgroup (“them”). Thus, many cases of discrimination driven by desire to help member of ingroup rather than hurt member of outgroup

Question 6

3. Describe the evolutionary perspective on outgroup prejudice.

Answer 6

-We tend to prefer the familiar over the unfamiliar (mere
exposure effect)
-Adaptative: * Safest when staying with the group you know
* Predictable, provide protection, share resources
* Outsiders are a potential threat:
* Carry disease
* Can kill or hurt
* Steal precious resources
-Use appearance-based cues of “outsiderness” to identify danger,
trigger ingroup favouritism and cohesion
-Still use appearance-based cues, like skin colour and
other variation in appearance, to identify & avoid
“outsiders”
-Because race is a salient cue, often categorize each
other by race—but ingroup categorization is flexible and
driven by other motivational factors

Question 7

4. A) Describe the Robbers Cave experiment and explain how superordinate goals
   can be used to reduce intergroup conflict. B) Describe the concept of the jigsaw classroom and how it capitalizes on the
   idea of superordinate goals

Answer 7

A) -22 “normal” and similar boys divided into 2 groups during “summer camp”
-Phase 1: Ingroup formation: Groups kept separate from each other, not
aware of each other’s existence
* Given tasks that required co-operative
discussion, planning, & execution
* Developed group norms, leadership & group
structure, attachment to group
* Group activities
* Chose names (the “Eagles” and the
“Rattlers”)
* Made shirts & flags
-Phase 2: Intergroup conflict: competitions between both teams * Increased within-group solidarity
* Negative stereotyping of
the other group
* Hostile intergroup
interactions
-Phase 3: Integration/conflict resolution:
simple contact in noncompetitive setting didn’t reduce hostility
superordinate goals: a goal that transcends the interests of any one group and can be achieved more readily by two or more groups working together.
-3 lessons: 1-no background differences or prior history needed for intergroup hostility to start
2- competition against outsiders increases group cohesion
3-to reduce hostility, work towards common goal
B) teams of 6 students, each student a master of one part of the topic. Teach it to each other. Depend on each other. Working together towards a superordinate goal. Boost academic performances and positive racial and ethnic relationships.

Question 8

5. Describe realistic group conflict theory.

Answer 8

Realistic group conflict theory: Competition for resources can lead to negative intergroup attitudes (Levine & Campbell, 1972)
* Helps explain heightened hostility towards immigrantsduring tough economic times

Question 9

6. Describe the minimal groups paradigm, how participants allocate
   rewards/resources in these studies, and what this paradigm teaches us about
   ingroup favouritism.

Answer 9

Minimal groups paradigm: An experimental paradigm in which 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.
Findings:
-Favoured members of one’s own group over members of other group
-More focused on maximizing difference in outcome between ingroup—outgroup than on maximizing absolute value of ingroup outcome

Question 10

7. A) Describe social identity theory.

Answer 10

The idea that a person’s self-concept and self-esteem derive not only from personal identity and accomplishments, but also from the status and accomplishments of the various groups to which the person belongs.

We want to feel good about ourselves (enhance/maintain selfesteem)
* Social identity theory: derive considerable portion of our selfesteem from the groups with which we identify
* E.g., Montrealers, McGill students, women, Liberals, members
of the Smith family, people who like Kandinsky

Question 11

7. B) Define basking in reflected glory.

Answer 11

We tend to take pride in the group’s
accomplishments even when we
had nothing to do with the group’s
accomplishment.
Can boost self-esteem by
associating with successful groups
* “We won!” vs. ”They lost”

Question 12

7. C) Explain how threats to self-esteem may promote prejudice & discrimination
   (summarize supporting research).

Answer 12

Denigrating outgroups to bolster self-esteem when confronted with self-esteem threats.

Fein & Spencer, 1997
* Recruited non-Jewish American participants
* Two experimental conditions
* Feedback on test of social & verbal skills: positive or negative
* Target to be evaluated: Jewish or non-Jewish
* Ps in self-esteem threatening condition rated woman more negatively if they thought she was Jewish
* The more negatively they evaluated the (purportedly) Jewish American woman, the more their self-esteem increased

Question 13

8. Describe explicit measures of prejudice.

Answer 13

• “I don’t like those people”
• Explicit prejudice is conscious and deliberate
• People who are explicitly prejudiced know that they are
  prejudiced
• Can be measured via self-report (statement + strongly agree to strongly disagree)

Question 14

9. A) Distinguish between “old-fashioned”, traditional prejudice and contemporary
   modern/aversive prejudice
   B) Describe the situations in which modern prejudice is most likely to
   manifest behaviourally (summarize supporting research)

Answer 14

A) Old-fashioned prejudice: “Black people are generally not as smart as white
people”
* “Women are generally not as smart as men”
vs.
“Modern” prejudice: prejudice directed at (ex: racial) groups that exist alongside the rejection of explicitly (ex:racist) beliefs
* “Discrimination against [Black people/women] is no
longer a problem in North America”
* “[Black people/Women] are getting too demanding in
their push for equal rights”
* “Over the past few years, the government and news
media have shown more respect to [Black
people/women] than they deserve

Benevolent “isms”: both negative and positive, acting positively towards member of outgroups ONLY if fulfill idealized image
vs. hostile “isms”

b. ???

Question 15

10. A) Describe implicit measures including the implicit association test, priming
    procedures, and the affect misattribution procedure
    B) What is implicit bias, where does it come from, and what are its
    consequences?

Answer 15

A) IAT: a technique for revealing nonconscious attitudes toward different stimuli, particularly groups of people. whether we group words or images of members of groups with words stereotypically associated faster than with words that contradict stereotypes.
Priming: mental activation to measure prejudices individuals might not know they have or wish to deny. how quickly people recognize real words after seeing face of person of group.
AMP: Measures how people evaluate stimulus. How rate neutral objects after seeing face of person of group.
B) Implicit bias: IAT is thought to tap into the automatic, difficult-tocontrol associations between groups and positivity/negativity
* Associations develop somewhat automatically over the course of
our lifetime
* Exposure to cultural stereotypes (family, media, etc.)
* IAT is picking up the “thumbprint of the culture” on our minds
(Mahzarin Banaji)
* Everyone tends to have it to some degree

World is incredibly vast & overwhelmingly complex
* Our cognitive resources are limited
* Plus, we’re kind of stingy (“cognitive misers”)
* Easier to splice people up into groups to which broad
generalizations apply (vs. the extreme alternative of
treating every single individual as entirely unique and
distinctive)
* Generally helpful—but can lead us to OVERestimate
differences between groups and UNDERestimate
differences within groups

Question 16

11. Define the outgroup homogeneity effect and own-race identification bias;
    explain where these effects come from

Answer 16

Outgroup homogeneity effect: Tendency to assume there is greater similarity of outgroup
members than ingroup members
* “WE are all unique snowflakes, but THEY are all alike”
* Why?
* Less contact with outgroups, less knowledge, less
opportunity to develop complex mental
representations
* When we do interact with outgroup members, tend to
process information about them differently
* Less focus on individuating characteristics

Own-race identification bias: tendency to
be better at recognizing and differentiating
between faces of own race than other races
* Also see effect for age
* Potentially significant social & legal
consequences
* Occurs in part because encode individuating
features of same-race faces, but racespecifying features of cross-race faces
(Hugenburg et al., 2007)
* Effect can be reduced by increasing
motivation to focus on individuating
features

Question 17

12. Define stereotypes, summarize research describing their function (i.e., conservation
    of cognitive resources), and identify situations when we are most likely to rely on
    stereotypes.

Answer 17

Schemas: cognitive structures for organizing
information
* Stereotypes: schemas for social groups
* Quick, convenient summaries of what a group of people is like
Why?
Like all schemas, help us process information more efficiently, conserve cognitive resources
* Recall laundry example
* Macrae et al., 1994:
* Memorize trait terms (e.g., rebellious, dangerous, aggressive) while listening to a lecture on Indonesia
* Ps given stereotype (e.g., skinhead) better able to remember trait terms AND information about
Indonesia

When are we most likely to rely on stereotypes?
When lacking cognitive
resources
* Tired
* Mentally taxed
* Overloaded with information
* Intoxicated
* More likely to fall back on stereotypes when tested at
low point of circadian rhythm (Bartholow et al., 2006)

Question 18

13. Explain how stereotypes can lead to inaccurate and biased assessments of
    individuals.

Answer 18

• Often, have some basis in truth (Jussim, 2015), but that kernel of truth is then exaggerated and can persist long after truth has changed.
• Summaries are quick and convenient, but often lead to error when applied to individuals
  Sometimes, stereotypes are simply incorrect
• E.g., biased, sensationalistic media portrayals
  -Problems with stereotypes arise when they are incorrect, overgeneralized, and when we place too much reliance on them—especially when have opportunity to form more
  individuated impressions
  -Confirmation bias

Question 19

14. Describe how paired distinctiveness may lead to illusory correlations and how
    this relates to stereotypes.

Answer 19

Recall that people sometimes see correlations that do not actually exist (illusory correlations)
* Distinctive events more likely to be noticed &remembered
What is distinctive?
* Minority group members
* What else?
* Negative events

Paired distinctiveness: The pairing of two distinctive events that stand out even
more because they co-occur
* The only Mongolian person you’ve met in your life walkshis 5 pet ferrets every evening in your neighbourhood
* “I guess Mongolians really like ferrets”
* But maybe this particular Mongolian man is just a ferret-loving weirdo

Question 20

15. Explain why stereotypes persist, even in the face of contradictory evidence.

Answer 20

1) Confirmation bias: * Look to confirm our pre-existing hypotheses (in this
case, hypothesis = stereotype)
* Seeking out confirming, but not disconfirming, information
* Also more likely to recall stereotype-consistent information

2) Subtyping:
Stereotype: girls are bad at math
* Disconfirming evidence: Olivia is good
at math
* Option 1: Update stereotype
* Option 2: “Olivia’s not like other girls”
* And so stereotype endures

3) Attribution to intrinsic vs. extrinsic causes
When behaviour confirms the
stereotype
* “Its because girls are bad at math”
(intrinsic explanation)
* When behaviour disconfirms the
stereotype
* “It’s because it was an easy test”
(extrinsic explanation)
* (and stereotype endures)

4) Self-fulfilling prophecies: Our pre-existing expectations can lead us to behave towards
a person in a way that elicits the very behaviour we expected
in the first place
* We create the social reality we expect

Question 21

16. Define stereotype threat, summarize the research on this phenomenon, and
    describe its underlying mechanisms.

Answer 21

• Stereotype threat: fear of acting in a
  manner consistent with stereotypes
  (i.e., confirming stereotypes)

Ex:
* Stereotype: “women are bad at math”
* Make stereotype threat more salient: “men tend to do better on this test” female Ps perform worse compared to male Ps
* Remove stereotype threat: “men and women perform equally well on this test” à female Ps perform as well as male Ps
Asian women particularly interesting case because of competing stereotypes:
* “Women are bad at math”
* Asian people are good at math”
* When gender identity made salient: perform worse
* When Asian identity made salient: perform better
(see other experiments)

• Importantly, don’t need to ENDORSE stereotype to have it be threatening to you
  Possible mechanisms:
• Increased anxiety, physiological arousal, distracting thoughts
• Shift from promotion focus (pursuing success) to prevention
  focus (avoiding failure)
• May make people more likely to “play it safe”, less likely to
  persist, is cognitively taxing
• End result: drain on cognitive resources, difficulty concentrating & thinking à poorer performance

Question 22

17. Explain how attributional ambiguity, stereotype threat, and concealment
    attempts can exact a physical and psychological toll on members of stigmatized
    groups.

Answer 22

Potential consequences:
* Poorer performance
* Quitting
*Concealment (“whistling Vivaldi”)
Real world outcomes:
Physical & mental health
* Professional opportunities & work outcomes (hiring,
firing, salary, promotion)
* Interactions with police
* Outcomes in criminal justice system
* Intergroup conflict and violence

Question 23

18. Describe the conditions under which intergroup contact can help reduce
    stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination

Answer 23

-Superordinate goals
- Equal status between groups
- Broader social norms favour contact
-Involve one-on-one interactions
When most of these conditions are met, intergroup contact effectively reduces prejudice (Pettigrew & Tropp,
2006)

Question 24

19. Describe how positive contact with outgroup members may reduce intergroup
    prejudice

Answer 24

Why?
Reduces anxiety about interacting with outgroup
* Personalization/reduction of outgroup homogeneity
* Increases empathy/perspective taking (extrinsic
attributions)
* Generalization of positive feelings towards the outgroup
* Superordinate identities—our “common humanity”