Chapter 12 Flashcards
What is prejudice?
Hostile attitude toward a group of people, based solely on their membership in that group
Cognitive, affective and behavioural components of prejudice
o Cognitive component: stereotyping
o Affective component: anger, disgust (feelings experienced when think, interact with member of that group)
o Behavioural component: discrimination
Jim Crow Laws
o Racial caste system operating primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states b/w 1877 and mid 1960’s
o Jim crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism
o Overruled by civil right act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965
Causes of Prejudice - Biological?
- Evolutionary psychologists claim that there may be an innate tendency to favor those who are genetically similar to us, and to loathe those who are not.
- Inconclusive – but specifics of prejudice appear to be learned.
Causes of Prejudice - Social Categorization
- We have the tendency to see people as belonging to either our group or another group
- In-group vs. out-group
In-group Bias
- Tendency to evaluate in-group members more favorably than out-group
- The stronger one’s group identity, the stronger the denigration of the out-group – boosts self-esteem (only when identity is threatened and self-esteem is low
Out-group Homogeneity Bias
- Tendency to believe those in the out-group are very similar to one-another, while in-group members are very heterogeneous
Prejudice Reduction - Social Identity
- Make salient the superordinate group to which both the in- and the out-group members belong
- Causes a shift in focus from specific group to broader group that includes members of out-group
Prejudice Reduction - Self-Esteem
- Provide alternate routes to self-esteem
- Engaging in self-affirmation reduces the need to derogate members of the out-group
Prejudice Causes - Stereotype
- Stereotyping is at the root of prejudice; and whether negative stereotypes are activated depends on two factors:
1) the motivation to control prejudice
2) the need for self-enhancement
Motivation to control prejudice
- Stereotyping is an automatic process
- To counteract the stereotype that is activated, you must engage in controlled processing
- This requires effort and attention, therefore you must be motivated to want to avoid being prejudiced
Need for self-enhancement
- Factor affecting whether a negative stereotype will be activated is if doing so boosts self-esteem
- Good evaluation = stereotype inhibition
- Bad evaluation = stereotype activation
Example:
- Positive interaction with black doctor will activate positive stereotype of Dr.
- Negative interaction with black doctor will activate negative stereotype of black people
Prejudice Causes: Meta-Stereotypes
- The stereotypes we believe others hold towards our group
- The more we believe an outgroup holds stereotypes about us, the higher our prejudice towards that group
Prejudice causes - Mood
- Evaluate out-group members more favourably when in a good mood than when in a bad mood
Prejudice causes - ultimate attribution error
- negative behaviours of out-group = internal
- positive behaviours of out-group = external
STUDY: Gender and success
- When women succeed b/c of hard work, when fail b/c not capable
- When men succeed b/c capable, when fail b/c didn’t try hard enough, bad luck
STUDY: Kids gender and IQ tests
- when boys did good because ability when bad; bad luck
- when girls did good because good luck, fluke; when bad because lack of ability
STUDY: Native and White children’s perspectives on success
- White kids said successes were internal and failures external
- Native kids said successes were external and failures internal