Chapter 12: Prejudice

Question 1

T/f : prejudice is an attitude

Answer 1

true

Question 2

what is prejudice

Answer 2

a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their membership to that group

Question 3

stereotype

Answer 3

a generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to ALL members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members.

Question 4

hostile sexism

Answer 4

holding negative steriotypes of women; women are inferior to men because they are inherently less intelligent

Question 5

benevolent sexism

Answer 5

holding positive stereotypes of women; women are kinder than men, more empathic etc

affectionate but patronizing. benevolent sexists see women as good mothers, and want to protect them when they do not need to be protected

Question 6

T/F: advertisements for jobs in a male-dominated area contain stereotypically masculine words than advertisements for jobs in a female dominated field

Answer 6

true.
ex/ electrician job postings: competitive, dominate
ex/ nurse job postings: support, understand.

Question 7

why does wording of job ads in terms of gender stereotypes have a subversive effect of maintaining gender inequality in our society?

Answer 7

because when jobs were posted using masculine wording, women were reluctant to apply. not because they felt they did not have the skill, but because they felt that they would not belong in that work environment.

Question 8

benefit of stereotypes

Answer 8

knowledge of stereotypes allows us to make quick, efficient, judgements, thereby saving cognitive energy

Question 9

discrimination

Answer 9

unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because of his or her membership in that group.

Question 10

modern racism

Answer 10

outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes in order to avoid being labeled as racist, sexist, or homophobic.

Question 11

when do modern racists “reveal” their prejudice?

Answer 11

when the situation becomes “safe” or their inhibitions are shed as a result of alcohol or stress.

Question 12

proof of modern racists

Answer 12

participants rated various ethnic groups much more positively when an experimenter was in the room than they did when alone in the room or completing the same scale over the Internet.

Question 13

T/F when the performance was poor, participants attributed more negative characteristics to the black speaker than to the white speaker. when the speakers performed well, participans bent over backward to show that they were not prejudiced and rated the black speaker even more positively than the white speaer.

Answer 13

true. modern racists are more likely to negatively associate poor behavior to intrinsic traits of a minority group.

Question 14

how has the implicit association test led to the conclusion that white people have an unconcious prejudice towards blacks

Answer 14

whites take longer to repsond to black faces associated with positive words, than to black faces associated with negative words.

Question 15

problems with the implicit association test IMT

Answer 15

1) familiarity effect; people might just rate some peopl ehigher because they are just familiar wiht people of their own race
2) IATs may make people aware of their prejudices, causing them to be more uncomfortable and less friendly when engaging with members of the other race

Question 16

method of assessing racism less directly

Answer 16

modern racism scale.

asking indirect questions ex/ minorities are getting too demanding in their push for special rights.

Question 17

method of subtley assessing sexism

Answer 17

neosexism scale. they ask respondents to indicate how much they agree with statements such as “women will make more progress by being patent and not pushing too hard for change.”

Question 18

method of subetly assessing anti-gay prejudice

Answer 18

modern homonegativity scale

Question 19

first step in prejudice

Answer 19

creation of groups based on certain characteristics.

Question 20

in group bias

Answer 20

we evaluate members of our same group more positively than out group members. outgroup members are often seen as possessing negative traits and are often disliked.

Question 21

when is the tendency to discriminate against an outgroup heightened even further?

Answer 21

it is even stronger when people have chosen the group rather than being randomly assigned to it.

thu, the effects of in group bias are likely to be even stronger in every day life than in lab studies, where they assign people to random groups

Question 22

why do we show in group bias

Answer 22

1) belonging to a group gives us a social identity

2) having a social identity contributes to feelings of self esteem

Question 23

T/F: people who strongly identify with a group would be more liekly to favour their group than people whose identification with a group is weaker.

Answer 23

true.

participants who highly identify with being canadian were more likely to recall good deeds done by Canadians, and less likely to recall bad deeds.

Question 24

threats to identity cause people to ___ ___ ____s and become even more protective of the in group

Answer 24

CIRCLE THEIR WAGONS.

ex/ canadians who strongly identify as being nationalistic were more likely to endorse actions to protect canada’s sovereignty than those who identified more weakly with being canadian.

Question 25

T/F: the more strongly one identifies with one’s own groups, the more likely one is to discriminate against an out group

Answer 25

true. even more, the more these participants discriminated, the more they liked being a member of their group.

Question 26

individuals who discriminate against the out group showed higher levels of ___ - ____ than did those who were not given the chance to discriminate

Answer 26

individuals who discriminate against the out group showed higher levels of SELF ESTEEM than did those who were not given the chance to discriminate

Question 27

how does self esteem play a role towards in group bias

Answer 27

if we are feeling defensive and threatened, we are more likely to engage in discrimination than if our self-esteem is in good shape.

Question 28

people gain social identity benefits by dividing the world into ___ and ___. Further, people can boost their self esteem by _____ against the out group

Answer 28

people gain social identity benefits by dividing the world into “US” and “THEM”. Further, people can boost their self esteem by DISCRIMINATING against the out group

Question 29

methods of ATTEMPTING to reduce prejudice even when people are gaining social identity benefits

Answer 29

1) change people’s perceptions of us and them
2) make salient the superordinate group to which members of both groups belong ex/ describing the holocaust as “humans killing humans” rather than “germans killing jews” make participants more willing to forgive and assign less guilt to MODERN germans

3) provide people with an alternative route to self esteem, so they won’t have to step on others. people are less likely to respond defensively when confronted with their discriminatory actions if they are affirmed by writing about an important value or if someone affirms them (boosts their self esteem)

essentially, if you want to reduce prejudice against stigmatized groups, remind ingroup members of our common identity as human beings.

Question 30

describe the stereotype activation study involving african americans.

Answer 30

in a study, participants saw photographs of black and white faces. next they were asked to identify, as quickly as possible, objects that were shown on a computer screen. participants who had seen pictures of black faces were MORE LIEKLY TO MISIDENTIFY A TOOL AS A GUN.

in a shooting study, it was found that participants were especially likely to pull the trigger when the people in the pictures were black, whether or not they were holding a gun. —> SHOOTING BIAS

Question 31

how can physical environment trigger automatic thinking about race and crime

Answer 31

negative stereotypes for blacks came to ming more quickly for participants who were in a dark room, compared to participants who were seated in a brightly lit room.

also, participants who associated black men with those who held the same stereotype but were in an open field were more likely to show escape or flight responses.

people are likely to have more prejudices when they are feeling UNSAFE.

Question 32

for people who are not deeply prejudice,____ processes can suppress stereotypes

Answer 32

controlled processes. ex/ “hey that stereotype isn’t fair, i’m not going to buy into it”

Question 33

two step model of cognitive processing of stereotypes/prejudice

Answer 33

1) the automatic processing brings up info (stereotypes)

2) controlled processing can refute or ignore it.

Question 34

how does motivation control prejudice

Answer 34

people who are high in motivation to CONTROL prejudice inhibited the APPLICATION of stereotypes

Question 35

describe stereotype activation and self esteem

Answer 35

people may activate stereotypes to boost their selfesteem, but the might also DIMINISH STEREOTYPES TO ENHANCE THEIR SELFESTEEM.

ex/ participants who received negative feedback from a black manager geneated more racial words than did those who received negative feedback from a white manager. BUT: participants who received postive feedback from a black manager generated LESS ractial words than did participants who received positive feedback from a white manager.

therefore, self esteem can be a mechanism for both stereotype activation AND INHIBITION.

essentially, “they’re fine if they praise me, but incompetent if she criticised me”

Question 36

we pick and choose which stereotypes to activate or inhibit depending on what will produce the greatest ___ ____

Answer 36

self enhancement

ex/ when black doctors delivered praise, the doctor stereotype is activated, to bolster their desired positive impression of the person, and the black stereotype is inhibited.

when the black doctor delivered criticism, the black stereotype is activated, and the doctor stereotype is pushed out of their minds.

Question 37

meta-stereotype

Answer 37

a person’s beliefs regarding the stereotype that out group members hold about their own group.

ex/ I believe white people think philipinos have FOB tendencies

Question 38

why are metastereotypes detrimental when trying to empathize with the outgroup

Answer 38

if you try to see the outgroup from their perspecitves, you might think of all the meta stereotypes that the outgroup perceives your group to be, and you might become even more prejudice if you try to take the outgroups perspective because of the meta-stereotypes.

Question 39

where do meta-stereotypes come form?

Answer 39

we project our own prejudice onto other groups and therefore assume that they also dislike us.

Question 40

sometimes we encounter a person that may be so contrary to our stereotype that it is impossible to interpret the person’s behavior in stereotype-consistent terms. what do we do?

Answer 40

create a small category of “exceptions”

Question 41

when will a person modify their stereotypic beliefs?

Answer 41

when they are provided with numerous “exceptions”

Question 42

the _____ elicited by a particular group are the most important determinant of our level of prejudice

Answer 42

emotions

Question 43

____ was the best predictor of attitudes for the groups toward whcih participants were the LEAST PREJUDICEd, and ____ beliefs best predicted attitudes for the groups toward which participants were MOST PREJUDICED.

Answer 43

EMOTION was the best predictor of attitudes for the groups toward whICh participants were the LEAST PREJUDICEd, and SYMBOLIC beliefs best predicted attitudes for the groups toward which participants were MOST PREJUDICED.

Question 44

the more ____ emotion people expect to feel while interacting with members of another group, the greater their ___ toward the group

Answer 44

the more NEGATIVE emotion people expect to feel while interacting with members of another group, the greater their PREJUDICE toward the group– REGARDLESS whether their group is in a majority or minority position

Question 45

how does mood influence prejudice?

Answer 45

participants in a bad mood described various ethnic groups in more negative terms than did those who were in a good or neutral mood.

Question 46

funamental attribution error

Answer 46

leaping to the conclusion that a person’s behavior is due to his or her personality and not the situation or the person’s life circumstances.

Question 47

ultimate attribution error

Answer 47

our tendency to make dispositional attributions about the entire group of people.

Question 48

when people conform to a stereotype, we tend to blindourselves to clues about why they behaved as they did. instead, we assume that their behavior is deu to something about their _____, and not their situation of life circumstance

Answer 48

when people conform to a stereotype, we tend to blind ourselves to clues about why they behaved as they did. instead, we assume that their behavior is deu to something about their CHARACTER, and not their situation of life circumstance

EX/ if a native child performed well on the task (out of character for a stereotype), we attribute it to external factors (ex/ test was too easy). Biut if a native child performed poorly on the task (stereotypical), we attribute it to the character of “natives” (ultimate attribution error; he performed poorly because he isn’t intelligent/isn’t a hardworker)

Question 49

realistic conflict theory

Answer 49

the theory that limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in increased prejudice and discrimination.

EX/ as unemployment (jobs are a scarce resource) rate increased, so did negative attitudes towards immigration

Question 50

according to the realistic conflict theory, prejudice may arise when we perceive that our group may miss out on a limited ____, and when we perceive that another group is ____ with us for it.

Answer 50

according to the realistic conflict theory, prejudice may arise when we perceive that our group may miss out on a limited RESOURCE, and when we perceive that another group is COMPETING with us for it.

Question 51

how can you reduce prejudice caused by realistic conflict?

Answer 51

by making the two groups experience interdependence; a situation in which two or more groups need each oterh and must depend on each other to accomplish a superordinate goal. foster COMMON GOALs.

ex/ rattlers vs eagles boy scout troops hated each other bc the rattlers always got to eat first, leaving scraps for the eagles (food was the scarce resource), but then they had to work together to pull a bus up the hill, and they were forced to put aside their hostile feelings towards one another.

Question 52

injunctification

Answer 52

a motivated tendency to see the status quo (the way things are) as the most desirable state of affairs ( the way things should be).

Question 53

when does injunctification occur

Answer 53

this effect is most likely to occur when people are motivated to justify the current system. ex/ we don’t need feminism

Question 54

when people are highly motivated to justify their systems (under system threat ex/ someone is criticizing their status quo), they are more likely to___ ___

Answer 54

ENDORSE STEREOTYPES.

ex/ men who were given info that threatened their faith in the federal government system were more attracted to a woman who was described using terms and phrases that reinforce geder equality (the men are going through injunctification)

Question 55

3 clusters of attitudes that encapsulates Right-Wing Authoritarianism

Answer 55

1) authoritarian submission (high degree of submissino to authority figures in society)
2) authoritarian aggression ( aggression directed toward groups that are seen as legitamate targets by authority figures)
3) conventionalism (high degree of conformity to the rules and conventions that are established by authority figures.

Question 56

how can you reduce prejudice against gay people by the right winged authoritarians?

Answer 56

1) to create AWARENESS that attitudes generally have come more positive toward the gay and lesbian community.

when right wing authoritarians are shown that their attitudes are more negative than other people’s, they tend to change them because conformint to social norms is important to them (conventionalism; a high degree of conformity to the rules and conventions that are established by authority figures, is important to right winged authoritarians.

2) to encourage interactions with members of the out groups.

Question 57

religious fundamentalism

Answer 57

the belief in the absolute and literal truth of one’s religious beliefs. they are convinced that their religion is the right one and that the forces of evil are constantly threatening to undermine the truth

Question 58

while religious fundamentalism is correlated with prejudice, religious ___ is not.

Answer 58

while religious fundamentalism is correlated with prejudice, religious QUEST is not.

religious quest: those who have flexible, open and questioning orientation to religion.

Question 59

3 core individual differences that influence prejudice levels

Answer 59

1) right wing authoritarianism
2) religious fundamentalism
3) social dominance orientation.

Question 60

social dominance orientation

Answer 60

high SDO believes that groups of people are inherently unequal and that it is acceptable for some groups in society to benefit more than others.

Question 61

T/F: people who are high in social dominance orientation are more likely to make unethical decisions

Answer 61

true.

Question 62

how does sexism in engineering affect female engineers

Answer 62

self fulfilling prophecy.

sexist behavior activates the stereotype that women are not very good at math and engineering, and that anxiety about confirming this negative stereotype interfered with the women’s performance.

Question 63

stereotype threat

Answer 63

the apprehension experienced by members of a minority group that they might behave in a manner that confirms an existing cultural stereotype

ex/ “if i perform poorly on this test, it reflects poorly on my race”

Question 64

effects of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination

Answer 64

1) self fulfilling prophecy

2) stereotype threat

Question 65

overcoming stereotype threat

Answer 65

1) changing people’s mindset when taking a test. ex/ stereotype threat is diminished if you remind females (stereotypically bad at math) that they are good students.
2) remind people that their skills are not fixed, and that practice will improve their skills
3) telling people that there are no race/gender differences in the performance domain (ex/ saying that the stereotype between women and math don’t exist)
4) engage in self-affirmation: writing about a value that is important to you) before an evaluative task.

Question 66

2 broad interventions for reducing prejudice and discrimination

Answer 66

1) the contact hypothesis
2) cooperation and interdependence- jigsaw classroom
3) extended contact hypothesis

Question 67

problems that can occur when trying to initiate contact between two dif groups

Answer 67

1) we may believe that it is obvious that we are showing interest and friendliness when it actually may not be obvious at all. results in negative spiral where the other people think we’re “cold,” and so they treat us “coldly” too, despite our “efforts’
2) choking effect; we may worry about looking prejudice that we try so hard to not be prejudice that we choke and act awkward towards members of a different group

Question 68

according to gordan allport, contact between groups can only reduce prejudice when both groups are: (3 things)

Answer 68

1) when both groups are of equal status
2) they share a common goal that generates awareness of their shared interests and common humanity
3) their contact is supported by law of by societal norms.

Question 69

4 conditions that need to be fulfilled to reduce prejudice

Answer 69

1) mutual interdependence
2) having a common goal
3) equal status (not boss vs employee)
4) friendly, informal setting where people can work together on a one to one basis.
5) multiple members of the outgroup– people who are being contacters need to be “representative of their group”– or else the interaction may be labelled as an “exception”
6) social norms should promote and support equality among groups.

Question 70

jigsaw classroom

Answer 70

a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice between children by placing them in small (6 person) desegregated groups and making each child dependent on the other children in the group to learn the course material and do well in the class.

Question 71

benefits of jigsaw classroom

Answer 71

compared with students in traditional classrooms, students in jigsaw groups showed a decrease in prejudice and stereotyping, as well as an increase in their liking for their group mates, both within and across ethnic boundaries.

Question 72

extended contact hypothesis

Answer 72

the mere knowledge that a member of one’s own group has a close relationship with a member of another group can reduce one’s prejudice toward that group.

ex/ knowing someone on your team who is FRIENDS with a member of the opposite team may make you more friendly to the opposite team.