Chapter 14: Attitudes, Prejudice And Discrimination Flashcards
To whom is Prejudice directed to?
- Identifiable group
- Identifiable member of a group
- NOT an isolated individual
What is prejudice?
An unfavourable or negative attitude towards a group of people based on insufficient or incorrect information
What is discrimination?
The action that expresses the attitude of prejudice
Prejudicial behaviour is:
- Antisocial behaviour causing stress and tension between groups
- Causes harm to the victims
Moderation and prevention of prejudicial behaviour can be achieved by:
Understanding why people are prejudiced and the formation
Why is prejudice and discrimination different?
- Prejudice is a feeling whereas attitude is an action
- E.g La Pierre’s study (1934) Many restaurant owners were prejudiced against Chinese people but very few showed discrimination by refusing them service
What is the cognitive component of Prejudice?
- Categorisation of people
- Beliefs about the people
-Stereotyping
Eg. Negative beliefs about elderly people
What is the affective component of Prejudice?
- Feelings that are friendly or hostile towards group of people
- Eg. A strong feeling of dislike towards the elderly
The behavioural component of Prejudice is:
Discrimination- the behaviour towards a group of people
Eg. Discriminating against elderly person
Types of Prejudice:
- Sexism (gender)
- Racism (race)
- Ageism (Age)
- Homophobia (Sexual preference)
- Disability ( Physical/ intellectual ability)
Examples of Discrimination:
- Reluctance to help
- Tokenism
- Reverse discrimination
What is RELUCTANCE TO HELP?
- Reluctance to help other groups to improve their position in society by passively or actively declining to assist their efforts
- Eg. Inadequate facilities for physically disabled employees in a workplace
What is TOKENISM?
- Publicly giving trivial assistance to a minority group on order to avoid accusations of prejudice and discrimination
- Eg. Employing one woman in mainly a male organisation
What is REVERSE DISCRIMINATION?
- Publicly being prejudiced IN FAVOUR of a minority group in order to deflect accusation of prejudice and discrimination
- Eg. Making a company policy to employ a percentage of minority group members where they are singled out and treated differently
The Effects of prejudice and discrimination is:
- Low self-esteem caused by insults, denial of equality, violence
- Disadvantage/failure caused by denial of resources necessary for success
- Self-fulfilling prophecies where original expectations of people are met by the person by changing their interaction with group members and modifying behaviour
- Violence and genocide
How is prejudice formed and maintained?
- Through Learning
- Competition
- Psychological processes:
- Intergroup conflict
- Threat to social identity
- Social and cultural grouping
- Stigmatising
- Stereotyping
- Scapegoating
Learning in the formation of prejudice is through:
- Operant conditioning
- Observational learning
- Parents and Peers
- Media
What is the COMPETITION component in forming prejudice?
- Competition occurs between social groups when there is scarce resources
- Competitive environment= development of prejudice towards rivals
- eg. Immigrants experience prejudice from people already living in country due to competition for jobs, higher economic status etc.
What is the INTERGROUP CONFLICT component in forming prejudice? When does it occur?
- With the existence of groups: In group and out group
- Competition between groups for scarce resources
- Eg. Certain ethnic group perceive themselves as being in the in-group because they think they possess superior intellectual/physical qualities to other ethnic groups (out group)
What is the THREATENING OF SOCIAL IDENTITY component in forming prejudice?
- People categorise themselves into a group and gain individual identity by belonging to the group
- Group membership= enhanced self-esteem
- Prejudice forms when you need to protect your self-esteem because it is being ‘attacked’
- Eg. Bullying members of the out group
What is social categorisation?
- Classification of people into groups based on characteristics that we perceive them to have in common
- Organising information about them Eg. Use of labels
- Social Categories= Stereotypes
- Assuming all members of the group are the same
Stereotypes are based on:
- appearance
- gender
- ethnicity
- race
- physical ability
- disability & age
- culture and so forth
What is a stereotype?
A simplified and generalised belief about a group of people
What are the functions of stereotypes?
- Help organise knowledge of people quickly but result but are difficult to change
Stereotypes are:
- Highly subjective: The person only sees what they want to see/expected to see
- Perpetuated through Bias: positive aspects of group members explained for reasons over the good qualities of minority groups
What is stigmatising?
- When a group of individuals are perceived by others to possess qualities that are undesirable and are therefore rejected/ignored
- Eg. Homeless people
- Stigma= Negative label for members of group who possess set of qualities that society deem undesirable
What is scapegoating?
- Frustration-aggression theory where scapegoats are formed due to prevailing social circumstances (unemployment, $ depression)
- SCAPE GOAT= usually minority out-group who are blamed and physically verbally abused
How can prejudice be prevented or reduced?
- Education
- Intergroup contact
- Cognitive interventions
- Superordinate goals &Direct experience
What is the EDUCATION component in reducing prejudice?
Consequences of prejudice and what makes up discrimination is taught through education programs
What is the INTERGROUP CONTACT component in reducing prejudice?
- Direct contact between groups who have prejudicial attitudes towards one another with the aid of
- SUSTAINED CONTACT (interpersonal interactions)
- MUTUAL INDEPENDENCE (cooperative activities), & EQUAL STATUS between groups
- Social norms favouring reduction of prejudice
What is the COGNITIVE INTERVENTION component in reducing prejudice?
Using cognition to reduce stereotypes
Eg providing information to individuals to reduce irrelevant information about groups of people
What is the SUPERORDINATE GOALS component in reducing prejudice?
- Working towards a common goal that can facilitate knowledge and understanding between groups
- It must be shared and have both group’s contribution
What is the DIRECT EXPERIENCE component in reducing prejudice?
Experiencing another culture or lifestyle in or out of your country to gain better knowledge and understanding thus reduce ignorance towards a group
