Culture and Values Flashcards
An attitude is
A long-lasting positive or negative evaulation about a person (ourselves or others ), object, event or issue
Attitudes have:
- Direction (positive, negative or neutral)
2. Intensity (strong or little interest)
The three components of attitude are:
ABC
cognition (thoughts and beliefs)
affect ( feelings and emotions)
behavior ( what we do, our actions
Are we born with our attitudes?
No, we learn them
How do we learn our attitudes
- Directly (something that has happened to us)
- Indirectly ( interactions with parents/friends
- Culture ( media, society)
Why are we often unaware of our society’s values?
We are brought up with them. We may never question them unless we leave and see another culture.
What are some things that are affected by our culture’s attitudes?
What we think, value and do
e.g. how we eat, dress, leisure time
Cognition
thoughts or beliefs
Affect
emotions and feelings
What is the “direction” of an attitude?
Positive to neutral to Negative
Intensity
How strong your attitude is
Strong to mild
Attitude Formation
How our long-lasting evaluations are formed
Usually by social activity.
Social Learning
Social experiences, interactions with other people.
- Watching others’ behavior
- reinforcement of positive or negative behaviors by others.
- modelling or copying others behavior
Why do psychologists need to study behavior?
Attitudes cannot be seen.
Behavior lets them infer the attitude of the person
How can scientists study attitudes?
Paper and pencil tests
Interviews
Focus Group
Behavior Observation
Can attitudes change?
yes
Social Comparison
you adopt the dominant attitudes of a group.
Do you need to interact with a group to adopt their values?
no
Persuasion
aggressive techniques used by advertising/ media to change our opinions.
Why are we often unaware of our own culture’s values?
We grow up with them and are used to them, so we don’t think about them.
Why do scientists need to use indirect methods to study attitudes
Because attitudes cannot be seen.
What are the two main ways of learning about attitudes?
- Observing behavior
2. Asking questions about a person’s thoughts and feelings.
What is the most common method of studying attitudes? Give 3 examples
qualitative
observation
self report
focus group
Give 2 quantitative methods sometimes used.
quantitative self report rating scales (Likert)
Why are quantitative methods not preferred?
What can be done to improve them?
They rely on the questions made up by the researcher.
They can be based on questions
When is observing behavior useful?
When people might lie about their true thougts/feelings
What is the most common method of observing behavior?
Direct, structured observation
Scientist watches from a distance
What is a method of observing behavior that is not used as much
Participant observation
What famous experiment was done by Stanley Milgram in 1965?
The lost letter experiment.
What were the 4 addresses used by Milgram and what were the results?
- Nazi party 25%
- Communist party 25%
- Mr Walter Carnap 71 %
- Medical Research Associates 72%
Who designed and carried out the lost letter experiment?
Stanley Milgram 1965
What are two limitations of the lost letter experiment?
- Belief assumed may be wrong
2. Intensity cannot be measured.
Self report
Spoken or written answers provided in response to questions asked by a researcher.
when is self report used?
When there is no observable behavior that can be linked to the attitude.
e.g. attitude to nuclear power.
What kind of information do you get from open-ended interviews?
What are the disadvantages?
Qualitative
A lot of information has to be organized.
What is a focus group?
A kind of group interview.
6-8 people and a moderator
They share ideas and attitudes
These are analysed later
What is a fixed result interview?
Interview with limited responsed allowed..
Gives quantitative information.
Rating scales
Provide a series of questions with fixed answers that indicate the strength of attitude.
Likert scale
Measures positive and negative attitudes to an issue. Indicates the strength of opinion.
Half Q’s are positive and half negative.
What type of info is produced in a Likert scale?
quantitative
Prejudice
“pre-judgement”
Is is an unjustifiable ( usually negative) attitude toward a group.
What are the most common forms of prejudice?
Visual differences
e.g. race, age or sex
What are the 3 components of prejudice?
Stereotypes
Negative Feelings
Acting in a discriminatory way ( behavior)
Stereotypes
oversimplified beliefs.
Characteristics of a group apply to all members.
Negative feelings
feelings of dislike or hostility
Discrimination
When attitude of prejudice is put into actions ( behavior).
Racism
A form of prejudice based on assumed racial differences.
A group assumes their values , social norms and behavior are superior to another group.
Describe some stereotypes of Aboriginals
lazy, drunk, dirty.
Describe some feeling toward Aboriginals.
dislike or fear.
Describe some discrimination toward Aboriginals.
Not allowed to vote
Excluded from clubs and bars.
Another group that experiences prejudice in Australia is …..
Asians.
Mainly verbal abuse.
Mapping Social Cohesion survey found ___ % of Australians were discriminated against.
It was based on…
19%
Based of skin colour
religion
ethnic origin
Is the rate of discrimination increasing or decreasing?
Increasing
Why is racism increasing?
Economic uncertainty - lack of money.
Asylum seekers arriving
Political attitudes.
What law addresses racism in Australia?
Racial Discrimination Act
Why do some people object to section 18C in the discrimination law?
Freedom of speech is affected.
“You should have a right to be a bigot”.
Waleed Aly said the law was “white” because…
It is based on the opinion of the white majority of what is racist.
What group is the most discriminated against in Australia?
Middle Eastern backgrounds.
Overt racism
blatant, obvious and meant to cause harm
Covert racism
hidden , subtle, difficult to prove harmful treatment of a racial group.
Intentional racism
conscious act, usually motivated by prejudice.
Intent is to harm
Unintentional racism
unconscious act, not motivated by prejudice or intent to harm.
Still damaging.
Individual racism
belief that one’s own race is superior to another
Institutional racism
practices , customs, rules and standards or organizations/ companies.
What are some causes of Prejudice?
Just world phenomenon
Social Categorisation
Inter-group competition
Social Influence
Just world phenomenon
Belief that people get what they deserve.
If you are successful it is due to your hard work.
If others are poor it is because they are lazy.
Social Categorisation
Putting people into groups
Experiment by Jane Elliot on social categorisation 1968
Brown eyes vs blue eyes.
Inter-group competition
When hard times limit resources you blame other groups for the problems.
e.g. “stealing our jobs.”
1961 M. Sherif performed an experiment on inter-group relations
Rattlers vs the Eagles.
Each group developed negative feelings toward the other.
Equal opportunity
Gives everyone the same opportunities
Affirmative action
Actively support those who are constantly deprived of fair or equal treatment
Social influence on prejudice
Learning attitudes from others - family and friends.
* based on what the child thinks the parents’ attitudes are - not necessarily their true attitudes.
What are the two main ways of reducing prejudice?
Inter-group contact
Cognitive interventions
When is Inter-group contact effective?
- Long period of time
- Working to common goal ( in larger group). Rely on each other
- Groups of equal status.
What did Aronson develop in 1978?
Jigsaw classrooms where all children contribute.
Re-categorisation
See yourself as member of larger group.
e.g. see yourself as Australian, not member of ethnic/racial group.
Individuation
See people as individuals not members of a group.
What are the two types of cognitive interventions?
Re-catagorisation
Individuation
Culture
Attitudes and beliefs, behaviors and traditions shared by a group of people.
Are race and culture the same?
No.
Race = biological features.
Culture = attitudes and customs.
