DEFINITIONS 6: The Causes, Effects, and Cures of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Question 1

prejudice

Answer 1

Negative emotional responses based on group membership.

Question 2

discrimination

Answer 2

Differential (usually negative) behaviors directed toward members of different social groups.

Question 3

risk averse

Answer 3

We weigh possible losses more heavily than equivalent potential gains. As a result, we respond
more negatively to changes that
are framed as potential losses than positively to changes that are framed as potential gains.

Question 4

stereotypes

Answer 4

Beliefs about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics that they are believed to share. Stereotypes are cognitive frameworks that influence the processing of social information.

Question 5

gender stereotypes

Answer 5

Stereotypes concerning the traits possessed by females and males and that distinguish the two genders from each other.

Question 6

glass ceiling

Answer 6

Barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified females from advancing to top-level positions.

Question 7

glass cliff effect

Answer 7

Choosing women for leadership positions that are risky, precarious, or when the outcome is more likely to result in failure.

Question 8

objectification of females

Answer 8

Regarding them as mere bodies that exist for the pleasure of others.

Question 9

tokenism

Answer 9

Tokenism can refer to hiring based on group membership. It can concern a numerically infrequent presence
of members of a particular category or it can refer to instances where individuals perform trivial positive actions for members of out-groups that are later used as an excuse for refusing more meaningful beneficial actions for members of these groups.

Question 10

shifting standards

Answer 10

When we use one group as the standard but shift to use another group as the comparison standard when judging members of a different group.

Question 11

objective scales

Answer 11

Those with measurement units that are tied to external reality so that they mean the same thing regardless of category membership (e.g., dollars earned, feet and inches, chosen or rejected).

Question 12

subjective scales

Answer 12

Response scales that are open to interpretation and lack an externally grounded referent, including scales labeled from good to bad or weak to strong. They are said to be subjective because they can take on different meanings depending on the group membership of the person being evaluated.

Question 13

singlism

Answer 13

Negative stereotyping and discrimination directed toward people who are single.

Question 14

subtype

Answer 14

A subset of a group that is not consistent with the stereotype of the group as a whole.

Question 15

essence

Answer 15

Typically some biologically based feature that is used to distinguish one group and another; frequently can serve as justification for the differential treatment of those groups.

Question 16

minimal groups

Answer 16

When we are categorized into different groups based on some “minimal” criteria we tend to favor others who are categorized in the same group as ourselves compared to those categorized as members of a different group.

Question 17

incidental feelings

Answer 17

Those feelings induced separately or before a target is encountered; as a result, those feelings are irrelevant to the group being judged but can still affect judgments of the target.

Question 18

implicit associations

Answer 18

Links between group membership and trait associations or evaluations that the perceiver may be unaware of. They can be activated automatically based on the group membership of
a target.

Question 19

threat

Answer 19

It primarily concerns fear that our group interests will be undermined or our self-esteem is in jeopardy.

Question 20

zero-sum outcomes

Answer 20

Those that only one person or group can have. So, if one group gets them, the other group can’t.

Question 21

realistic conflict theory

Answer 21

The view that prejudice stems from direct competition between various social groups over scarce and valued resources.

Question 22

superordinate goals

Answer 22

Those that can only be achieved by cooperation between groups.

Question 23

social identity theory

Answer 23

A theory concerned with the consequences of perceiving ourselves as a member of a social group and identifying with it.

Question 24

modern racism

Answer 24

More subtle beliefs than blatant feelings of superiority. It consists primarily of thinking minorities are seeking and receiving more benefits than they deserve and a denial that discrimination affects their outcomes.

Question 25

bona fide pipeline

Answer 25

A technique that uses priming to measure implicit racial attitudes.

Question 26

collective guilt

Answer 26

The emotion that can be experienced when we are confronted with the harmful actions done by our ingroup against an outgroup. It is most likely to be experienced when the harmful actions are seen as illegitimate.

Question 27

moral disengagement

Answer 27

No longer seeing sanctioning as necessary for perpetrating harm

Question 28

social learning view (of prejudice)

Answer 28

The view that prejudice is acquired through direct and vicarious experiences in much the same manner as other attitudes.

Question 29

contact hypothesis

.

Answer 29

The view that increased contact between members of various social groups can be effective in reducing prejudice between them.

Question 30

recategorization

Answer 30

Shifts in the boundaries between
our ingroup (“us”) and some outgroup (“them”). As a result of such recategorization, people formerly viewed as outgroup members may now be viewed as belonging to the ingroup and consequently are viewed more positively.

Question 31

common ingroup identity model

Answer 31

A theory suggesting that to the extent individuals in different groups view themselves as members of a single social entity, intergroup bias will be reduced