Factors affecting prejudice

Question 1

What are the 3 factors that affect prejudice?

Answer 1

Gender
Personality
Culture

Question 2

How does gender affect prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 2

Society has developed a sense of gender identity (masculinity and femininity) through socialisation

Gender stereotypes affect how we perceive ourselves and others eg. men being perceived to be more prejudiced and women more empathetic

Question 3

How does personality affect prejudice?

Answer 3

Authoritarian personality usually applies to individuals known/viewed as being strict or oppressive towards subordinates - could lead to more prejudice

Question 4

Define ‘culture’.

Answer 4

The values, ideas, customs, and behavioural norms of a particular group of people in society

Question 5

Define ‘intergroup prejudice’.

Answer 5

Negative attitudes and beliefs towards a different culture

Question 6

Define ‘intragroup prejudice’.

Answer 6

Negative views of different subcultural groups within a culture

Question 7

Define ‘multiculturalism’.

Answer 7

The diversity of all cultures being accepted within society with no group being considered superior

Question 8

How does culture affect prejudice?

Answer 8

Celebrating multiculturalism can help reduce prejudice

Question 9

What are the supporting and refuting studies of gender and personality affecting prejudice?

Answer 9

Gender
Supporting: Ekehammar et al (2003)
Refuting: The MAOA gene

Personality
Supporting: Adorno (1950)
Refuting: Realistic Conflict Theory

Question 10

How does Ekehammar et al (2003) support gender affecting prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 10

43 Swedish university students were shown photographs of Swedish faces and immigrant faces

Results showed a gender difference - women expressed lower explicit prejudice and higher implicit prejudice than men

Question 11

How does the MAOA gene refute gender affecting prejudice? (3 points)

Answer 11

The gene increases testosterone in men

Women carry 0-2 copies (XX) while men carry 0-1 copies (XY)

Observed gender differences (men being more prejudiced than women) may be due to underlying biological differences rather than social ones

Question 12

How does Adorno (1950) support personality affecting prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 12

He created the Fascism ‘F’ Scale - the higher your F-scale score, the more prejudiced you are

Fascism - the belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, contempt for democracy, and an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader

Question 13

How does Realistic Conflict Theory refute personality affecting prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 13

Suggests that individuals are more likely to be prejudiced if there’s competition over limited resources in society (jobs, money)

Observed personality difference (authoritarian personality types being more prejudiced) is perhaps a result of social influence

Question 14

What are the 3 supporting and 2 refuting pieces of evidence for culture affecting prejudice?

Answer 14

Supporting:
Guimond (2013)
Al Zahrani & Kaplowitz (1993)
Triandis (1995)

Refuting:
Jackson et al (2019)
Current affairs

Question 15

How does Guimond (2013) support culture affecting prejudice? (3 points)

Answer 15

Looked at cultural norms and government policies within multicultural societies

Found that anti-Muslim attitudes were reduced with pro-diversity campaigns

Shows how prejudice can be reduced with the promotion of multiculturalism and diversity

Question 16

How does Al Zahrani & Kaplowitz (1993) support culture affecting prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 16

They found that Saudis, a collectivist culture, self- reported more negative out group bias than Americans, an individualistic culture

Suggests that prejudice might develop because of differences in cultural beliefs

Question 17

How does Triandis (1995) support culture affecting prejudice? (2 points)

Answer 17

Argues that collectivists are more likely to identify with their cultural group - leads to greater in-group solidarity and more prejudice and discrimination

Social distance from out-groups tends to be stronger in collectivist cultures, while it is decreased in individualist societies

Question 18

Define ‘ecological factors’.

Answer 18

Factors from the social or natural environment that threaten societies’ existence

Question 19

How does Jackson et al (2019) refute culture affecting prejudice? (3 points)

Answer 19

They argue that tighter cultural norms result in more prejudice

According to their research, ecological threats cause cultures to tighten and more prejudice to occur

Suggests that social factors of influence/competition for ecological threats are also required for prejudice to occur

Question 20

How do current affairs refute culture affecting prejudice? (3 points)

Answer 20

Prejudice can also be caused by social influence e.g. nationalist political parties and policies in many Western individualistic nations

USA (2016):
As president, Trump drafted laws aimed at more aggressive deportation and the construction of a border wall

Europe (2016):
+ Nationalist leaders were elected in Poland and the Czech Republic
+ The UK decided to leave the EU