Factors affecting prejudice: Individual differences

Question 1

Factors affecting prejudice

Answer 1

Adorno = The authoritarian personality
Allport = authoritarian personality
Altemeyer = Right wing authoritarianism
Pratto = Social dominance orientation

Question 2

The authoritarian personality

Answer 2

Adorno et al
Harsh parenting leads to child whose personality type is obedient and prone to prejudice
Very loyal and high standards of achievement, offer conditional love
Children identify with authoritarian parents but feel hostile about conditional love, fear of punishment
Display anger onto someone, usually socially inferior people

Question 3

Allport’s authoritarian personality

Answer 3

Allport
Unconditional parental love -> confidence, empathetic
Not prejudice but receptive to political arguments targetting inner fears and insecurities

Question 4

Right wing authoritarian traits

Answer 4

Altemeyer
RWA = obey authoritarian, aggressive, conventionalist

Question 5

People with right wing authoritarian

Answer 5

Learned set of beliefs about the world, socially learned but parents are not source
Believe world is dangerous, creates fear
Suspicious and overtly hostile towards anyone who defies norm, conscientious and closed to new experiences

Question 6

What are people with social dominance orientation like

Answer 6

Pratto et al
Prefer hierarchical versus equal distribution of power
See world as competitive jungle, fight for power
Learn via role models
More common in men

Question 7

Strength

Answer 7

Cohrs
Found RWA +0.48 and SDO +0.28
Both positively correlated with generalised prejudice
RWA negatively correlated for experience -0.22
SDO negatively correlated with agreeableness -0.4
Levels of prejudice can be accurately predicted from people’s personality traits

Question 8

CA of strength

Answer 8

RWA and SDO may not be consistent over time
Both interact with social factors
Lewin found Ashkenazi jews showed higher SDO scores compared with other jewish groups
Differences appeared when Jewish groups primed to think about relationship between Israel and Palestine
Shows SDO is malleable

Question 9

Weakness

Answer 9

Louis et al
RWA and SDO scales do not include items which are heavily affected by social attitudes or norms
72% Australian participants strongly disagreed that white is the best race, but agreed exclusion of asylum seekers
Shows important to understand social as well as individual factors to address prejudice

Question 10

Application

Answer 10

Allport and Altemeyer note prejudice may be learned through exposure to specific worldviews and prejudical rhetoric sources
Can help combat RWA and SDO
Demonstrate importance of thinking about root causes of prejudice