historical foundations Flashcards
who is William James?
first psychologist circa 1875
who is Kurt Lewin?
first social psychologist circa 1945
who is William McDougall?
- wrote one of the first textbooks on social psych, which propagated scientific racism (circa 1921)
- identified psychological qualities associated with “superior” racial groups
what was the Johnson-Reed Act?
- 1924
- a quota imposed on immigrants that disproportionately favoured immigrants from Northern and Western Europe
- justified based on eugenics research and other forms of scientific racism
what is social Darwinism?
“survival of the fittest”: existing disparities between social groups were justified as reflecting innate differences between more and less worthy groups
what is the main critique of social Darwinism?
- naturalistic fallacy: what we observe in the natural world is not necessarily how the world ought to be
- also ethically questionable implications (eg. forced sterilization)
who coined the terms “ingroup”, “outgroup” and “ethnocentrism”?
Sumner in his book “Folkways”
what is the main argument in Sumner’s “Folkways”?
- we have a fundamental need to be part of a group
- self-identity is strongly tied to group identity
what was the thesis of Lippmann’s “Public Opinion”?
- the modern world is chaotic and disorderly and people have a tendency and necessity to oversimplify it (i.e., stereotype)
- stereotypes are a cognitive shortcut that arise from a need for abstraction
- recognizes how cultural influences and expectations shape the way we view the world
what were the findings of Katz and Braly’s Princeton Trilogy Strategies?
- relied on self-reported stereotyped beliefs that people held about other groups
- found that people have a motivated perception of stereotypes (i.e., confirmation bias plays a role in perpetuating stereotypes)
what was the experiment conducted in LaPiere’s “Attitudes vs Actions”? what did it seek to prove? what were the findings?
- guy travelled around America with a Chinese immigrant couple visiting hotels and restaurants to see if they would be refused service
- wanted to make the point that self-reported attitudes may contradict behaviour
- they were only refused service one time, despite the fact that when he called the establishments, 92% said they would refuse service to a Chinese person, indicating discrepancies between attitudes and behaviour
why is Allport’s “Nature of Prejudice” so influential today?
laid the foundations for many influential research topics in intergroup relations:
- influential in his social cognitive perspective of prejudice
- emphasized the importance of studying intergroup relations
who was Gordon Allport?
father of research on intergroup relations; wrote “the Nature of Prejudice”
according to Allport’s
“The Nature of Prejudice”, why do humans slip so easily into ethnic prejudice?
erroneous generalization + hostility, which are both common capacities of the human mind
describe Allport’s contact hypothesis in “The Nature of Prejudice”
- a specific type of intergroup contact is an effective means of reducing intergroup hostility and prejudice
- type of contact can take on many forms depending on the situational context
- effective contact is based on acquaintanceship, integration, and communal identity/goal
according to Allport’s contact hypothesis, what are the various situational factors that can impact the type of intergroup contact?
- quantity (frequency/duration of contact)
- status (are groups of equal/different status)
- goals (does interaction facilitate cooperative vs competitive behaviour)
- social (is contact formal or casual; voluntary or involuntary)
- physical (what is the context; what is the proximity of the groups)
according to Allport, what criteria determines effective intergroup contact?
- based on acquaintanceship (contact that brings knowledge and acquaintance is ideal)
- integrated (close proximity)
- communal (revolving around a shared identity or goal)
what was the basis for one of the first studies on intergroup contact, by Singer and Stouffer (1948)?
studied relationships between Black and White military officers
what was the basis for one of the first studies on intergroup contact, by Deutsch and Collins (1951)?
compared the relationships between Black and White residents for those living in more vs less integrated public housing
what theory emerged out of Sherif’s “Robbers Cave” experiment?
realistic conflict theory: argues that intergroup conflict is a reflection of social structural forces; specifically due to competition for desired resources
according to Sherif’s “Robbers Cave” experiment, what determines intergroup attitudes/behaviour?
determined by the nature of functional relations between the groups, rather than by deviant behaviour from individual members
what were the three stages of Sherif’s “Robbers Cave” experiment?
- experimental ingroup formation
- competition/friction between groups
- integration between groups
what is social identity theory?
- individuals’ sense of identity and self esteem is determined primarily by their group membership
- Tajfel
what is Tajfel’s minimal group paradigm?
- the mere classification into ingroups and outgroups based on arbitrary characteristics is enough to create intergroup bias
- people shape their identity around their group membership
