L11 - Discursive Psychology p2 Flashcards
How are ‘attitudes’ understood in discursive psychology (DP)?
Attitudes are ‘evaluative practices’ which have practical consequences for participants in everyday social interaction.
Why do discursive psychologists believe that traditional questionnaire data isn’t necessarily accurate when regarding people attitudes.
Because questionnaires ask for a specific answer whereas in reality peoples attitudes are generally fragmentary, inconsistent and contradictory.
There is contextual variability in discourse
According to DP
“Attitudes are ______ rather than preformed”
performed
What are attributions according to DP?
“Attributions are discursive topics, things people topicalise or orientate themselves to or imply in their discourse”
“Situated and occasioned constructions that accomplish social actions”
Does DP see attributions as expressions of the speakers underlying cognitive states?
No
“they are viewed as situated and occasioned constructions that accomplish social actions”
The ‘traditional view’ of reporting attributions look like this:
- attributions begin with the perception of a neutral event
- cognitively processed in a complex manner
- attribution derived
What is the DP view of reporting attributions?
a) Reporting of an attribution is never neutral
b) Every description carries inferences and implications
* (attributions are made to achieve social goals, they are done for a reason)*
What criticisms does DP have of traditional methods of determining attributions?
(i.e. internal vs external attributions)
They miss the context of the real world in experimental settings.
They miss ‘stake and interest’ - people don’t want others to attribute their behaviour as self-interested and therefore people deploy discursive strategies so they aren’t viewed this way)
In the Wetherell, Stiven and Potter (1987) experiment, what was the term used to describe participants wanting gender equality and the ‘practical constraint’ explanation for why it couldn’t happen (i.e. child rearing, physical differences)?
Contradictory Repertoires
How do DP theorists suggest that ‘practical’ talk in discussions about attitudes towards gender roles are discriminatory (the principle/practice dichotomy)?
Their attitudes are organized ‘rhetorically’
Egalitarian views are blended with discriminatory views which articulate the complexity of a situation.
The Riley (2002) gender and equality discourse analysis of professional men’s talk about equality and discrimination showed that -
‘1)_______ was seen as transgressing this abstract ideal of equality and was constructed as any practice or principle that made ones 2) ______ category salient’
1) discrimination
2) social
There is a norm against prejudice in society.
According to CA, if a question is framed in a way which makes disagreeing with the question ‘prejudiced’ (e.g. my son is a gay man, doesn’t he deserve the same love everyone else does). How might someone respond in order to affirm that they are not prejudiced?
By using a dispreferred response.
(i.e. agreeing at first, before disagreeing)
According to Augoustinos, “evaluations about aboriginal history are rhetorically organised to perform ____ ____ such as blaming, excusing, justifying and rationalising”
social actions
