Lecture 10 - Social categorisation, social identity and intergroup relations Flashcards
what is meant by categorisation>
Organise information into meaningful categories to make it easier for them to be understood.
Who did the lines labelled A and B study?
Tajfel and Wilkes (1963)
Outline Tajfel and Wilkes (1963)
- Looking at perception
- Studying social phenomena with non-social objects
P’s were in one of 3 conditions:
1) Lines randomly labeled A or B
2) Shorter lines labeld A, all the longer ones were B
3) No labels - Accentuation Principle:
- Categorisation of stimuli leads to perceptual accentuation of intra-category similiarities (seeing all ‘A’ lines as similar, and all ‘B’ lines as similar.
- As well as inter-category differences on salient dimensions, seeing A and B lines as very different, even the last line of A (which is actually really close to B)
- If there was no categorisation (i.e. condition 1) ther was no effect
Define the accentuation principle
- Categorisation of stimuli leads to perceptual accentuation of intra-category similiarities (seeing all ‘A’ lines as similar, and all ‘B’ lines as similar.
- As well as inter-category differences on salient dimensions, seeing A and B lines as very different, even the last line of A (which is actually really close to B)
Who did the paitings study?
Tajfel et al., 1971
Outline Tajfel et al., 1971
Looking at the minimum conditions needed to produce in-group and out group
- Organised school boys into groups based on which paiting they liked.
- Told they were in a group with others who agreed, were aware there was an opposite group, made up of those who disagreed
- They were then asked to allocate points to in-group and out-group
- The p’s gave in-group more points, and minimised outgroup points
- They showed ‘in-group favouritism’ – maximising in group profit and outgroup difference
- Showed that mere categorisatoin can lead to discrimination
- Once you are in a social group, you believe you are the same to those in the ingroup, and different to those in the outgroup
Who did the study where two colleges had to form impressions of each other?
Wilder (1984)
Outline Wilder (1984)
- Asked 2 colleges to make impressions of each other
- Impression depended on whether contact was pleasant/ unpleaseant and if the target was a typical member of the other college
- The pleasnt/ typical condition was most effective in creating a positive impression
- We tend to categorise others as relevant ingroup/ outgroup prototypes
- We tend to view people as members
of a group, not as idiosyncratic
individuals
Define ethnocentrism in terms of social categorisation and groups
“a view of things in which ones own group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it” (Sumner, 1906) – see their group as the cleverest, richest and happiest
Who did the Summer camp study? Looking at intergroup conflict and cooperation
Sherif et al., 1961
Outline Sherif et al., 1961
P’s were middle class 5th graders at summer campes
- he allowed them to form friendships
- then he experimentally produced 2 groups, splitting up friendships
- These were the Bulldogs vs Red Devils
- he made sure friends were divided
Step 1: Experimental production of in-groups with a hierachical structure and set of norms (intra-group relations)
Step 2: Bringing the two experimentally formed groups into competition (intergroup tensio – very competitive)
- The Bulldogs won as they were closer to their leader, and werent highly stratified like the Red Devils
- Had to stop it though because it became too aggressive and too much rivalry
Step 3: Introduction of superordinate goals (reduction of intergroup tension)
- Wanted to see if the 2 groups could actually work together
- There was a car that was bringing an outdoor cinema, but it got stuck in the mud
- The two groups worked together to get it out so they could watch a film. They cooporated together
Who invented the term ‘stereotypes’?
Lippman (1922)
Define stereotypes according to Lippman (1922)
- “Pictures in our heads”
- Images of others
Necessary mode of processing information, an inescapabale way of creating order out of the “great blooming, buzzing confusion of the outer world” (Lippmann, 1922, p. 81)
”relatively mundane inhabitants of our mental world… shortcuts the mind uses to simplify and understand the social world” (Locke & Johnston, 2001) – Condensed images/ descriptions
- Images of others
Who did the study looking at racial stereotypes of 100 college students?
Katz and Braly (1933)
Outline Katz and Braly (1933)
Looked at the common words used to describe ehtnic minorities:
- British most common word was Sportsmanlike (53%) - very positive
- Black people - most common was superstious (84%) very negative
- turkish - cruel 47% - again quite negative
