Lecture 12: Social Categorization & Stereotypes ll Flashcards
outgroup homogeneity effect
Tendency to perceive more similarity in outgroups than ingroups
rival university & outgroup homogeneity effect
Members of one’s own university were perceived as more different than those from a rival university
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
her college roommate viewed her as a single-story African, but she viewed Mexicans as the same way. demonstrates the outgroup homogeneity effect
effect of outgroup homogeneity effect
makes it easier to stereotype
mechanisms behind the outgroup homogeneity effect
- quantity of contact
- quality of contact
- motivation to be distinct
- motivation to dehumanize
quantity of contact
people interact more with ingroup members
consequence of quantity of contact
people have more individuating information about ingroup members and their unique qualities
quality of contact
interactions with ingroup members are typically of higher quality
consequence of quality of contact
people have more individuating information about ingroup members and their unique qualities
motivation to be distinct
people are motivated to see themselves as at least somewhat distinct from the groups that they belong to
consequence of motivation to be distinct
people look for ways to distinguish themselves from their ingroup to maintain their invisibility
motivation to dehumanize
in some cases, we want to dehumanize others to maintain the sense that the ingroup is superior to others
consequence of motivation to dehumanize
outgroup members are seen as homogenous and not separate individuals
the cross-race effect
The tendency to more easily recognize & remember own-race faces compared to cross-race faces
the cross-race effect is a consequence of
outgroup homogeneity
what is the cross-race effect related to?
both one’s motivation and one’s ability to attend to outgroup faces
famous cross-race effect study
Found that adoptees remembered Caucasian facial stimuli better (it depends on what stimuli are most important for their social context)
one of the main implications of the cross-race effect is…
police line-ups
police line-ups and cross-race effect
of cases that were overturned by DNA exoneration that involved eyewitness misidentification, 42% involved an instance of cross-racial misidentification
attribution
the process of explaining the causes of behaviour or events
when is the social world particularly ambiguous?
when we are trying to figure out why something happened
dispositional attribution
an explanation for a situation that involves something inherent to the person that’s consistent across time
situational attribution
an explanation for a situation that involves something specific to the situation that isn’t consistent overtime
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to explain our own and other people’s behaviour in terms of dispositional traits rather than situational characteristics
ultimate attribution error depends on…
Ingroup vs. outgroup
Valence of behaviour
ultimate attribution error for ingroup members
we associate positive behaviour with dispositional attributes, but negative behaviour with situational attributes
ultimate attribution error for outgroup members
we associate positive behaviour with situational attributes, but negative behaviour with dispositional attributes
We form beliefs about group’s negative traits
illusory correlation
When people see two distinct events, they assume they are correlated
Dave Hamilton study
Participants read 39 statements about positive or negative behaviours committed by members of groups A or B. Group A was the majority and group B was the minority. Group A had 18 positive and 8 negative behaviours and group B had 9 positives and 4 negative behaviours (same ratio), but participants overattributed negative behaviours to group B
when do people assume group membership and behaviour are associated
when
- A person’s group stands out (minority groups) AND
- A person’s behaviour (negative) stands out
chronic egalitarianism
people who have a consistent and automatic goal of reducing the activation of stereotypes
internal motivation to control prejudice
a self-report scale that deals with the extent to which limited prejudice is personally important
implementation intentions
if then plans given to people to help goal pursuit
example of implementation intentions
If I see a Black person, then I’ll try to be non-biased
social learning
parents and peers transmit stereotypes directly and indirectly
two forms of social learning
direct & indirect
direct social learning
rewarding or punishing for own behaviour
indirect social learning
seeing someone else’s behaviour be rewarded or punished
In experiments where one actor was treated warmly and the other coldly, five-year-old children showed:
- Greater explicit preferences for the preferred actor
- Indicated preferred actor should receive an end-of-study reward
- Adopted the label provided by the preferred actor
- Imitated the object usage of the preferred actor
media influence
films, magazines, TV, and ads present and reinforce stereotypes
stereotypes of Arab characters in the media
heartless, brutal, and uncivilized
stereotypes of Black men in the media
poor and/or criminals
stereotypes of men in the media
authorities and professionals
Portrayal of African Americans in the Media experiment
Dixon & Linz, 2000 analyzed content from 16 metropolitan news broadcasts. Found that Black people accounted for about 20% of the criminal activity but about 40% of the suspects’ pictures. Conversely, White people were underrepresented as perpetrators and overrepresented as victims.
The portrayal of African Americans in the Media experiment is an example of
archival data
representation of poor people in the news
27% of poor Americans are Black but Black people make up 63% of poor people portrayed in the top news networks. Two national surveys found that White respondents believe that more than 50% of the nation’s poor are Black
news exposure and stereotypes experiment
Dixon, 2008: studied the relationship between TV news-watching and the perception of African Americans. Found that news network exposure was negatively related to estimates of African American income and positively related to negative stereotypes
TV & news exposure and stereotypes
- Children who watch more TV have stronger gender/racial stereotypes
- Adults who watch the news have stronger stereotypes of Black people and Muslim people
can we conclude that watching the news causes greater stereotype levels?
No, we can’t make too much of these studies because they’re correlational
gender & advertising experiment
had participants write an essay imagining their life 10 years from now. Found that seeing gender stereotypes caused women to reduce expressed career ambitions, while there was a minimal effect for men.
chronic egalitarianism vs. internal motivation to control prejudice
Chronic egalitarianism is measured through free response whereas internal motivation to control prejudice is measured through self-report scales
