Lecture 16: From Prejudice to Discrimination Flashcards
are prejudice and discrimination correlated?
Prejudice and discrimination have a small correlation
resume whitening study
found that the same resumes with Black-sounding names were 50% less likely to get a callback
what prejudices are relevant for behaviour?
- global attitudes
- attitudes toward a specific target
- attitudes toward behaviour in a given time, target, and context
example of a global attitude
How much do you like Mexicans?
example of attitudes toward a specific target
How much do you like undocumented Mexican immigrants?
example of attitudes towards behaviour in a given time, target, and context
For the upcoming election, how much do you support giving undocumented Mexican immigrants a path to legal status?
what attitudes are more likely to predict behaviour?
As attitudes become more specific, they are more likely to predict behaviour
Dovidio et al., 2002 study design
White participants had a conversation with a Black confederate. They measured:
- Implicit prejudice
- Explicit prejudice
- Coders’ ratings of verbal friendliness
- Coders’ ratings of nonverbal friendliness
Dovidio et al., 2002 findings
- Explicit prejudice + verbal friendliness were significantly negatively correlated
- Implicit prejudice + nonverbal friendliness were significantly negatively correlated
hate crimes trends
- In both the U.S. and Canada, the number of hate crimes is increasing
- They increased significantly in the days following Donald Trump’s 2016 election
- Anti-Asian hate crimes, particularly verbal harassment, increased following the COVID-19 pandemic
Crandall et al., 2018 study design
participants took two measures of prejudice and perceived norms about prejudice 9-12 days before the 2016 election and 3 days after the election. they divided people into 9 groups targeted by Donald Trump’s campaign and 9 groups that weren’t
Crandall et al., 2018 findings
Self-reported prejudice went down for targeted groups following the election because people began comparing themselves to Trump and viewing themselves as less prejudiced. Prejudice was perceived to be more normatively acceptable
status quo vs. personal prejudice following same-sex marriage legalization
tracked perceptions of norms & attitudes over time and found that the perceived status quo on norms increased immediately after, but there was little change in personal prejudice
University of Wisconsin
exposure to messages about social norms of combating prejudice increased perceptions of an inclusive environment
Murrar et al., 2020: treatment of marginalized peers following an intervention
disadvantaged students exposed to social manipulation reported two weeks later that their advantaged students’ peers treated them with more respect and behaved more inclusively. Interestingly, participants who were advantaged didn’t self-report behaving in a more respectful manner following the manipulation
Murrar et al., 2020: academic performance and intervention videos
marginalized students exposed to social norms manipulation performed better in STEM courses
explanation of Murrar et al’s 2020 academic performance and intervention results
Frees up cognitive resources; less worried about being the target of discrimination
Internal motivation to respond without prejudice
motivation to be unprejudiced for its own sake
External motivation to respond without prejudice
motivations to appear unprejudiced to others
internal motivation to respond without prejudice and prejudice
Internal motivation is weakly to moderately negatively related to prejudice
external motivation to respond without prejudice and prejudice
External motivation is weakly positively related to prejudice
are internal and external motivations to control prejudice related?
no
motivation to express prejudice
a small proportion of people who want to be prejudiced, often for sake of their self concept
percentage of people who display a motivation to express prejudice
- Race: 7.0%
- Sexual orientation: 6.5%
- Political orientation: 14.3%
first-person shooter task and sleep
randomly assigned participants in the first-person shooter task to either get a full night’s rest or stay up the entire night. Racial bias increased for participants who lacked rest
factors that impact the ability to control prejudiced behaviour
- Time of day
- Age reduces the ability to inhibit automatic impulses
- Alcohol reduces inhibition
- Cognitive resources
Stanley Milgram
was interested in trying to understand situations like Nazi Germany
Eichmann trial
used following orders as a justification for the crimes he committed in Nazi Germany
Milgram’s experimental setup
the experiment was described as a study of learning. Participants were instructed to shock other participants for any wrong answers. The other person, who is a confederate, never receives any real shocks
milgram’s findings
- Everyone went up to at least 300 v (when the confederate began to pound on the wall)
- 65% went all the way to the end after that
- Everyone who reached 375 v continued to the end
factors influencing obedience
- Proximity: if you are physically or socially closer to the victim, you were less likely to comply
- Social power: if the experimenter is perceived to be less powerful, you’re less to comply
- Social status: if the setting conveys authority, you’re more likely to comply
reactions to Milgram’s results
Milgram’s results were surprising. A high % of Americans showed obedience to authority to the extent that they could have harmed another person
why did people obey in Milgram’s study?
- No exit
- Participants were motivated to follow the rules
- The feeling of responsibility is transferred to the experimenter
- The victim was blamed for their situation
- Escalating commitment can create a slippery slope
Rwandan Genocide
mass slaughter of the Tutsi by the Hutu majority from April-June 1994
number of deaths in the Rwandan genocide
500,000- 1,000,000 Tutsi were killed (70% of the Tutsi population)
role of radio stations in the Rwandan genocide
Radio stations set the stage for genocide
design of Rwandan genocide study
communities randomly assigned to reconciliation-focused soap operas or control soap operas about health
Reconciliation soap opera
featured typical Rwandans as protagonists. depicted that the roots of prejudice & violence were located in frustration with basic psychological needs and that trauma is normal and can be healed
results of the Rwandan genocide study
- Did not change personal beliefs about prejudice and violence
- Changed perceived norms about how people do and should behave in situations related to prejudice, conflict, and trauma
- Increased empathy for genocide survivors
- More likely to share radio batteries at the end of the study
what did Dr. Murrar attribute the increased performance of disadvantaged students following the intervention to?
social norms
