Lecture 7 Flashcards
What is terror management theory?
2 contrasting human characteristics resulting in terror- 1) Self-preservation instinct and 2) knowledge that death is inevitable. This is universal. Trying to avoid the unavoidable leads to terror
How do we deal with terror?
By identifying strongly with cultural and social institutions that transcend time and death-creates a motivation to defend culture.
Why does a motivation to defend culture result in prejudice?
Due to the fact that we feel a need to reinforce our own culture while also invalidating others.
What happens if we induce mortality salience manipulations in a lab?
Christians evaluated Jews more negatively
Americans evaluated a Japanese company more negatively
Whites stereotyped Germans more
What types of people did the people in the mortality salience manipulation prefer?
Stereotype consistent minority group members (due to cognitive shortcut)
What was Bassett and Connelly’s study on mortality?
Evaluations of undocumented immigrants under mortality salience.
Independent variables: fear of death or personality scale
Target nationality: Culturally similar (Canadian), or dissimilar (Mexican).
DV: attitudes towards immigrant target (in both conditions the immigrants were undocumented to America)
What were the results of Bassett and Connelly’s study?
Reactions to Canadian immigrants did not differ between conditions. Reactions to Mexican immigrants were more negative after mortality salience due to the fact that they are a culturally dissimilar outgroup.
What is empathy?
An other-oriented emotional response congruent with anothers perceived welfare; if other is oppressed or in need, empathetic feelings include sympathy, compassion, and tenderness.
Does empathy lead to an increase or decrease in prejudice?
Decrease
What are the 4 components of empathy?
1) Perspective taking
2) Empathic concern
3) Personal distress
4) Fantasy
What is perspective taking?
The ability to adopt the psychological perspective of another
What is empathic conern?
Tendency to feel sympathy/compassion for others
What is personal distress?
Tendency to experience distress in response to others distress
What is fantasy?
Tendency to imaginatively transpose oneself into fictional situations
What happens if you’re higher on one measure of empathy?
You’re typically higher on the others
What is higher empathy associated with?
Lower sexism, racism, prejudice to gay men, lesbians, disabled people, aboriginal people. Lowered prejudice in general.
What happens if you experience empathy on a group level?
Lower prejudice on interpersonal and group level, but stronger on an intergroup level.
What did Batson et al look at with regards to how empathy affects prejudice?
Perspective taking generates empathic feelings, leading us to value the individual more-greater group value means there are more positive attitudes about that group.
How do we experimentally induce empathy?
Listen to an interview with a stigmitized group member and either try to imagine taking their perspective OR imagine nothing. Another way is to write about a day in the life of an outgroup member
What is old-fashioned prejudice?
More socially acceptable to be prejudiced in general-segregation, sexist ads, more blatant discrimination. Nowadays it is more subtle.
What type of prejudice is more so studied?
Controversial prejudice- some think they are acceptable, others do not
What groups make up the area of controversial prejudice?
Women, racial minorities, immigrants.
What are the historical trends of prejudice?
Prejudice mobves from acceptable, to controversial, to unacceptable.
What is symbolic prejudice (more specifically, symbolic racism)
Beliefs portraying black people as morally inferior to whites-black people supposedly violate traditional white American values like hard work and self reliance.
How are symbolic prejudices expressed?
Behaviourally (voting against black candidates, opposing affirmitive action, opposing desegregation, thinking racism is a thing of the past).
