OB Prejudice Chapter 13 for Midterm Flashcards
ubiquitous
allgegenwärtig
Is prejudice is ubiquitous?
Yes
Does it flow from minority to majority group?
Yes it flows from minority to majority group and the other way around too
On what can prejudice be based on?
Nationality Political allies Ethnic identity Gender Sexual orientation Religion Appearance Phyiscal state Profession Hobbies
Definition of Prejudice
Prejudice is an attitude (Three parts of attitude: affective (gefühlsbedingt) or emotional, a cognitive and a behavioral component).
People hold attitudes and act on them as well. Prejudice refers to the general attitude structure and its affective component. Positive and negative prejudices are both possible. Social psychologists primarily refer to prejudice as being negative.
A definition on this context:
Prejudice is a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their membership in that group.
What does a person who has a prejudice do?
The person who has a negative attitude toward people from a certain group, assigns characteristics of an individual to a group as a whole.
Does a stereotype change on the basis of new information?
No, stereotypes are resistant to change on the basis of new information.
Is stereotyping a cognitive process? Why?
Yes, stereotyping is a cognitive process (Three parts of attitude: affective (gefühlsbedingt) or emotional, a cognitive and a behavioral component). It often is merely a technique we use to simplify how we look at the world. However, if the stereotype blinds us to individual differences within a class of people it is maladaptive (fehlangepasst), unfair and potentially abusive.
Is there a behavioral component in prejudice?
Yes, the behavioral component is part of the attitude (Three parts of attitude: affective (gefühlsbedingt) or emotional, a cognitive and a behavioral component)
The behavioral component is discrimination:
Discrimination is an unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because of their membership in that group.
What causes prejudice?
Probably it is based on our genes (biological makeup). However, the specifics are learned.
Social Cognition leads to prejudice
Human cognition categorizes and groups information. This can lead to prejudice.
First step in prejudice
Social Categorization
- Social Categorization (US versus them), this is useful and necessary, however, this simple cognitive process has profound implications (Auswirkungen)
In-group bias
In-group bias refers to positive feelings and special treatment for people we have defined as being part of our in-group.
Negative feelings and unfair treatment for other simply because we defined them as being in the out-group.
What is the motive for in-group bias?
It is self- esteem. Individuals seek to enhance their self-esteem by identifying with special social groups. Yet self-esteem will be enhanced only if the individual sees these groups as superior to other groups.
Out-group homogeneity
Out-group homogeneity:
The perception that individuals in the out-group are more similar to each other than they really are, as well as more similar than the members of the in-group are.
The failure of logic
It’s very hard to change people’s mind about their prejudice, even with rational, logical reasons.
logical arguments are not effective when countering emotions.
information consistent with the attitude will be given more attention, will be rehearsed more often and will therefore be remembered better than information that contradicts the attitude.
Persistence of Stereotypes
stereotypes are cultural beliefs.
Even if we don’t belief in a certain stereotype we can still easily recognize them as common beliefs held by others.
The activation of stereotypes
implicit (stillschweigend) prejudice is a phenomenon where negative stereotyping operates below the person’s level of conscious awareness..
Automatic and controlled processing of stereotypes
For people who are not deeply prejudiced, their control processes can suppress or override these stereotypes.
Justification-Suppression Model of Prejudice
Most people struggle btw. their urge of expressing prejudice and their need to maintain a positive self-concept.
However, we are programmed to look for information that will enable us to convince ourselves that there is a valid justification for holding a negative attitude toward a particular out-group.
Once we find a valid justification for disliking this group, we can act against them and avoid cognitive dissonance.
The illusory correlation
Our cognitive processing perpetuates (verewigt) stereotypical thinking is through the phenomenon of illusory correlation.
Illusory correlation
is the tendency to see relationships, or correlation, between events that are actually unrelated.
Most likely to occur when the events or people are distinctive or conspicuous (auffällig).
Can we change stereotypical beliefs?
- when confronted with one example –> no, we develop a stronger belief in the stereotype because we come up with more reasons for holding that belief.
- when bombarded with many examples that are inconsistent with the stereotype, we gradually modify their beliefs.
Attributional Bias
Dispositional explanation
Stereotypes are dispositional attributions
humans tend to make dispositional attributes (to leap to the conclusion that a person’s behaviour is due to some aspect of his or her personality rather than to some aspect of the situation)
Stereotypes are dispositional attributions
ultimate attribution error
our tendency to make dispositional attributions about an individual’s negative behaviour to an entire group of people
stereotype threat
is the apprehension (Befürchtung) experienced by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype.
Blaming the victim
refers to the tendency to blame individuals (make dispositional attributions) for their victimization, typically motivated by a desire to see the world as a fair place.
self-fulfilling prophecies
is the case whereby people have an expectation about what another person is like, which influences how they act toward that person, which causes that person to behave in a way consistent with people’s original expectations.
realistic conflict theory
holds that limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in prejudice and discrimination
scapegoating
refers to the tendency for individuals, when frustrated or unhappy, to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible and relatively powerless
institutionalized racism
refers to racist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm.
institutionalized sexism
refers to sexist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm.
normative conformity
is a phenomenon that is known as the tendency to go along with the group in order to fulfill the group’s expectations and gain acceptance.
modern racism
outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes is called modern racism
- if the situation is “safe” they reveal their prejudice
subtle sexism
hostile sexists hold stereotypical views of women that suggest that women are inferior to men.
benevolent sexists hold stereotypically positive views of women. But still underneath it all benevolent sexists assume that women are the weaker sex.
Six conditions for when contact reduces prejudice (has to be repeated)
- Mutual interdependence
- common goal
- equal status
- contact must occur in a friendly, informal setting
- multiple contacts: contact with different people from the out-group
- social norms that promote and support equality among groups are operating in the situation
bias
Bias is a tendency to lean in a certain direction, often to the detriment of an open mind. Those who are biased tend to believe what they want to believe, refusing to take into consideration the opinions of others. To truly be biased, it means you’re lacking a neutral viewpoint. Sprouting from cultural contexts, biases tend to take root within an ethnic group, social class, or religion.
