OB Prejudice Chapter 13 for Midterm

Question 1

ubiquitous

Answer 1

allgegenwärtig

Question 2

Is prejudice is ubiquitous?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Does it flow from minority to majority group?

Answer 3

Yes it flows from minority to majority group and the other way around too

Question 4

On what can prejudice be based on?

Answer 4

Nationality
Political allies
Ethnic identity
Gender
Sexual orientation
Religion
Appearance
Phyiscal state
Profession
Hobbies

Question 5

Definition of Prejudice

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

What does a person who has a prejudice do?

Answer 6

The person who has a negative attitude toward people from a certain group, assigns characteristics of an individual to a group as a whole.

Question 7

Does a stereotype change on the basis of new information?

Answer 7

No, stereotypes are resistant to change on the basis of new information.

Question 8

Is stereotyping a cognitive process? Why?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Is there a behavioral component in prejudice?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

What causes prejudice?

Answer 10

Probably it is based on our genes (biological makeup). However, the specifics are learned.

Question 11

Social Cognition leads to prejudice

Answer 11

Human cognition categorizes and groups information. This can lead to prejudice.

Question 12

First step in prejudice

Social Categorization

Answer 12

1. Social Categorization (US versus them), this is useful and necessary, however, this simple cognitive process has profound implications (Auswirkungen)

Question 13

In-group bias

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

What is the motive for in-group bias?

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Out-group homogeneity

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

The failure of logic

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Persistence of Stereotypes

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

The activation of stereotypes

Answer 18

implicit (stillschweigend) prejudice is a phenomenon where negative stereotyping operates below the person’s level of conscious awareness..

Question 19

Automatic and controlled processing of stereotypes

Answer 19

For people who are not deeply prejudiced, their control processes can suppress or override these stereotypes.

Question 20

Justification-Suppression Model of Prejudice

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

The illusory correlation

Answer 21

Our cognitive processing perpetuates (verewigt) stereotypical thinking is through the phenomenon of illusory correlation.

Question 22

Illusory correlation

Answer 22

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).

Question 23

Can we change stereotypical beliefs?

Answer 23

• 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.

Question 24

Attributional Bias

Dispositional explanation

Answer 24

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

Question 25

ultimate attribution error

Answer 25

our tendency to make dispositional attributions about an individual’s negative behaviour to an entire group of people

Question 26

stereotype threat

Answer 26

is the apprehension (Befürchtung) experienced by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype.

Question 27

Blaming the victim

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

self-fulfilling prophecies

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

realistic conflict theory

Answer 29

holds that limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in prejudice and discrimination

Question 30

scapegoating

Answer 30

refers to the tendency for individuals, when frustrated or unhappy, to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible and relatively powerless

Question 31

institutionalized racism

Answer 31

refers to racist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm.

Question 32

institutionalized sexism

Answer 32

refers to sexist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm.

Question 33

normative conformity

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

modern racism

Answer 34

outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes is called modern racism

• if the situation is “safe” they reveal their prejudice

Question 35

subtle sexism

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

Six conditions for when contact reduces prejudice (has to be repeated)

Answer 36

• 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

Question 37

bias

Answer 37

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.