Prejudice Flashcards
prejudice
- affective component
- hostile or negative toward people in a distinguishable group
- based solely on their membership in that group
- people can hold prejudices against others
- race, ethnicity, gender, obesity, sexuality, etc.
stereotype
- cognitive component
- generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group
- resistant to change, once formed
- regardless of actual variation among members
- purpose
1. organize info (readily accessible - automatic processing)
2. do not necessarily lead to negative behaviours
hostile stereotypes
negative stereotypes about groups of people
benevolent stereotypes
- positive stereotypes of groups of people
- although these stereotypes may be positive, they create unrealistic expectations + inequitable treatments of members of a particular group
stereotypes: gender
- exaggerates differences between sexes
- ignores differences in personality traits/abilities within each gender
- established at early age
- we associate several occupations with mainly one gender
- influences choice of profession and salary expectation
- Doll test
discrimination
- behavioural component
- unjustified negative or harmful action toward member of group simply because their membership in that group
- any group stigmatized in a society will experience blatant/subtle discrimination
measuring prejudice
- modern racism scale
- a measure of racial prejudice in which people indicate their level of agreement with prejudice statements - neosexism scale
- measure of sexist attitudes where participants = asked to evaluate how much they agree with sexist statements
causes of prejudice
- social categorization
- we make sense of our social word by putting people into groups according to characteristics
- useful + necessary
- categories are typically learned - newborns don’t show this at 3 months - in-group bias
- tendency to evaluate in-group members more positively than out-group members
- tendency to discriminate outgroup = strongest when individuals choose their groups
why do we show in-group bias
- belonging to a group gives us a social identity
- having a social identity contributes to self-esteem
reducing prejudice through social categorization
- promote common identity between in/out group members
- encourage self-affirmation
activation of stereotypes
- automatic processing
- trigger steretypes under certain conditions and without control - controlled process
- conscious decisions to suppress the stereotype
refer to cartoon on powerpoint, slide 25
stereotypes: activating automatic thinking
- motivation to control prejudice
- need to feel good about ourselves
- we will activate negative stereotypes when they boost self-esteem, and suppress them when they interfere with self-esteem
meta-stereotypes
- level of prejudice also depends on this
- person’s beliefs regarding the stereotype that outgroup members hold about their own group
ultimate attribution error
- tendency to make dispositional attributions about an entire group of people
- for out-groups: poor outcomes = dispositions, successful outcomes = situational causes
realistic conflict theory
- limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in more prejudice and discrimination
- e.g. Robbers Cave experiment
- mutual interdependence
mutual interdependence
- situation in which 2+ groups need each other + must depend on each other to accomplish a goal that is important to everybody
- prejudice can be decreased by creation of common goals
conform - normative rules
- many hold prejudiced attitudes + engage in discrimination to conform with majority’s view
- injunction
- motivated tendency to see status quo as most desirable
- those who think this are more likely to endorse stereotypes
individual differences regarding prejudice
research show people higher in following = more likely to hold negative attitudes towards out-groups than others
1. authoritarianism
2. religious fundamentalism
3. social dominance orientation
authoritarianism
- high degree of submission to authority figures
- aggression towards groups that are seen as legitimate targets by authority figures
- high degree of conformity to rules established by authority figures
religious fundamentalism
- blieve in absolute + literal truth of one’s religious beliefs
- believe that their religion = right + that forces of evil are threatening to undermine truth
- not to be confused with being religious
social dominance
- believe groups of people = inherently unequal
- believe it is acceptable for some groups to benefit more than others
self-fulfilling prophecies
- when member of disadvantaged group = mistreated by member of majority group
- disadvantaged group = unlikely to perform well
- thereby confirming to majority group the negative stereotype + perpetuating discrimination
- refer to powerpoint, slide 38
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO SOCIAL FACILIATION
social identity threat: stereotype threat
- apprehension experienced by minority group
- afraid they might behave in a manner that confirms an existing stereotype
- being reminded of negative stereotype may impair performance on relevant task
social identity threat: solutions to overcoming stereotypes
- reminding students of their abilities
- reminding people that their abilities are not fixed, but improbable
- having people engage in self-affirmation before starting a task
decreasing prejudice
- changing stereotypes
- the Contact Hypothesis
- the Extended Contact Hypothesis
- the Jigsaw Classroom
decreasing prejudice: changing stereotypes
exposure to counter-stereotypical examples can cause people to modify their attitudes over time
decreasing prejudice: the Contact Hypothesis
bringing members of different groups toegther if condition are met
1. both groups have equal status
2. share common goal
3. contact involves intergroup cooperation
4. contact = supported by societal norms
decreasing prejudice: the Extended Contact Hypothesis
if member of ingroup = close with member of out-group, less prejudice against that group
decreasing prejudice: the Jigsaw Classroom
- classroom setting designed to decrease prejudice and raise self-esteem
1. placing them in small desegrated groups
2. each child = dependent on others to learn material + do well in the class
