Prejudice

Question 1

prejudice

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

stereotype

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

hostile stereotypes

Answer 3

negative stereotypes about groups of people

Question 4

benevolent stereotypes

Answer 4

• positive stereotypes of groups of people
• although these stereotypes may be positive, they create unrealistic expectations + inequitable treatments of members of a particular group

Question 5

stereotypes: gender

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

discrimination

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

measuring prejudice

Answer 7

1. modern racism scale
   - a measure of racial prejudice in which people indicate their level of agreement with prejudice statements
2. neosexism scale
   - measure of sexist attitudes where participants = asked to evaluate how much they agree with sexist statements

Question 8

causes of prejudice

Answer 8

1. 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
2. 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

Question 9

why do we show in-group bias

Answer 9

• belonging to a group gives us a social identity
• having a social identity contributes to self-esteem

Question 10

reducing prejudice through social categorization

Answer 10

• promote common identity between in/out group members
• encourage self-affirmation

Question 11

activation of stereotypes

Answer 11

1. automatic processing
   - trigger steretypes under certain conditions and without control
2. controlled process
   - conscious decisions to suppress the stereotype
   refer to cartoon on powerpoint, slide 25

Question 12

stereotypes: activating automatic thinking

Answer 12

1. motivation to control prejudice
2. 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

Question 13

meta-stereotypes

Answer 13

• level of prejudice also depends on this
• person’s beliefs regarding the stereotype that outgroup members hold about their own group

Question 14

ultimate attribution error

Answer 14

• tendency to make dispositional attributions about an entire group of people
• for out-groups: poor outcomes = dispositions, successful outcomes = situational causes

Question 15

realistic conflict theory

Answer 15

• limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in more prejudice and discrimination
• e.g. Robbers Cave experiment
• mutual interdependence

Question 16

mutual interdependence

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

conform - normative rules

Answer 17

1. many hold prejudiced attitudes + engage in discrimination to conform with majority’s view
2. injunction
   - motivated tendency to see status quo as most desirable
   - those who think this are more likely to endorse stereotypes

Question 18

individual differences regarding prejudice

Answer 18

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

Question 19

authoritarianism

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

religious fundamentalism

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

social dominance

Answer 21

• believe groups of people = inherently unequal
• believe it is acceptable for some groups to benefit more than others

Question 22

self-fulfilling prophecies

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

social identity threat: stereotype threat

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

social identity threat: solutions to overcoming stereotypes

Answer 24

1. reminding students of their abilities
2. reminding people that their abilities are not fixed, but improbable
3. having people engage in self-affirmation before starting a task

Question 25

decreasing prejudice

Answer 25

1. changing stereotypes
2. the Contact Hypothesis
3. the Extended Contact Hypothesis
4. the Jigsaw Classroom

Question 26

decreasing prejudice: changing stereotypes

Answer 26

exposure to counter-stereotypical examples can cause people to modify their attitudes over time

Question 27

decreasing prejudice: the Contact Hypothesis

Answer 27

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

Question 28

decreasing prejudice: the Extended Contact Hypothesis

Answer 28

if member of ingroup = close with member of out-group, less prejudice against that group

Question 29

decreasing prejudice: the Jigsaw Classroom

Answer 29

• 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