Prejudice and Discrimination Flashcards
Prejudice
An unfavourable or negative attitude towards members of a particular group, solely based on their membership to the group.
Old-fashioned Prejudice
Members of the majority group openly express their prejudicial attitude toward minority groups.
Modern Prejudice
A more subtle, hidden and expressed in ways which is socially acceptable.
Discrimination
The positive or negative behaviour toward members of a particular group that expresses the prejudiced attitude.
Direct Discrimination
When someone is treated unfavourably based on a personal characteristic.
Indirect Discrimination
When treating everybody the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristics.
Sustained Contact
Contact between groups or individuals must be maintained over a period of time.
The Contact Hypothesis
Certain types of direct contact between groups can reduce prejudice. This leads to a re-evaluation of incorrect stereotypes.
Mutual Interdependence
Rivalry and prejudice will reduce if groups are mutually dependent on one another. This leads to break down in stereotypes.
Superordinate Goals
A goal that cannot be achieved by any one group alone and overrides other existing goals that a group may have.
Equality of Status
The importance or standing of the group when compared to other groups. When status between groups is not equal, group members view other group members differently - often negatively. Reducing inequity between groups can reduce prejudice.
Cognitive Interventions
Involve challenging and therefore changing the way someone thinks about prejudice.
Devine (1989)
Proposed 3 steps in cognitive interventions to reducing the prejudiced attitudes of an individual:
1 - the individual must decide that their prejudiced attitude the wrong.
2 - they must hold to their non prejudiced beliefs and incorporate them into their sense of self.
3 - the individual must suppress prejudice reactions from conscious awareness and deliberately replace them with non prejudiced responses.
