Prejudice & Discrimination Flashcards
Prejudice
Unfavourable attitude towards a social group and its members
Serious when associated with dehumanisation of an outgroup
o Stripping people of their dignity and humanity
The ultimate expression of prejudice by exterminating an entire social group
Content of our stereotypes can serve function of prejudice and discrimination
o Explains what group is, why the group is in that way and why they are treated the way they are
Rests on negative stereotypes of groups and often translates into aggression towards and outgroup
Pivots on (dreht sich um) the sort of people we think we are and the sorts of people we think others are
Prejudice-discrimination = attitude-behaviour
Role congruity theory
o When people behave in ways that are inconsistent with role expectations, observers react negatively
o Mainly applied to gender gap in leadership: social stereotypes of women are inconsistent with people’s schemas of effective leadership, women are evaluated as poor leaders
Reluctance to help
To make sure remain disadvantaged
Manifested only when reluctance can be attributed to some factor other than prejudice
i.e. reluctant to help black person only when other potential helpers were present
Tokenism
small/trivial positive act (token) towards members of minority group to deflect accusations of prejudice/discrimination and justify declining to engage in bigger acts
small favour (like giving money) activates negative stereotype
Reverse discrimination
publicly prejudiced in favour of minority group in order to deflect accusations
can be beneficial short-term effects but harmful in long run
someone who engages in it without apparent external pressure may actually change attitudes and self-concept in line with behaviour
when honest attempt? When actually reverse discrimination?
Stigma
= stigmatised people possess group attributes that mediate (vermitteln) a negative social evaluation of people belonging to the group
subjective experience hinges on (ist abhängig von) three factors
o visibility
visible stigmas (race, gender,…) cannot easily avoid being targeted
makes experience of prejudice inescapable
cannot conceal stigma to cope with stereotype
o concealability
allows to avoid experience of prejudice (homosexuality)
internalised stigma
cost high because untrue to themselves and stress of hiding it
divided self when open at home but not in public
o controllable
stigmas that are believed to be chosen rather than assigned (true or not)
invite more extreme reaction/discrimination because belief of controllability (obesity – fat)
try hard to escape stigma but hard when not actually controllable – end up with additional feeling of failure
self-evaluative advantage in having stigmatised outgroups as downward comparison targets
stigmatise groups to not lose sense in certainty in own world view
stigmatisation as outcome of adaptive cognitive process that helps avoid poor social exchange partners who may threaten access to resource
Stereotype threat
feeling that we will be treated and judged in terms of negative stereotypes of our group, and that we will inadvertently confirm these stereotypes by our behaviour (worry that behaviour is interpreted stereotypically)
o impairs task performance
o increase anxiety
o limits working memory
essentialism
tendency to consider behaviour to reflect underlying and immutable, often innate, properties of people/groups they belong to
Mere exposure effect
o When first encounter isn’t negative repeated exposure results in greater attraction
Frustration aggression hypothesis
= Theory that all frustration leads to aggression and all aggression comes from frustration. (Dollard 1939)
Only way to release frustration of goal achievement is through aggression (only way to dissipate (auflösen) aroused psychic energy and return to psychological equilibrium (Gleichgewicht))
Belief congruence theory
imilar beliefs promote liking and social harmony among people while dissimilar beliefs produce dislike and prejudice
