Prejudice: Social Identity Theory (Situational) Flashcards
What does this theory suggest brings about prejudice?
The presence of another group.
Define ‘social identity’.
A person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership.
Give 3 examples of social groups.
1) Social class
2) Gender
3) Ethnicity
What did Tajfel (1979) propose causes stereotyping?
The tendency to group things together.
Define ‘in-group’.
The group which we belong to.
Define ‘out-group’.
Groups that are different to our own.
What mentality leads to in and out groups?
The concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’.
How do in-groups enhance their self-esteem?
By seeking negative aspects of the out-groups.
Give an example of an in-group and out-group situation in prejudice.
The events of German with the Nazis and the Jews that lead to genocide.
Tajfel proposed that there are 3 cognitive processes involved in evaluating others as “us” and “them”, what are they?
1) Social categorisation
2) Social Identification
3) Social comparison
Briefly describe social categorisation.
- We categorise humans in order to understand them and the social environment
- Seeing yourself as part of a group due to shared traits and interests
- We define appropriate behaviour by referencing the norms of groups we belong to
Briefly describe social identification.
- We adopt the identity of the group we belong to through their norms and values by changing behaviour and appearance
- Your self-esteem will become bound with the group membership
Briefly describe social comparison.
- Viewing your in-group and superior and using group identity to compare yourself with outgroups
- We find negative things about other groups to compare to maintain our self-esteem
- This can lead to prejudice and discrimination of out-groups
Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘evidence’ points.
P - Tajfel’s (1970) minimal groups study supports
E - Found that minimal groups of boys awarded their own group with points instead of sharing
E - Demonstrates that we have in-group favouritism
P - Wetherall’s (1982) study rejects
E - Found that Polynesian children were more generous to the out-group in comparison of attitudes with white children
E - This demonstrates there are cultural differences as some emphasise cooperation
Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate a ‘how’ point.
P - Tajfel’s (1970) minimal groups study lacks generalisability
E - The sample used 14-15 year old school boys from Bristol
E - This cannot be generalised to groups of people who aren’t at school or are ages such as 40+ from different cultures