S2 Topic 2 - Prejudice and Discrimination

Question 1

What is prejudice (3)

Answer 1

• holding of derogatory social attitudes/beliefs…
• expression of negative affect…
• or display of hostile/discriminatory behaviour…

…towards members of a group on basis of their belonging to the group

Question 2

What are the problems with prejudice? (3)

Answer 2

• leads to dehumanization
• leads to discrimination
• leads to violence and genocide

Question 3

Distinguish between discrimination and prejudice (2)

Answer 3

Prejudice - irrational opinion formed about a person or group in advance without sufficient knowledge, facts or reasons

Discrimination - unequal treatment of a person because of their belonging to a certain group

Question 4

Which are some of the groups targeted by prejudice and discrimination? (5)

Answer 4

gender, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation

Question 5

Explain the concepts of the glass ceiling and glass cliff (2)

Answer 5

Glass ceiling - barrier that prevents women and other minorities from attaining top leadership positions

Glass cliff - tendency for women to be appointed to precarious leadership positions associated with a high probability of failure and criticism

Question 6

In what ways has life improved in terms of prejudice? (3)

Answer 6

• Decrease in blatant sex discrimination
• Gender discrimination is illegal in some countries
• Sexism is socially unacceptable

Question 7

How does ageism affect the elderly?

Answer 7

• treated as worthless and powerless members of society
• denied basic human rights
• their special needs are ignored

Question 8

Name 3 milestones reached in terms of homophobia

Answer 8

• APA removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders
• progressive liberalization of attitudes towards same sex relations
• legalization of same sex marriages in Malta

Question 9

What are 4 offenses commonly done against members of the LGBT community?

Answer 9

• Bullying
• Denied jobs
• Denied appropriate healthcare
• Violence and harassment

Question 10

How is discrimination seen against disabled people? (3)

Answer 10

• seen as incompetent
• people are uneasy in their presence
• patronizing behaviour

Question 11

What are covert ways in which prejudice and discrimination are expressed? (3)

Answer 11

• Reluctance to help minority groups improve their position in society
• Tokenism
• Reverse discrimination

Question 12

What is tokenism? (2)

Answer 12

• publicly making small concessions to a minority group to deflect accusations of prejudice
• making a small positive act as a justification for declining to engage in larger positive acts

Question 13

What is reverse discrimination?

Answer 13

publicly being prejudiced in favour of a minority group in order to deflect accusation of prejudice against that group

Question 14

What is a stigma?

Answer 14

group characteristics that mediate a negative social evaluation of people belonging to the group

Question 15

Distinguish between visible and concealable stigmas

Answer 15

Visible - makes the experience of prejudice inescapable

Concealable - can allow people to avoid prejudice

Question 16

Distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable stigmas (2)

Give examples for each (2)

Answer 16

Controllable - membership is perceived to be volitional and therefore, escapable - hence results in more extreme discrimination

e.g., many view obesity as controllable identities

Uncontrollable - membership is perceived to be involuntary and inescapable - hence results in less extreme discrimination

e.g., being physically disabled is not that person’s choice

Question 17

What are the psychological effects of prejudice and discrimination? (3)

Answer 17

• internalized sense of failure, lack of motivation
• attributional ambiguity
• self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 18

What is attributional ambiguity?

Answer 18

the difficulty in determining whether a negative experience is due to discrimination

Question 19

Explain the frustration-aggression hypothesis

Why is it wrong in reality? (2)

Answer 19

• aggressive behaviour is caused by frustration and frustration always leads to aggression

Reality:
- frustration is not necessary nor sufficient for aggression
- reductionist approach

Question 20

What is displacement in terms of prejudice?

Answer 20

aggression is displaced on a weaker group when the target group is too powerful to be aggressed against

Question 21

Explain the authoritarian personality (2)

Answer 21

a personality syndrome originating in childhood that predisposes individuals to be prejudiced

brought about by autocratic and punitive child-rearing practices

Question 22

What is dogmatism? (2)

Answer 22

• close mindedness which predisposes people to be prejudiced
• resistance to belief change in light of new info

Question 23

What is right-wing authoritarianism? (3)

Answer 23

• dogmatism
• punitive attitudes toward questioning and defecting
• desire for strong authority figures

Question 24

Explain the Social Dominance Theory

Answer 24

people who desire their own group to be superior to outgroups accept myths that legitimize hierarchy and discrimination and reject egalitarian ideologies

Question 25

Explain the Belief Congruence Theory (2)

Answer 25

• similar beliefs promote liking and social harmony and confirm the validity of our own beliefs
• prejudice is an individual’s reaction to perceived lack of congruence to belief systems