situation affecting prejudice

Question 1

ingroup and outgroup - P1, A01

Answer 1

the ingroup is the group to which we see ourselves as belonging and the outgroup compromises of anyone who is not part of the ingroup
humans have a strong desire to ‘belong’ to a group and we derive self-esteem through group membership and the acceptance of others
a large amount of human behaviour is driven by the motivation to maintain a positive sense of self as a valued member of ‘the group’

Question 2

strength of situation affecting prejudice - P1, A01

Answer 2

a strength of the situation affecting prejudice is supporting evidence from Tajfel’s minimal groups study.
Tajfel found that minimal groups of boys awarded their own group with more points instead of sharing the boys opted to maximise the difference in points awarded to the ingroup compared with the outgroup, even if this reduced the total final sum of points which was awarded to the ingroup
therefore, this shows that that we have in-group favouritism and this can lead to prejudice and discrimination towards outgroup members

Question 3

COUNTER ARGUMENT TO strength of situation affecting prejudice - P1, A01

Answer 3

however, Tajfel’s study lacks generalisability
this is because the sample which was used was only made up of 14-15 year old boys from Bristol.
therefore the results of ingroup favouritism and showing discrimination towards can out group cannot be generalised to groups of people who aren’t at school or are ages such as 40+ from different cultures

Question 4

competition increases prejudice and conflict - P2, A01

Answer 4

Intergroup conflict is when prejudice and hostility intensify when two or more groups are striving for the same goal.
Sherif suggested that the key to prejudice is any type of competition.
For example, in competitive sport where two local teams are competing for a spot in a regional finals. Both teams are striving for the same goal of reaching that spot, so there would be an increase in animosity between the players and the fans.

Question 5

Strength of intergroup conflict - P2, A03

Answer 5

One strength of situation affecting prejudice is that it is supported by Sherif’s 1961 study.
Stage 2 of the Robbers Cave study created intergroup competition in a sporting tournament – only one group could win and there were prizes only for the winners.
A situation of negative interdependence developed, during which violence and prejudice increased (very few of the outgroup boys were names as friends). Therefore, this means that the findings that a situation of negative interdependence rose, during which prejudice and violence increased demonstrates that when individuals are put in a situation of competition it does lead to intergroup hostility and prejudice

Question 6

COUNTER ARGUMENT TO Strength of intergroup conflict - P2, A03

Answer 6

However, the results found that when individuals are put in a situation of competition it does lead to intergroup hostility and prejudice could be due to individual differences
An individual who has an authoritarian personality may display a higher level of prejudice and discrimination towards outgroup members than individuals who do not have an authoritarian personality
Therefore, levels of prejudice can vary depending on personality type as those who do not have an authroitarian personality display less prejudice than those who do have an authoritarian personality