social categorisation Flashcards
what is personal identity?
our personality characteristics
what is social identity?
groups we are a member of, can lead to stereotypes
what is a category?
collection with a family resemblance, organised around a prototype
what are prototypes?
cognitive representation of typical defining features of a category
standards against which family resemblance is assessed and category membership decided
who suggested that categories are not rigid?
Rosch
what are the three reasons we categorise?
saves cognitive energy
clarifies and refines perception of the world
maintaining a positive self esteem
how does categorisation save cognitive energy?
saves time and cognitive processing
simplifies how individuals think about the world
how does categorisation refine our perception of the world?
when a category is activated, tend to see members as all posessing traits of the stereotype
reduces uncertainty
allows us to predict the social world
how does categorisation allow us to maintain a positive self esteem?
motivational function for self concept and social identity
what is the illusionary correlation for stereotypes?
negative stereotypes can occur when people inaccurately pair minority groups with negative events/behaviours
how did Hamilton and Sherman’s evidence support the idea of illusionary correlation?
asked White American participants to estimate the arrest rates of various types of American
African Americans were estimated to have a higher arrest rate than they did
as they were the relative minority, being arrested is negative so unusual, gives the illusion they are correlated
what are the three effects of stereotypes?
behavioural assimilation
stereotype threat
prejudice and discrimination
what is behavioural assimilation?
stereotypes don’t just influence our perceptions of others, they can also influence our own behaviour
what is stereotype threat?
the threat of negative evaluations can lead to poor performance
how did Bargh’s evidence support behavioural assimilation?
scrambled sentence task- had to make sentences out of randomly ordered words
IV= word types- either elderly or neutral words
DV= participants directed to exit, hidden confederate timed how long it took them to reach it
participants primed with elderly words behaved in ways related to an ‘elderly’ stereotype
how did Papies evidence go against behavioural assimilation?
people who want to become thinner are more likely to make healthy food choices when primed with words on a menu like ‘diet’ and ‘thin’
but this only works for people wanting a healthy diet- doesn’t make everyone avoid fatty foods
suggests people may need to already care about what is being primed
how did Steele and Aronson support the idea of stereotype threat?
when negative stereotypes define our groups, we are more likely to behave in line with them
eg) women and maths
however, the negative impact is not inevitable, reframing low expectations as a challenge instead of a threat can eliminate the effect
what is prejudice and discrimination?
strong, highly accessible negative attitude
dominated by cognitive bias and negative stereotypes
how did research into the reluctance to help relate to discrimination?
Gaetner and Dovido
participants were more reluctant to help a minority member than their own group when faced with an emergency
but only when others were present
