Social psychological approaches to prejudice Flashcards
What is prejudice?
To prejudge someone or something.
Give three examples of prejudice.
- Racism.
- Sexism.
- Ageism.
What is prejudice in relation to psychology?
Thinking and acting less positively towards members of our outgroups compared with our ingroups.
What are three of common themes Milner found when exploring all the definitions of prejudice?
- It is an attitude.
- It is a preconception.
- It is rigid and resilient.
What two accounts of personality show relation to prejudice?
Authoritarian and social dominance theory.
What did Adorno et al. suggest about authoritarian personality?
They identified 9 dimensions of authoritarianism and developed a scale to understand the extent of these traits. This is known as the F scale.
What did Adorno say the dimensions were based on?
Freud’s psychodynamic theory.
List five of Adorno’s dimensions.
- Conventionalism.
- Authoritarian submission.
- Authoritarian aggression.
- Power.
- Destructiveness.
What is one limitation of Adorno’s dimensions?
Psychodynamic underpinnings of authoritarianism are difficult to establish empirically (not testifiable).
Who challenged Adorno’s theory?
Altemeyer.
What dimensions did Altemeyer show support for and what were these called?
- Conventionalism.
- Authoritarian submission.
- Authoritarian aggression.
Known as the right-wing authoritarianism scale (RWA-scale).
What did Alteneyer say the dimensions were based on?
The idea that you begin life submissive to your parents, then with time this changes. If you experience unfair treatment with outgroups or authority figures you lose these authoritarian beliefs
What would a high score in RWA suggest? (3)
- Faulty reasoning.
- Lack of insight into their failings.
- Hostility towards outgroups.
Within social dominance theory, what sorts of people are more likely to be in topgroups?
- Men.
- Older people.
What is social dominance theory?
Social dominance theory is a theory of group conflict. Suggests society is structured into group-based social hierarchies. Groups at the top of the hierarchy have more social value than groups at the bottom of the hierarchy.