Social schemas

Question 1

What are social schemas?

Answer 1

Mental structures that organise our knowledge about the social world … other people, ourselves, social roles, and specific events (Aronson et al. 2018)

Question 2

What are features of social schemas?

Answer 2

Top-down/theory-driven.
Heavy influence of prior knowledge on thoughts and behaviours.
Active construction of reality.

Question 3

What are the types of social schema?

Answer 3

Various types.
Fiske and Taylor (1991) suggest four:
1. Event schemas.
2. Person schemas
3. Self-schemas
4. Role schemas and stereotypes.

Question 4

Outline event schemas (scripts)

Answer 4

Appropraite sequences of action.
In well-known everyday activities.
Classic.
Scripts (what we expect to happen) for:
- Our actions.
- Others’ actions.
- order of events.

Schank and Ableson (1977)
Understanding based on unconscious knowledge and implicit assumptions.
Fills in missing information once activated.

Examples include scripts for:
- Sex.
- Going to lectures.
- Life.
- Driving.

Question 5

Outline person schemas

Answer 5

Schemas about what people are like:
- Personality traits.
- Goals.
- Intentions.
Experience determines person schemas.

Question 6

Outline self schemas

Answer 6

Links to self.
“Self schematic” - clear and apply to us.
“Aschematic” - unclear and don’t apply to us.

Question 7

Outline role of schemas and stereotypes

Answer 7

Schemas for social roles and groups.
Associate:
- Characteristics.
- Entitlements.
- Emotions.
- Actions.
“Achieved roles” - acquired through effort.
“Ascribed roles” - automatic.

Stereotypes are a particular kind of role schema that organises people’s expectations about other people who fall into certain social categories (Fiske and Taylor, 1991).

Originally Lippmann (1922) and psychanalytic theory suggested stereotypes are only negative.
Schema theory suggests that stereotypes potentially negative, or neutral, or positive.

Implications:
- Stereotypes are beyond our control.
- Only way to not stereotype is to never have had it.

Implicit attitudes:
A way to find schemas in our heads that we don’t have to act on found via reaction times in the method known as implicit association tests (IATs).

Dovidio et al. (1986):
Asked white participants “could this ever be true of” black/white people for both positive and negative traits.
Found that:
- Negative traits: faster response to black people target.
- Positive traits: faster response to white people target.
However, reaction times unreleated to if agreed/disagreed with the stereotypical judgement.
Concluded that biases are implicit - based on schemas. But you don’t have to act on them.

Hill et al. (1989) looked at schemas and sadness:
Stage 1 - participants rate people they know on some traits (including sadness).
Stage 2 - participants watch six 2-minute videos. Voiceover says videoed target is thinking about a private problem.
Half: target always a man. Half: target always a women.
Stage 3: two weeks later - participants rate people they know again.
Before the videos -> no schema for sadness linked to male/female gender.
After:
- Sad man condition: rated men they knew as sadder, rated women they knew as less sad.
- Sad women condition: rated women they knew as sadder, rated men they knew as less sad.
So lab manipulation seems to affect lasting gender scehmas -> applied to people they actually know.

Social schemas and groups:
Categorisation into groups minimising within-group differences, and maximinsing between group differences (‘outgroup homogeneity effect’).

Stereotypes and emotion
Fiske (1982):
- Stereotype-triggered emotions (affect).
- Some stereotypes have an affective/evaluative component.
- Matching an instance to a stereotype automatically cues the evaluation/emotions stored.

Stereotype content model (SCM) and emotions
Looks at the relationship between:
- Stereotypes of social groups.
- Emotions.
- Behaviours.
SCM focuses on two key stereotype dimensions:
- Competence: members’ skill and intelligence that allow them to reach their goals.
- Warmth: members’ intentions towards others (not in their group).
Crossing the two dimensions produces four quadrants = four emotions:
High warmth and low competence = pity.
Low warmth and low competence = contempt.
High warmth and high competence = admiration.
Low warmth and high competence = envy.

Models have been demonstrated, cross-culturally replicated, and applied (e.g. to mental health stigma).

Question 8

Critique of schemas

Answer 8

• Can be evoled to explain any results and its opposite.
  Biggest critique: social representations theory.