social: stereotypes Flashcards

Question

_________ is the explanation by Hamilton & Gifford (1976) that argued that when 2 statistically infrequent events (minority group and negative behaviour) are paired, the correlation between the 2 are overestimated due to their distinctiveness (false illusory correlation)

Answer 1

illusory correlation

Answer 2

minority group perform negative behaviour → better encoding of that distinctive info → better recall → overestimation of relationship → formation of negative stereotype/prejudice

Answer 3

ppts read statements describing behaviour of group A (majority) and group B (minority) statements sampled from real world group B has less statements than A due to being smaller group but same ratio of + to - behaviours (9:4) ppts presented with statements again and asked to indicate which behaviours were formed by which group prediction → group B → negative behaviours should be most distinctive → ppts should overestimate the number of - behaviours performed by group B

Answer 4

stereotypes act as an energy saving device → simplifies info processing and reduces cognitive load stereotypes = judgement heuristics (mental shortcuts for social perception) stereotypes may serve as a justification function → system justification theory

Answer 5

argues that people want to believe that social systems are fair and legitimate, so stereotypes help rationalise any inequality that exists. even the disadvantaged stereotype group justify their own stereotypes

Answer 6

Macrae et al (1994) dual task paradigm → divide cognitive resources between 2 tasks at once study 1: ppts given names and personality traits and asked to form impressions of people while listening to audio track. experimental condition = given category labels so could use stereotypes to form impressions e.g. John, skinhead, rebellious control condition = no category labels e.g. John, rebellious (if using stereotypes saves cognitive resources, ppts who are able to use stereotypes should remember more about the audio track) results: experimental condition performed better than control with higher no. of correct answers to audio tape Qs → saved resources

Answer 7

study looks at the impact of benevolent stereotypes male and female ppts control = exposed to no stereotypes experimental = exposed to benevolent (+) stereotypes → women as communal (warm, nurturing) → men as agentic (leadership, independent) (classic stereotypes of genders) and both types of stereotypes after exposure and priming to these stereotypes, ppts completed questionnaire assessing agreement with current gender relations and sex role divisions to see if stereotypes affect system justification results: → men showed no difference with no exposure and exposure to stereotypes → women showed a lower system justification with no exposure compared to exposure (supports theory)

Answer 8

→ biases in exposure to information → biases in interpretation of information → self fulfilling prophecy check notes for descriptions and evidence

Answer 9

activation = the degree to which a stereotype is accessible in the mind application = the actual use of activated stereotypes in judgements → forming an impression

Answer 10

measures to assess whether someone uses stereotypes in judgments e.g. ask ppt to form impression of outgroup member → then asked to rate degree that member possesses certain stereotypic traits

Answer 11

lexical decision task reaction time, implicit task testing black word stimuli and how fast real words are noticed red category label stimuli facilities a faster response to the word

Answer 12

yes → categorising people simplifies our complex social world and we do it so often for such key social categories (race, gender, age) that it becomes a habit and therefore automatic no → if it is meant to simplify our world we shouldn't do it when its not needed → should only occur when its consistent with our goals

Answer 13

research is widely accepted that categorisation isn't automatic across the board but is context dependent QUINN & MACRAE (2005) found people only categorised faces by gender when instructed (when it was their goal) → people just looked at faces did not automatically categorise

Answer 14

widely agreed to be conditionally automatic ITO & TOMELLERI (2017) → ppts shown pics of black and white individuals → group 1 → asked to mentally categorise the face as black or white → group 2 → asked to mentally determine whether a small dot was present on each pic → then both groups asked to identify asap whether following pics were guns or insects results: → faster responses to gun pics following black primes vs. white primes → showed stereotype activation

Answer 15

→ we have sufficient cognitive resources → we are higher in prejudice → if activating them will help us maintain a positive sense of self

Answer 16

exposure to counter-stereotypes by practice interventions women exposed to women leader biographies and women leaders in naturalistic settings (professors at uni)

Answer 17

stereotype threat

Answer 18

disruptive and intimidating → affects performance on tasks anxiety that the stereotype can give results in self fulfilling prophecies

Answer 19

black ppts performed worse than white ppts on a test when the test was presented as a measure of intellectual ability but... performed equally well when no reference was made that the test was to do with intellectual ability as no stereotype threat was activated so performance wasn't affected

Answer 20

women performed worse than men on a maths test when told it reveals gender differences but performed equally well when told that it doesn't (assesses the stereotype that males are better at maths)

Answer 21

men performed worse on an interpersonal perception task when told it assesses social sensitivity (and men are worse than women) relative to when told it assesses complex information processing

Answer 22

implicit measures → IAT (implicit association test) → psychology students are aware of this ppts given different info about the IAT explicit threat group → told they are being assessed about their racial attitudes no threat group → told its a measure of cultural stereotype knowledge no info group results: higher IAT score indicates greater pro white implicit bias explicit threat group showed highest IAT score due to stereotype threat

Answer 23

women and STEM: → less women in senior positions, under representation, leaky pipeline → increasing loss of women up the career ladder within STEM subjects both stereotype effects (hiring women in general) and stereotype threat contribute → can lead women to perform worse → less confidence to feeling like they could reach such a high career in STEM so don't apply

Answer 24

disengagement from stereotyped domain and learning in the stereotyped domain

Answer 25

...tests are reframed as a challenging learning experience ...anxiety is presented as helpful rather than harmful to performance (REFRAMING AND REAPPRAISAL) ...ppts are given the opportunity to list negative and positive attributes that describe their personal rather than social identity (DE-EMPHASIS OF THREATENED SOCIAL IDENTITY OR DOMAIN)

Answer 26

women on physics course were found to be underperforming significantly to men introduced intervention to assess stereotype threat method: → men and women on physics course completed intervention twice a semester values affirmation group → choose most important value to you and write why its important to you control group → choose least important value to you and write why it is important to others results: → women performed significantly better when they had the opportunity to self affirm positive values → performed equally well to men → not significant to men → showed no difference after values affirmation because men aren't subject to stereotype threat in this domain