SOCIAL - THEORIES OF PREJUDICE

Question 1

prejudice (AO1)

Answer 1

what is prejudice?
->prejudice is an assumption or opinion about someone based on that person’s member ship to a particular group (eg. religion, gender, ethnicity)

->a stereotype is an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic

->discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability

->Allport’s 5 stages of discrimination are:
1) anti-locution: where a majority group freely makes jokes about a minority group (negative stereotypes and images (hate speech) are commonly seen as harmless by the majority)
2) avoidance: members of the majority group actively avoid people in a minority group (no direct harm may be intended, but harm is done through isolation/exclusion)
3) discrimination: minority group is discriminated against by denying them opportunities and services, and so putting prejudice into action (eg. Jim Crow Laws)
4) physical attack: the majority groups vandalise, burn, or destroy minority group property and carry out violent attacks on individuals or groups (hate crime)
5) extermination: the majority group seeks extermination or removal of the minority group. They attempt to eliminate either the entire group or a large fraction of a group of people (genocide)

Question 2

social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979)

Answer 2

AO1:
->according to Tajfel and Turner, prejudice can be explained by our tendency to identify ourselves as part of a group, and to classify other people as either within or outside that group
–>they argue that conflict may not even be necessary for prejudice to occur, merely being in a group and being aware of the existence of another group (in-group = we belong to /vs/ out-group = everyone else)

->the 3 stages in the formation of prejudice:
1) social categorisation:
–>we categorise ourselves and others as members of a particular social group to aid our understanding (in-group and out-group)
–>we can assign people to a category and that tells us more about them
–>eg. age, race, ethnicity
2) social identification:
–>we adopt the identity of the group we have categorised ourselves as belonging to and behave in ways we believe are appropriate to the identity
–>we conform to the social norms of that group and the values they believe in
–>eg. a football supporter adopts their identity with merch belonging to their club
3) social comparison:
–>this is the final stage: once we have categorised ourselves as part of a group, we compare that group to others (we shown in-group favouritism and out-group bias)
–>our group needs to compare well against others to maintain self-esteem
–>eg. football supporters show in-group favouritism by singing chants to support their team and show out-group negative bias by booing

AO3: EVALLUATION
E->(strength) Jane Elliott provides research to support
–>created prejudice between in-groups and out-groups by telling blue-eyed people that they’re superior. They quickly developed in-group favouritism and out-group negative bias
–>therefore shows that prejudice can be caused through belonging to a group

A->(strength) this approach has been used successfully with both adults and children
–>Jane Elliott used her technique with US prison staff. In the prison she worked with, the majority of the inmates were black and the guards were white
–>she aimed to challenge their stereotypical attitudes to the inmates, therefore showing real life application

C-> ????????

H->(weakness) Jane Elliott’s sample is not generalisable
–>her “blue eyes study” sample only included 3rd graders from Ohio
–>therefore, we don’t know if the results can be generalised to other cultures or ages

Question 3

realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)

Answer 3

AO1:
->RCT explains how intergroup hostility can arise as a result of conflicting goals and competition over limited resources, also explaining prejudice and discrimination towards the out-group

->COMPETITION is fighting for limited resources
->SCARCE/LIMITED RESOURES cause feelings of resentment (prejudice), which in turn can create competition (discrimination)
->ZERO-SUMS FATE means only one group can win; the in group should always win, even at the cost of the out-group

->according to RCT, positive relations between in-group and out-group can only be restored if superordinate goals are in place
–>a SUPERORDINATE goal is when the 2 groups need to work together in order to achieve the scarce resources/end goal (eg. all working together to pull a truck out of the mud)

AO3: EVALUATION
E->(strength) Sherif (1954) Robber’s Cave expt
–>friction stage: 93% had friends in their in-group/co-operation stage: 30% had friends between the 2 groups after completing the superordinate goals
–>therefore, shows competition causes prejudice and superordinate goals decrease prejudice

A->(strength) Aronson’s jigsaw technique in the classroom
–>each child received part of a whole assignment and had to rely on others in the group to complete the task
–>inter-racial liking and performance of ethnic minority students both increased

C->(weakness) SIT is an opposing theory
–>

H->(weakness) Sherif’s study did not use a representative sample
–>sample consisted of 22 11 year olds, all of which were from white, lower-middle class, Protestant families from Oklahoma, USA.
–>this sample is both endocentric and ethnocentric, meaning the findings are not generalisable to a wider population