Sociocultural Approach Flashcards
Social Identity Theory
Theory of intergroup conflict and aims to explain why conflict and discrimination occur
Social categorization
Cognitive process of categorizing people into in-groups and out-groups based on a particular characteristic
Social identification
Members identify themselves as a member of a social group and take on their values and beliefs
Social comparison
Direct comparisons between your group (in-group) and other groups (the out-group)
Positive distinctiveness
Members of a group will typically strive to make themselves better (positive) and different (distinct) from out-groups.
Out-group discrimination
Disadvantages for the out-group
In-group favouritism
Bias towards the benefits of the in-group
Out-group homogeneity effect
Perceiving out group members as being more similar to one another than in group members
Park and Rothbart (1982)
Aim: investigate if people would show in group bias and create broad generalizations about people in an out group
Procedure:
- research conducted on different sororities at an American Uni that were similar in proximity and values
- participants answered a questionnaire in which they had to rank their sorority and another sorority on 10 dimensions: studious, attractiveness, economic status, group cohesion, etc.
- responses were ranked on a 7 point scale from not characteristic to extremely characteristic
- participants were also asked to rate on a 9 point scale how similar people were within their sorority and how similar were people in an opposing sorority from extremely dissimilar to very similar.
Findings:
- all sorority members viewed their sorority as being more dissimilar and perceived the out-group members as more similar to one another.
Conclusion:
- people generalize the out groups unfavourably and demonstrate in group bias
- out group homogeneity effect can aid in the creation of stereotype, as there is a preconceived notion about a group of people
Cialdini et al (1976)
Aim: investigate the role of social identity in self esteem
Procedure:
- field study on campuses of large American unis, which all had popular football teams.
- researchers recorded what clothing students were wearing Monday after a big football match was played against a rival uni
- students were also interviews about their teams performance
Findings:
- students were more likely to wear clothing associated with their uni if their uni team won the game
- when asked to describe their teams performance, they were more likely to use first person pronouns if the team won, and more likely to use third person if their lost
Conclusion:
- ties into ideas of positive distinctiveness as to maintain strong self-esteem, people tend to closely associate themselves with a group when it is successful, and establish distance from a group when it fails
Social cognitive theory
Developed by Albert Bandura, suggested learning can also be done through observational learning:
1. Attention: must be able to attend to modelled behaviour. This is typically achieved if the observer can closely identify with the model and are from the same in-group
2. Retention: behaviour must be consistent and easy to remember
3. Motivation: observers must want to reproduce behaviour and expect a certain outcome from it or avoid a certain consequence
4. Potential: must physically or mentally be able to carry out the behaviour.
Self efficacy
A belief one can master particular skills or behaviour
Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961)
Aim: investigate whether aggression can be learned simply by observing others
Procedure:
- experiment performed on 3 groups of nursery children
- matched pairs design: the children were rated according to how aggressive they tended to be, and each group was matched to have the same average aggression rating
Group 1: children observed an adult behave aggressively towards bobo doll
Group 2: children obsersved an adult assembling toys
Group 3: did not observe adult model
- after, the children were taken into a room with a bobo doll and their behaviour was observed
Findings:
- group 1 was more likely to behave aggressively towards the doll, imitating the adult model they had observed
Conclusion: supports social cognitive theory, that behaviour can be learned simply by observing others
Kearney and Levine (2014)
Aim: assess the impact of the show “16 and pregnant” on teen sexual behaviour and the rate of teen pregnancy
Procedure:
- reality tv show follows the lives of pregnant teens during the final months of their pregnancy
- identified geographic areas where the show was popular
- measured whether these areas had greater reduction in teen pregnancy compared to other areas where the show was not as popular
- analyzed google searches immediately following a new episode
Findings:
- areas where the show was popular had a greater reduction in teen pregnancy compared with other areas in the 18 months following the initial airing
- after the show, there was typically a spike in searches for terms such as “how to get birth control”
Conclusion:
- supports the idea of vicarious learning as viewers were discouraged from having children at a young age because of how challenging it is
Stereotype
A preconceived notion about a group of people. Tend to be generalizations about entire groups. May also form directly as a result of our own experience with other people
Grain of truth hypothesis
Suggests that stereotypes are based on small truths people have experienced
Illusory correlations
When people see 2 variables as related when they are not
Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
Aim: investigate illusory correlations based on the co-occurance of infrequent events
Procedure:
- undergrads
- participants read a series of sentences describing desirable and undesirable behaviour performed by members of groups A and B
- members read statements one by one, for example member of group A did volunteer work for the church
- the ratio of desirable to undesirable behaviour in group A and B were the same, however members of groups B were mentioned less frequently
- after reading all the sentences, participants were asked to estimate how many members of each group performed desirable and undesirable behaviours
Findings:
- participants overestimated the frequency with which members of the minority group performed negative behaviours
Conclusion:
- there was a perceived correlation between undesirable behaviour and group membership. The illusory correlation was cause by even distinctiveness: encountering a member of the minority group is a rare event, and so is encountering an instance of undesirable behaviour. The co-occurance of 2 rare events is overestimated.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
People unconsciously change their behaviour, causing a schema to become true
Stereotype threat
Members of the stereotypes group may inadvertently reinforce a negative stereotype by changing their behaviour as a result of increased anxiety and apprehension, therefore causing a negative schema to become true.
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)
Aim: investigate whether students of whom greater intellectual growth is expected to show greater intellectual growth
Procedure:
- students grades 1 to 6
- teachers in the school were told that certain students were expected to be growth superstars, based on the results of their IQ test. In reality, the test was fictitious and students were chosen at random.
Findings:
- in the year of the experiment, control group students gained an average of 8 IQ points, while students from the experimental group gained 12 IQ points. Amount gr 1 students, the average game in the superstars was 27 IQ points in comparison to the average 12 IQ points.
Conclusion:
- stereotypes we have about other people may affect their behaviour through the process of self-fulfilling prophecy
