Sociocultural Approach: Formation of Stereotypes

Question 1

What is a stereotype?

Answer 1

• a social perception of an individual in terms of group membership or physical attributes
• a generalization made about a group that is attributed to group members that can be negative or positive
• a form of social categorization that affects the behavior of those being stereotyped

Question 2

What is an illusory correlation?

Answer 2

• people’s tendencies to overestimate relationships between two groups when distinctive and unusual information is presented
• based on system 1 thinking - the availability heuristic - decisions are made based on what first comes to mind

Question 3

What is cognitive bias?

Answer 3

• a limit in objective thinking caused by human’s tendency to perceive information through a fiber of personal experience

Question 4

Hamilton & Gifford (1976) can be used for…

Answer 4

formation of stereotypes and cognitive biases

Question 5

Hamilton & Gifford (1976) - aim

Answer 5

• to test the relationship between group size and one’s perception of the group’s traits

Question 6

Hamilton & Gifford (1976) - procedure

Answer 6

• participants listened to a series of statements made about people from 2 groups - A & B
• group B was the minority group and half the size of group A
• each statement (positive or negative) was about one individual in one of the 2 groups
• each group had the same proportion of positive and negative comments
• participants were asked how many people in each group had positive vs negative traits

Question 7

Hamilton & Gifford (1976) - findings & conclusion

Answer 7

• participants overestimated the number of negative traits in the minority group
• researchers argued that because the group is smaller, their negative behaviors appeared more distinct and representative of the group
• the participants made the illusory correlation between the size of the minority group and negative behavior
• this demonstrates why negative stereotypes may be more common for minority groups that the majority

Question 8

Schaller - aim

Answer 8

• to see how group membership may lead to stereotyping

Question 9

Schaller - procedure

Answer 9

• participants were randomly assigned to be members of a group
• they’re presented with a series of statements that described members of their ingroup (the group they had been assigned to) and their outgroup
• the statements described both desirable and undesirable behaviors

Question 10

Schaller - findings & conclusion

Answer 10

• when participants were asked about their own group, they recalled stereotyping statements that favored their own group - in group bias
• showed negative stereotyping of their out group
• shows that stereotyping can be explained through SIT; because an individual’s self concept is derived from perceived membership in a group, if the way they perceive their group is positive, then the individual will perceive themselves positively

Question 11

Schaller - evaluation

Answer 11

• the individuals are not choosing their group, but are arbitrarily being assigned to it which is a rather superficial approach to identity
• because of its artificiality, it is questionable whether this study predicts how stereotypes are formed in real life