Stereotype I Flashcards
What is social categorisation?
The process of assigning people to groups based on social categories e.g. age, race, sex
Why do we use social categorisation?
To understand, because social categories are informative for person perception
They have accompanying stereotypes which allow us to make judgements about a person’s disposition
Category membership is rarely all-or-nothing
Explain the idea that we think of categories as having ‘fuzzy boundaries’
They revolve around a central prototype
We mentally represent social categories as prototypes: cognitive representations of the most typical features of that category
Category members vary in terms of their typicality with reference to the prototype.
Outline arguments FOR social categorisation being automatic
Humans are cognitive misers, we categories because it simplifies our otherwise complex world to a level we can reasonably deal with
It is easier to take shortcuts such as using stereotypes, we do it so much it must be automatic
Outline arguments AGAINST social categorisation being automatic
Mere exposure to a person isn’t enough to trigger categorisation
If social categorisation simplifies our social world and makes life easier, then we shouldn’t do it when it’s not needed or irrelevant
Categorisation might be goal-dependent
Quinn and Macrae (2005) people only categorised faces by gender when instructed to, without instruction, don’t automatically categorise.
What are stereotypes?
The collection of traits that society associates with a particular social group
What is prejudice?
A negative attitude held towards a social group or its members
What is discrimination?
Biased behaviour towards a person because of their group membership.
What is the tripartite model of prejudice?
Stereotypes (cognitive) + discrimination (behavioural) + emotions (affective) are the 3 components of prejudice (attitude)
What are the key premises of the Stereotype Content Model?
Stereotypes are classified along two key dimensions of warmth and competence, linked to current status and potential for competition
What is stereotype activation?
The degree to which a stereotype is accessible in the mind
What is stereotype application?
The actual use of activated stereotypes in judgements e.g. forming an impression
What social function may stereotypes serve in general?
The mixed stereotype functions to promote existing systems of privilege and basically supporting the current social hierarchy
What social function do paternalistic and envious stereotypes serve specifically?
Paternalized out groups: justifies their low competence and encourages their compliance (high warmth)
Envied out groups: justifies the system of meritocracy that benefits societal reference groups and dominant in-groups
How did Fiske et al. assess the relationship between warmth/competence and status/competition?
PPs rated groups on scales reflecting warmth, competence, perceived status and perceived competition
PPs asked to make ratings using 5 point scales - how you think this group is viewed by others
Why is PPs responding based on societal beliefs a strength/weakness?
Strength: reduces social desirability concerns i.e. appearing prejudiced, and is useful to look at perceived cultural stereotypes
Weakness: just how accurate are people going to be at this?
Outline the evidence shown for low competence/high warmth and high competence/low warmth stereotypes in study 1
Evidence found for these stereotypes using t-tests to investigate mixed stereotypes
Did status and competition reliably predict the warmth and competence dimensions of stereotype content in study 1?
Looking at the correlations, status and competition did predict warmth and competence in most of the analyses
How does study 2 in Fiske et al. improve on study 1?
- Has more representative sampling of groups to cover more low status groups
- Tries to ensure that the competence and status scales are tapping into clearly different constructs
- Excludes scales that could be responsible for the high correlation between competence and competition
- Reduced the length of the study to reduce fatigue
Are the results in study 2 more convincing than study 1?
They support study 1 and are more in line with the hypotheses, because some of the weaknesses of study 1 have been addressed
Provides more convincing evidence for the predictions of the SCM.
What different types of prejudice do the authors propose in study 4?
Paternalistic prejudice: feelings of pity and sympathy
Envious prejudice: feeling of envy and jealousy
Contemptuous prejudice: feelings of anger, disgust and hate
Are warmth and competence associated with different types of prejudice?
The different stereotype clusters were differently associated with the different types of prejudice.
