Stereotype I

Question 1

What is social categorisation?

Answer 1

The process of assigning people to groups based on social categories e.g. age, race, sex

Question 2

Why do we use social categorisation?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Explain the idea that we think of categories as having ‘fuzzy boundaries’

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Outline arguments FOR social categorisation being automatic

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Outline arguments AGAINST social categorisation being automatic

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

What are stereotypes?

Answer 6

The collection of traits that society associates with a particular social group

Question 7

What is prejudice?

Answer 7

A negative attitude held towards a social group or its members

Question 8

What is discrimination?

Answer 8

Biased behaviour towards a person because of their group membership.

Question 9

What is the tripartite model of prejudice?

Answer 9

Stereotypes (cognitive) + discrimination (behavioural) + emotions (affective) are the 3 components of prejudice (attitude)

Question 10

What are the key premises of the Stereotype Content Model?

Answer 10

Stereotypes are classified along two key dimensions of warmth and competence, linked to current status and potential for competition

Question 11

What is stereotype activation?

Answer 11

The degree to which a stereotype is accessible in the mind

Question 12

What is stereotype application?

Answer 12

The actual use of activated stereotypes in judgements e.g. forming an impression

Question 13

What social function may stereotypes serve in general?

Answer 13

The mixed stereotype functions to promote existing systems of privilege and basically supporting the current social hierarchy

Question 14

What social function do paternalistic and envious stereotypes serve specifically?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

How did Fiske et al. assess the relationship between warmth/competence and status/competition?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Why is PPs responding based on societal beliefs a strength/weakness?

Answer 16

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?

Question 17

Outline the evidence shown for low competence/high warmth and high competence/low warmth stereotypes in study 1

Answer 17

Evidence found for these stereotypes using t-tests to investigate mixed stereotypes

Question 18

Did status and competition reliably predict the warmth and competence dimensions of stereotype content in study 1?

Answer 18

Looking at the correlations, status and competition did predict warmth and competence in most of the analyses

Question 19

How does study 2 in Fiske et al. improve on study 1?

Answer 19

1. Has more representative sampling of groups to cover more low status groups
2. Tries to ensure that the competence and status scales are tapping into clearly different constructs
3. Excludes scales that could be responsible for the high correlation between competence and competition
4. Reduced the length of the study to reduce fatigue

Question 20

Are the results in study 2 more convincing than study 1?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What different types of prejudice do the authors propose in study 4?

Answer 21

Paternalistic prejudice: feelings of pity and sympathy
Envious prejudice: feeling of envy and jealousy
Contemptuous prejudice: feelings of anger, disgust and hate

Question 22

Are warmth and competence associated with different types of prejudice?

Answer 22

The different stereotype clusters were differently associated with the different types of prejudice.