Stereotypes Flashcards
comp temporary stereotypes definition
generalized beliefs about or expectations from members of a group
stereotypes features
Do not need to be rigid or fixed -> they can be fixed within people but they can definitely change, especially over generations
Do not have to be biased (can be) but can actually be accurately representing the majority of a group - still a stereotype
category based beliefs
- Take belief about a group
- use it to judge all people within that group
- not paying attention to individual qualities of a person
- taking an expectation based on other people within their group
stereotypes component
cognitive component of attitudes towards a social group, beliefs about what a particular group is like
prejudice component
affective - feeling
discriminations component
behavioural, action component of an attitude
why do we use and from stereotypes: categorisation
Categorizing for efficiency > we have limited capacity for understanding info
> stereotypes act as shortcuts to help us save energy and make social decisions quickly and easily
why do we use and from stereotypes: schemas
to form schemas – cognitive frameworks for
organizing, interpreting and recalling
information
simplify and make it easier to understand social information
why do we use and from stereotypes: motivation
– feel positive about
group identity in comparison to other social
groups
- i am part of the superior group > make people feel better about themselves
stereotyping and limited resources study
Bodenhausen 1990
p’s presented with info from a legal trial
designed so that it drew on stereotypes that would suggest defendants guilt
objectively info was ambiguous
ALSO p’s identified themselves as either morning or evening people SO if a morning person and tested in evening = fewer resources
are we more likely to draw on stereotypes when we have little resources?
Morning people = will conclude the defendant is guilty in the evening
Evening people = will conclude defendant is guilty in evening
suggests: when we make judgements when we are tired, with less cognitive resources spare we are more likely to reply on stereotypes to make judgements
DONT MAKE JUDGEMENTS WHEN TIRED OR HAVE LIMITED COGNITVE CAPACITY
How are stereotypes structured? early approaches
We have unique, idiosyncratic beliefs about every single group
How are stereotypes structured? stereotype content model
all stereotypes have an underlying structure of 2 dimensions:
warmth: not random: depends on the person’s positive on the social structure
E.g. competitor groups = cold, unreliable, deceitful
E.g. 2 ally groups: friendly, good-natured
Competence: also not random:
High status groups = more likely to be considered competent, assertive skilled
Low status group = indecisive, passive, lazely
stereotype content model: different combinations prejudice and discriminations
high competence and high warmth = admiration e.g. ingroup members
high competence and low warmth = envy e.g. rich people, CEOs
low competence and low warmth = contempt, low status e.g., welfare recipients
low competence and high warmth = paternalism, e.g., old people
costs of positive stereotypes study method
Deutsch 1987
stereotype being tested: are women penalised when they do not live up to ‘warm’ stereotypes
Read a description of a man or a woman (Same description to every condition)
1: no photo
2: smiling
3: not smiling
costs of positive stereotypes study results
smiling photo vs no photo
Smiling man vs no photo man:
Smiling = happier, more relaxed, more care free and warmer
Smiling woman vs no photo woman:
Smiling = happier, more relaxed, more care free and warmer
Having a smiling picture is better than no picture
costs of positive stereotypes study results
non-smiling photo vs no photo
Non-smiling man vs no picture:
Non-smiling man = Little less happy and warm
But same carefree and same relaxed
Non-smiling woman vs no picture
Less happy, less warm, less relaxed, less carefree (all)
costs of positive stereotypes study results
gender differences conclusion
Women stereotype = warm, friendly, approachable > when they do not confirm our expectations we rate them A LOT LOWER
we do not what our expectations to be disconfirmed
DOUBLE-STANDARD
Non smiling man does not disconfirm any expectations SO not downgraded
Even benevolent stereotypes can have negative consequences
4 ways stereotypes influence cognitive processing
- WHERE we direct our attention –> attend to stereotype consistent info more (Cohen)
- HOW we interpret information –> interpret ambiguous info in line with stereotypes e.g. wealthy girl = smarter even tho performance ambiguous
- WHAT we remember –> recall more stereotype consistent information - forget others
- HOW we gather information –> ask questions that confirm our beliefs
stereotypes and how we gather information
Synder and Swann 1978
- Participant ‘interviewers’ were led to believe that an
interviewee was either introverted or extroverted - They selected questions from a prepared list
- Chose questions likely to confirm expectations
Leading questions
if they thought extravert:
how do you liven up a party
if they though introvert:
what do you dislike about parties
have to answer - no choice but to confirm their beliefs
stereotype transmission study: broken telephone
theory
Lyons 2001
Used a research paradigm similar to broken telephone game
Give them a message and ask them to communicate it to a second person, the 2nd person to 3rd and so on
By tracing how messages change in this process - could identify what kinds of information are retained and forgtotten/lost throughout the chain of communication
stereotype transmission study: broken telephone
method/procedure/results
Gave description of an Australian footballer
stereotypically consistent features AND
Stereotype inconsistent of an Australian footballer
Balanced at the start - some consistent and some inconsistent:
1 → 2 2 → 3 3 → 4
further along the chain - inconsistent stereotype info tend to be omitted
If someone forgets a piece of info that info is lost for everyone beyond them
Less likely to forget the stereotype consistent information
If more and more inconsistent gets forgot and consistent gets remembered the end message is one completely consistent with the stereotype
→ this is how stereotypes get maintained
stereotype transmission processes involved
cognitive processes
social processes
stereotype transmission processes involved: cognitive processes
paying attention to, memorising better stereotype consistent information
stereotype transmission processes involved: social processes
want to establish a sense of common ground -
‘we are on the same page’
to guarantee a nice, unproblematic and smooth interaction
We know others will expect stereotypical information
4 levels of linguistic abstraction
goes from specific –> abstract
Descriptive action
Interpretive action
State verb
Adjective
descriptive action
specific, descriptive
‘Beavis hit Butthead’
interpretive action
slightly more abstract - refers to a whole class of actions
‘Beavis hurt Butthead’
state verb
more abstract
- makes inference about their internal state
‘Beavis hates Butthead’
adjective
most abstract = adjectives instead of verbs
- does not refer to situation or observation at all
- makes assumptions bout what kind of person they are and assume that they are likely to behave in this way in other situations
‘Beavis is aggresive’
linguistic intergroup bias (LIB)
how we use abstract language to describe people actions depending on:
- whether they are or are not members of our group and
- whether the behaviour being described is positive or negative
linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) Ferrara horse racing study procedure
Maas 1989
Task: describe cartoon scenes
Examined how abstract the language used was
Cartoons were:
Either in-group (their team)
or
out-group (competing team members)
Either depicting someone showing desirable behaviour - e.g., stopping to help a member of another team during the race
Or
Undesirable behaviour e.g., drugging the horse of another team
Then asked:
What is the best verbal way to describe what is happening in the picture ?
Given 4 options to choose from which correspond with the 4 levels of abstraction
Do people prefer more or less abstract language when describing their in groups/outgroup actions and desirable/undesirable actions?
linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) Ferrara horse racing study results
In-group:
More abstract when describing desirable actions e.g. stops to help = noble and kind person
Less abstract when describing undesirable e.g., drugs horse = drugs horse
Out-group
Less abstract when describing desirable e.g., stopped and helped = stopped and helped
More abstract when describing undesirable e.g., drug horse = a fraud, deceitful
consequences of LIB / reasons for study results
Descriptions were read to another set of participants
asked them how much info does this reveal?
AND
how likely are they to repeat this behaviour?
The more abstract = the more information we receive about the person being described
The more abstract = the more likely we are to conclude that the behaviour will be repeated
language abstraction and stereotypes
because we make negative outgroup action so abstract –> we create negative generalisations about out groups that over time become negative stereotypes
(and positive generalisations about ingroups that over time become positive stereotypes)
language abstraction is a vehicle through which stereotypes get propagated
subtle and implicit process
stereotype threat definition
a drop in performance that happens when people become aware about negative stereotypes of their group in a relevant domain
who can be effected by stereotype threat
Members of any group can be vulnerable to stereotype threat as long as there is another salient group that is expected to perform better
stereotype threat - why?
you know there is a negative stereotype about your group
you believe this is inaccurate
you want to change it via your own performance
you become nervous/anxious about you performance in case you accidentally strengthen the negative perception of your group
performing well is HIGH STAKES
some of your cognitive capacity is taken up by this worry
attention to the task drops
performance in the task drops
stereotype threat study
Steele 1995
examined performance on an intellectual ability task among black and white ps
people were either actively reminded of their ethnic group membership or not
it becomes salient AND they may remember stereotypes associated with their group
when reminded:
Black p’s performed significantly less well
When not reminded:
No significant difference
stereotype threat: women in stem study
Steele 1999
All had comparable level of maths ability
asked to take a maths test and told it diagnoses gender differences or assured it is not going to
Female performance significantly drops when told testing for gender differences
No differences when its not testing gender differences
3 processes behind stereotype threat
Physical stress: when reminded - impairs brain functioning
Self-monitoring: pay attention to how well we are doing constantly - detracts attention from task
Thought suppression: can be upsetting - people spend time suppressing negative thoughts - takes more energy and effort
All 3 processes undermine functioning
physical stress
when reminded - impairs brain functioning
self monitoring
pay attention to how well we are doing constantly - detracts attention from task
stereotype threat prevention techniques
Affirming the self in another way:
- what is valuable and successful about me?
Distancing from aspects of the stereotype that are incompatible with
high performance:
- has nothing to do with you individually or with your individual ability
- no power to effect you
Transforming negative aspects into positive aspect:
- given rise to strength and resilience that others have not had the chance to acquire
- reframe them into strengths
though suppression
can be upsetting - people spend time suppressing negative thoughts - takes more energy and effort
preventing stereotype threat study
Aronson 2002
intervention focused on whether people perceive intelligence as malleable
Ethnic minorities told to write a letter of encouragement to a younger student struggling
Pen Pal – Growth Mindset in letter
Pen Pal – Control
No Pen Pal - Control
growth mindset people:
- really took the ideas on board both short and long term
- Enjoyed academics more
- Academic study was more important to them
- Perceived stereotype threat did not change - thoughts about self does not change societies views
- Academic performance/GPA - higher
growth mindset
our abilities are expandable, can be developed over time and improved - not set ability, if we put in time we can improve
