stereotypes and stuff like that

Question 1

what is a stereotype

Answer 1

Astereotypeis a collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among members of that group.

Stereotypes help us to make sense of our world by giving it order. They provide us with a general system which guides our interactions with others.

Question 2

what is prejudice

Answer 2

Prejudiceis often defined in psychology as holding a negative attitude towards the members of a group, based solely on their membership of that group.

Question 3

what is discrimination

Answer 3

Discriminationrefers to positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members.

There are 2 different forms of discrimination:
Direct discrimination occurs when someone is unfairly treated and is disadvantaged because of a personal characteristic protected by the law (Eg: Being overlooked for a job because of your sex)

Indirect discrimination occurs when treating everyone the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristic (Eg: an employer who forbids employees to wear head coverings is indirectly discriminating against employees whose cultural or religious background may require them to wear a particular type of head covering.

Question 4

what are ways to reduce prejudice

Answer 4

intergroup contact
sustained contact
mutual interdependence
superordinate goals
equality of status

Question 5

what is intergroup contact

Answer 5

prejudice can be reduced by increasing intergroup contact, that is increasing direct contact bertween two groups who are prejudiced against each other. However research findings indicate that the contact between the groups only reduce prejudice under certain circumstances

Question 6

what is sustained contact

Answer 6

is, ongoing contact either directly or indirectly over a period of time- has helped break down a prejudice that was based on minimal info or secondary source

Question 7

what is mutual interdependence

Answer 7

when two prejudiced groups are placed in a contact situation in which they are mutually interdependent or dependent on one another

Question 8

what is a superordinate goal

Answer 8

a superordinate goal is a goal that cannot be achieved acheived by one group alone and overrides other existing goals which each group might have

Question 9

what is equality of status

Answer 9

that for contact between two groups to help reduce prejudice between the groups, then the groups must have equal status in the contact situation