Stereotyping and Prejudice

Question 1

According to the cognitive perspective what is a stereotype?

Answer 1

a consensually shared definition of other groups/people
inaccurate/unreasonable/unjustifiable generalisations
- kernels of truth?

Question 2

What are the key concepts of stereotyping in the cognitive perspective ?

Answer 2

limited attentional capacity
categorical perception
confirmatory bias
cognitive misers

Question 3

What is a cognitive miser?

Answer 3

the principle of least effort
rapid, adequate solutions > slow, accurate ones
efficiency > accuracy

Question 4

What is non-reactive methodology?

Answer 4

an implicit measure where participants do not know what the experimenter is observing
answers won’t/cannot be changed for social correctness

Question 5

What types of priming technique can be used for non-reactive methodology?

Answer 5

subliminal; below conscious awareness

supraliminal; above conscious awareness

Question 6

How does non-reactive methodology measure stereotypes?

Answer 6

the more closely associated two stimulus items are associated in memory, the faster will be the participant’s response

Question 7

Describe 2 studies that make use of non-reactive methodology.

Answer 7

Dovidio, Evans & Tyler (1986)
participants presented with black/white primes
quicker reaction to negative words with black prime
quicker reaction to positive words with white prime
Correll et al. (2007)
quicker to shoot black targets after black prime
no difference between black/white after white prime
quicker to shoot armed black target than white
slower to not shoot unarmed black target than white

Question 8

How does stereotyping affect attention?

Answer 8

Cohen (1981); people are more likely to attend to stereotype consistent evidence

Question 9

How does stereotyping affect interpretations?

Answer 9

Darley & Gross (1983)
woman completes test; working class/wealthy background
ambiguous in relation to performance
score was recalled as higher for wealthy background than working class background

Question 10

How does stereotyping affect attribution?

Answer 10

Ultimate Attribution Error - Pettrigrew (1979)
positive in-group and negative out-group behaviour attributed to dispositions
negative in-group and positive out-group behaviour attributed to situation

Question 11

How does stereotyping affect memory and recall?

Answer 11

Betty K - Snyder & Uranowitz (1978)
participants read a passage with stereotype manipulation
1 week later participants recalled stereotype congruent information they were never presented with

Question 12

How does stereotyping affect information gathering?

Answer 12

Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing - Synder & Swann (1978)
introversion/extroversion manipulation
participants were more likely to ask questions that would confirm their expectations

Question 13

How does stereotyping affect one’s own behaviour?

Answer 13

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Word, Zanna & Cooper (1974)
people elicit the behaviour they expect from themselves; when participants had an expectation of an interviewee their own interviewing style also elicited a more negative interviewing response from themselves

Question 14

How does stereotype use affect cognitive load?

Answer 14

Macrae, Milne & Bodenhausen (1994)
memory test of traits with simultaneous probe task
subliminal/supraliminal/no prime
subliminal and supraliminal primes produced the quickest reactions to probe task
using stereotypes reduces the amount of cognitive capacity being used so more is available for other tasks

Question 15

Describe how mental shortcuts can be made using stereotypes.

Answer 15

Bodenhausen (1990)
participants classified as ‘morning’ or ‘evening’ people (based on the time of better cognitive function)
presented with a trial drawing on stereotypes
‘morning’ participants gave higher guilt ratings in the evening
‘evening’ participants gave higher guilt ratings in the morning
reduced cognitive functioning = more reliance on stereotypes

Question 16

How does mood influence stereotype use?

Answer 16

Bodenhausen et al. (1994)
participants induced into a happy/neutral mood
happy participants utilised known stereotypes more (reduced systematic processing of information)
when in a good mood we are less inclined to accurately process information to avoid disrupting positive mood

Question 17

How can stereotyping during a positive mood be reduced?

Answer 17

accountability manipulation; making participants explain themselves

Question 18

What are some criticisms of the cognitive perspective?

Answer 18

reductionist
too far removed from real world phenomena
too individualistic
not social enough
neglects the role of affect
content is under-examined

Question 19

How does affect influence prejudice?

Answer 19

Cottrell & Neuberg (2005)
prejudice differs on the basis of the underlying affect
this can influence the behavioural response
anger - harm
guilt/disgust - avoidance
fear/envy - defensiveness
underlying emotion is linked to the type of treat posed by an out-group

Question 20

How can stereotype content change?

Answer 20

Hallam (1992)
stereotypes can change depending on the comparative context
Australian stereotypes of Americans worsened after the Gulf War
ratings were more negative when America is the outgrip
but less negative when seen as in in-group by including the USSR and Iraq

Question 21

According to the social perspective what is prejudice?

Answer 21

negative attitudes and hostile/discriminatory behaviour towards specific groups or members of society

Question 22

What are Allport’s components of prejudice?

Answer 22

cognitive; beliefs about a group
affective; emotions reactions to a group
conative; intention to act a certain way towards a group

Question 23

What is Social Identity Theory?

Answer 23

Tajfel
defining the self in terms of their social identity
accentuates similarities within and differences between groups
people are motivated to achieve a positive social identity

Question 24

How do people achieve a positive social identity?

Answer 24

social comparison
differentiation between in-group and out-group
positive in-group bias
social competition

Question 25

What are the functions of stereotypes?

Answer 25

predicting the social environment
differentiating the in-group and out-group
self-conception
justification of out-group treatment and status inequalities

Question 26

What is a system justification?

Answer 26

Jost & Banaji (1994)

the preservation of existing social arrangements even at the expense of personal and group interest

Question 27

Which study displayed system justification?

Answer 27

Alien Stereotypes - Hoffman & Hurst (1990)
3 traits; neutral/communal/agentic
majority occupation; city worker/child raiser
city workers were attributed more agent traits
child raisers were attributed more communal traits
erroneous stereotypical conclusions based on prevalent social occupation

Question 28

What is the stereotype content model?

Answer 28

Fiske et al. (2007)
stereotypes depend on the relations (competing/cooperating) with an out-group and their status
paternalistic prejudice
envious prejudice
contemptuous prejudice

Question 29

What is paternalistic prejudice?

Answer 29

prejudice towards incompetent but nice subordinate group

e.g. old/disabled

Question 30

What is envious prejudice?

Answer 30

prejudice towards competent but cold superordinate group

e.g. rich people/feminists/professionals

Question 31

What is contemptuous prejudice?

Answer 31

prejudice towards incompetent, unkind subordinate group

e.g. poor people/welfare recipients

Question 32

What is image theory?

Answer 32

Alexander et al. (1999)

stereotypes function to rationalise and justify the intergroup relationship and one’s behaviour in it

Question 33

What are the 4 key image theory categories?

Answer 33

enemy
ally
dependent
barbarian

Question 34

What is an enemy in image theory?

Answer 34

a group with equal power and status
in competition
likely to attack
hostile, monolithic, opportunistic

Question 35

What is an ally in image theory?

Answer 35

interdependent group with equal power and status
likely to cooperate
trustworthy, intelligent, benign

Question 36

What is a dependent group in image theory?

Answer 36

a competitive group of lower power and status
likely to exploit
divided, incompetent, childlike

Question 37

What is a barbarian in image theory?

Answer 37

a weaker, competitive group but with higher status
likely to appease
ruthless, evil, irrational

Question 38

How is image theory supported in experiment?

Answer 38

hypothetical intergroup relations to fit the 4 images
varied relative strength, status and goal compatibility
MCQ on expectations and perceptions of out-group
ally, enemy and dependent showed theory congruent descriptions
no evidence for barbarian

Question 39

What is a motivated tactician?

Answer 39

someone who wants to gain personal information about a subject, using cognitive and attentional capacity
motivated to avoid using stereotypes

Question 40

How can we encourage attribution-based processing?

Answer 40

Fisk & Neuberg (1987)
outcome dependency; rewards for correct processing
accuracy; incentivise an accurate impression
accountability; justification of attributions

Question 41

How does Devine (1989) describes stereotype use?

Answer 41

there is a difference between knowing a stereotype and endorsing it to be true
motivated tactician; automatic activation-conscious inhibition

Question 42

How did Devine (1989) show automatic activation with conscious inhibition?

Answer 42

stereotypes of blacks

1. knowledge test; high/low prejudice people have equal stereotype knowledge
2. stereotype activation; high/low prejudice people show equal automatic activation
3. endorsement; low prejudice participants do not use the activated stereotype but provide more positive thoughts, high prejudice participants provide more negative, pejorative (contempt/disapproval) thoughts

Question 43

What is compunction and how can it be used for prejudice?

Answer 43

compunction is a feeling of guilt or moral scruple

people should recognised and feel guilty about their implicit biases

Question 44

How can prejudice with compunction be taught?

Answer 44

Kawakami (2000)
training participants to say NO when they observe a stereotype with a congruent face
before training, stereotypes were responded to quickly
after training reaction time was longer

Question 45

What is a rebound effect?

Answer 45

suppression of a thought can cause the monitoring of the stereotypical thought re-activating it
paradoxical; the more the thought is avoided the more it will persist

Question 46

Which studies show the rebound effect?

Answer 46

Wergner (1992) - White Bears
half think about, half avoid thoughts of white bears
equal number of thoughts in each group (bell ringing)
instructions reversed
avoid group were overwhelmed with thoughts of white bears
Macrae, Bodenhausen et al. (1994) - Skinheads
write passage; half avoid stereotypes, half no instructions
instructions reversed
avoid group showed much higher use of stereotypes the control

Question 47

Is the rebound effect inevitable?

Answer 47

Monteith
rebound depends on personal attitudes
only high prejudice people show a rebound effect after suppressing stereotypical thoughts
low prejudice people do not as they are motivated to avoid using stereotypes

Question 48

How can stereotypes be changed?

Answer 48

Weber & Crocker (1983); Hewstone (1994)
bookkeeping; gradual change in response to dispersed disconfirming evidence
conversion; radical change in response to dramatic disconfirming evidence
sub-typing; creating subtypes in response to concentrated disconfirming evidence

Question 49

What are the pro’s of sub-typing?

Answer 49

eventual stereotype disintegration
variable perception of stereotype
more thoughtful processing of inconsistent information

Question 50

What are the con’s of sub-typing?

Answer 50

increasing subtypes means info is less easily disconfirmed
strengthening/broadening of stereotype
limits generalisation