stigma, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination (subtle, interpersonal, formal) Flashcards
What is the definition of stigma?
Goffman, 1963
Defined stigma as individual attributes that are seen as personal flaws in social contexts.
They are devalued, and stigmas discredit individuals.
What are Goffman’s (1963) three dimensions of stigma?
Aberrations of the body - disability
Character flaws - drug addiction
Tribal stigmas - race/ethnicity
What are Jones et al (1984) 6 dimensions of stigma?
1) concealability
2) course
3) disruptiveness
4) peril/threat
5) origin/cause
6) aesthetics
Define and discuss relationships among stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
Stereotypes are personal beliefs about categories of people, based on associated traits or characteristics.
Prejudice is an attitude about a group based on stereotypes we hold/adopt.
Discrimination is behavior: when differential treatment occurs between or among people.
Stereotypes->Prej->Discrimin
Stereotypes are mainly cognitive, prejudices are predominantly affective, and discrimination is behavioral.
Allport, 1954
What are shifting standards?
Shifting standard model: Having a different set of standards based on stereotypes for groups. (“Pretty good manager for a woman” is based on leaders being stereotyped as male.)
Biernat et al.
What is stereotype threat?
The fear of being judged according to a negative stereotype.
But also refers to a process by which the salience of an unfavorable stereotype can depress performance of someone from a stigmatized group.
When someone from a stigmatized group is aware others expect them to perform poorly, it can create anxiety and distraction from the task at hand and actually result in decreased performance as a result.
The awareness is an additional burden, a sense of being “in the spotlight”
Roberson & Kulik 2007
What are the three conditions for stereotype threat?
Conditions when stereotype threat is most likely:
1) The employee is personally invested in doing well, on:
2) A difficult, stereotype relevant task, where:
3) The context reinforces the stereotype
Personal investment: important to one’s identity to do that task well (i.e., I’m a writer).
Difficulty: Ask themselves, why is this so hard? Will they think it’s because I’m [a woman? black? etc].
Context: Is this a place where stereotypes operate? i.e., when one is a token employee
Roberson and Kulik, 2007
What are outcomes of stereotype threat?
Neg outcomes:
1) Decline in performance
2) More time monitoring their performance (for example, by comparing themselves to peers)
3) More likely to discount performance feed back that they received from the organization. But that’s functional - bc maybe they should be
Pos outcomes:
1) can enhance motivation (persistence and determination) - it can either work for you or against you. It works for you if you know how to do the task already
Roberson and Kulik, 2007
How to reduce stereotype threat?
Change the conditions:
1) Reduce stereotype relevance - say that everyone who has been hired has the skills to do the job equally well
2) Acknowledge stereotypes exist and tell employees that might be affected by it that if they’re anxious it might just be due to that (it can help lower and change the mindset).
3) Make role models salient - encourage participation mentoring programs, ERGs.
Roberson and Kulik, 2007
What is selective incivility?
A modern (covert) form of interpersonal discrimination targeting women and POC. Like general incivility, it has ambiguous intent.
Modern = more subtle, allows people to retain egalitarian image.
Cortina et al., 2013
What is attributional ambiguity theory?
It holds that neg feedback will be attributed to prejudiced evaluators in clear but not ambiguous situations. i.e. when it’s clear, one can say “it’s not my fault, they’re sexist!” but when it’s ambig, makes them think it’s them/their fault.
The confusion leads to stress.
Jones et al., 2016
What is interpersonal discrimination?
Interpersonal discrimination is a more subtle (non- or paraverbal (tone, number of words)) that occur in social interactions that are not illegal.
Formal: discrim in hiring, promotions, etc that is mostly illegal; laws and policies or social norms against.
It can occur even when formal discrimin isn’t there
Hebl et al., 2002
What is subtle discrimination, why is it harmful, and what are associated outcomes/
Subtle discrimination: negative or ambivalent treatment on basis of minority status, not necessarily conscious, likely convey ambiguous intent. (i.e., incivility, “modern” racism etc, jokes)
Harmful because its ambiguous intent causes target to spend more cognitive resources trying to figure out the person’a intention (attributional ambiguity), and that effort serves as a STRESSOR.
Outcomes:
Subtle discrimination is just as harmful as overt discrimination in terms of work outcomes (performance, turnover) & physical and psych health outcomes (i.e., stress, strain, cardiov health).
Jones et al., 2016
Connections between Hebl et al., 2002, Jones et al., 2016, Cortina et al., 2013,
Interpersonal occurs even if/when formal isn’t happening (Hebl et al., 2002), and those subtle forms of discrim are just as harmful (if not moreso) as overt forms for work/health outcomes (Jones et al., 2016). A specific form of subtle discrim, selective incivility, is when ambiguous intentional incivility behaviors target women and people of color (Cortina et al., 2013). WOC report highest rates of incivility, double jeopardy, associated with higher turnover.
What is intergroup contact theory/hypothesis and does it work?
Intergroup contact hypothesis/theory (Allport, 1954) holds that when there is more contact between majority and minority groups. A meta-analysis found that it does work to reduce prejudice. (Pettigrew et al., 2011)
Reduced anxiety and empathy are the mediators.
Works across nations, genders, and age groups.
Allport argued it would reduce prejudice under four conditions:
- Equal status of groups
- Common goals
- Cooperation/no competition between groups
- Laws or authority sanctions equality
Pettigrew et al 2011 found that the conditions not necessary but they enhance the effects.
Describe the dimensions of SCM
SCM holds that people respond to others on 2 basic dimensions: warmth and competence.
First assessment is warmth: are they friendly or do they want to harm us? This is based on perception of competition.
Second assessment is competence: Can they carry out their intentions? High in competence are higher status than low competence.
Competence more key in workplace, but warmth is day to day.
The theory helps explain why certain minority groups are viewed more positively than others (Asians as model minorities), and why some members of groups (women) may be viewed more pos than others (competent when working, not when a stay at home mom)
Cuddy et al., 2008
