T2. Contemporary theories on racism

Question 1

what is the Cognitive developmental theory (Aboud, 1988)?

Answer 1

Literature review shows a decrease in racial prejudice after the age of 7.
Explanatory hypotheses:
- A young child’s cognitive limitations lead them to show prejudice.
- Prejudice becomes less likely as children develop the ability to think flexibly (e.g. racial reconciliation) and use multiple categories (e.g., multiple classification skills)

Question 2

what is the evidence against the cognitive developmental theory?

Answer 2

• 1st half of the XX century: Racial prejudice rises with age because children and then adults are under the influence of racist norms (ideological) and socialization for prejudice (interpersonal/situational) (Horowitz, 1936; Horowitz & Horowitz, 1938)
• High status children have a peak at an age of 5-7 then decreasing vs. low status children where are getting more prejudiced with time

Question 3

what is the social identity developmental theory (Nesdale & Brown, 2004)?

Answer 3

• Developmental psychologists saw relevance but acknowledged that Social Identity Theory could not be directly applied to children
• SIDT provides an account of developmental changes in children’s prejudice.
• Key processes: social categorization, ingroup identification, preferences, stereotypes & prejudice
• Social identification and status (positional intra/intergroup) plus social categorization (intraindividual) are determined for ingroup favouritism.
• Evidence consistent with Social Identity Developmental Theory
• Doll experiment (Clark & Clark, 1947)
• Dominant groups: ingroup identification and preference
• Discriminated groups: mixed results including outgroup identification and preference at age 6/7

Question 4

which factors are relevant whether or not children enter the prejudice stage?

Answer 4

1. Strength of ingroup identification
2. Perceived outgroup threat
3. Inclusion and exclusion group norms (negativity of group norms)

Question 5

what is the social-normative approach (Rodriguesm Monteiro & Rutland, 2012)?

Answer 5

• Group identification & group status (ideological) plus 2 norms: ingroup favouritism & anti-discrimination (positional, intra/intergroup) plus normative control (interpersonal/situational) plus perspective taking (intraindividual)

Question 6

what is aversive racism?

Answer 6

• Aversive racism (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986): aversive racists sympathise with victims of past injustice, support principles of racial equality, and genuinely regard themselves as nonprejudiced, but at the same time possess conflicting, often nonconscious, negative feelings and beliefs about Blacks that are rooted in basic psychological processes (e.g., social categorization) that promote racial bias”
• Similar to symbolic racism, aversive racism contends subtle and indirect ways
• Different from symbolic/modern racism:
• Focuses on behaviours rather than on self-report.
• Characterizes the attitudes of politically liberal individuals.
• Emphasizes that racism is based on normal and adaptive psychological processes (social categorization and social influence)
• Aversive racists will discriminate depending on the situation:
• Don’t discriminate when anti-discrimination norms are salient in the situation and discrimination would be obvious to others and to them;
• Discriminate when the normative structure in the situation is weak and/or when discrimination can be justifies based on some factor other than race.
• Typically studied behaviours: prosocial, helping behaviour, employment selection, juror decision making

Question 7

what is racism?

Answer 7

“racism represents an organized system of privilege and bias that systematically disadvantages a group of people perceived to belong to a specific race” (Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami)
Three defining elements:
1. Belief that different races exist and can be identified based on specific physical characteristics
2. The perceived inherent characteristics (essence) of one group make it inferior
3. Involves negative beliefs, attitudes, and the social power to create inequalities
Racism is closely related to concepts such as discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping but is more encompassing (umgreifend).

Question 8

what is symbolic racism

Answer 8

“Is the expression by suburban whites in terms of abstract ideological symbols and symbolic behaviours of the feeling that blacks are violating cherished values and making illegitimate demands for changes in the racial status quo.” (McConahay & Hough, 1976)

Prejudice & personal values:
- Early acquired negative racial beliefs
- Politically conservatism
- Individualism/meritocracy
- Acceptance of formal equality

Beliefs:
- Discrimination against Black people is a thing of the past.
- Black people fail because they do not work hard.
- Black people make excessive demands.
- Black people get more than they deserve.

Discrimination:
- Rejection of affirmative action
- Not voting for black candidates

Question 9

what is modern racism?

Answer 9

critiques to the modern racism perspective.
Modern racism scale taps non-racial principles underlying conservatism (such as opposition to excessive government intervention)
- there is evidence that a subset of high modern racism scorers are, indeed, principled conservatives rather than racists.
The measure should be no longer classified as an indirect measure but, rather, as a blatant measure of racism.
- Responses to the Modern Racism Scale appear to be more susceptible to social desirability influences and self-presentational concerns than in the past (Calanchini & Sherman, 2013)

Question 10

what is aversive racism?

Answer 10

Like symbolic racism, aversive racism contends subtle and indirect.
Different from symbolic/modern racism:
- Focuses on behaviours rather than on self-report.
- Characterizes the attitudes of politically liberal individuals.
- Emphasizes that racism is based on normal and adaptive psychological processes (social categorization and social influence)
- Aversive racists will discriminate depending on the situation:
o Don’t discriminate when anti-discrimination norms are salient in the situation and discrimination would be obvious to others and to them.
o Discriminate when the normative structure in the situation is weak and/or when discrimination can be justifies based on some factor other than race.
- Telephone experiment (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986)

Question 11

what is subtle & blatant racism?

Answer 11

• Blatant prejudice: traditional, often studied from; it is hot, close and direct
• Subtle prejudice: modern form; it is cool, distant, and indirect.
• 5 dimensions
  o Blatant: perceive threat & rejection; opposition to intimate contact
  o Subtle: defence of traditional values, exaggeration of cultural differences, denial of positive emotions

Question 12

what is biological racism?

Answer 12

• The belief that there are racial or ethnic groups that were born less intelligent and/or less hard working than others.
• Three defining elements
  o Belief that different races exist and can be identified based on specific physical characteristics.
  o The perceived inherent characteristics (essence) of one group make it inferior.
  o Involves negative beliefs, attitudes, and the social power to create inequalities.

Question 13

what is cultural racism?

Answer 13

The belief that there are cultures much better than others