topic 6 Flashcards
what is a category?
collection of instances that have a family resemblance, organised around a prototype
what is a prototype?
cognitive representation of a category
are categories rigid?
no- usually typical of the category (depending on the prototype)
why do we categorise?
reduces cogntitive effort
maintain a positive self esteem
understand the world around us more
how does categorising reduce cognitive effort?
simplifies how individuals think about the world
how does categorisation allow us to maintain a posiitve self esteem?
motivational for our social identity
how does categorisation allow us to understand the world around us more?
once a category is activated, we see all members as possessing all traits of the stereotype
what happened in Hamilton and Sherman’s study of illusory correlation?
asked White American participants to estimate the number of Americans who were arrested
they incorrectly overestimated minority groups
what are the effects of stereotyping?
prejudice and discrimination
behavioural assimilation
stereotype threat
what is behavioural assimilation?
stereotypes don’t just influence our perceptions of others- can also influence our own behaviour
what is stereotype threat?
threat of negative evaluations can actually lead to poor performance
what happened in Bargh et al’s behavioural assimilation task?
used words either related to elderly stereotypes or unrelated to age
participants were directed to the exit, and timed how long it took them to reach it
participants primed with elderly words were slower to leave the room
what did Papies find out about behavioural assimilation?
people who want to be thinner will make healthier choices if primed with words like diet and thin
however, this only works for those with their main goal as a healthy diet
what is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?
prejudice= the thoughts
discrimination= the behaviour
what did Gaetner and Dovidio find out about reluctance to help?
participants were reluctant to help a minority in an emergency unless others were present
what did Monin and Miller find out about tokenism?
participants who were given the opportunity to hire a well qualified minority candidate were more likely to discriminate against minorities in subsequent hiring
had already ‘proved’ that they were not prejudiced
what did Dutton and Lake find out about reverse discrimination?
people displayed pro-minority behaviour, but only as a way to deflect accusations of prejudice
eg) gave more money to a minority member when felt threatened
what did Dovidio find out about racist attitudes?
decline of racist attitudes over the last 60 years
what did Quillian and Lee find out about racism?
hiring discrimination for minority groups has not fallen (after looking at 170, 000) applications
what are the 3 theories of subtle prejudice?
modern or symbolic racism
ambivalent racism
ambivalent sexism
who proposed modern/symbolic racism?
Kinder and Sears
what is modern/symbolic racism?
blaming the victim
supporting policies that happen to disadvantage racial minorities
who proposed ambivalent racism?
Katz and Hass
what is ambivalent racism?
high scores on pro-Black attitudes (pity for disadvantaged) but also high scores on anti-Black attitudes (hostility towards the deviant)= contrasting attitudes
