Unit 2, AOS 2: Stereotypes, prejudice & discrimination Flashcards
Person perception
Mental processes we use to make conclusions about other’s personal characteristics.
Cognitive dissonance
Feeling of discomfort knowing there is inconsistency between behaviour and attitude.
Cognitive/cognition
Mental processes of acquiring knowledge and understanding.
Social cognition
How we make sense of our social world
Halo effect
Cognitive bias of the impression we form about one physical quality which influences our beliefs/expectations about the person in other qualities.
Non-verbal communication
Communicating without words, including facial expressions, eye contact and other gestures.
Attribution
Explanation of behaviour
Personal attribution
Explanation due to characteristics of a person
Situational attribution
Explanation due to external factors
Fundamental attribution error
Overestimating influence of personal factors and underestimating influence of situational factors.
Actor-observer bias
Attribute own behaviour to external causes, yet attribute others’ behaviour to internal factors
Self-serving bias
Take credit for own successes but attribute failures to situational factors.
Individualist culture
Independence is valued and encouraged. Personal goals > group goals.
Collectivist culture
Teamwork is valued and encouraged. Group goals > personal goals.
Attitude
Evaluation about people, object, event or issue. Must be consistent, and can be positive, negative or neutral.
Tri-component model of attitudes
Proposes that attitudes are made up of three components: affective, behavioural and cognitive.
Affective component
Emotional feeling
Behavioural component
How attitude is expressed
Cognitive component
Thoughts and beliefs
Attitude inconsistency
Behaviour can differ from affective or cognitive components.
Consistent behaviour with attitudes depends on these factors
- strength of the attitude
- accessibility of the attitude
- social context
- perceived control
Cognitive dissonance can be reduced through:
- changing attitude
- changing behaviour to suit attitude
- reducing importance we give to attitudes and behaviour
- add new elements to situation to support attitude/behaviour.
Attitudes are learned through
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
- social learning
- repeated exposure
Classical conditioning
Learning through repeated association of two things
Social learning
Developing attitudes after observing others (especially people close to you/people you admire).
Operant conditioning
Learning that involves repeating behaviour in response to rewards and decreasing behaviour in response to punishment.
Repeated exposure
Attitude being formed from being constantly around an object/person/event. We develop positive attitudes towards familiarity.
Stereotyping
Fitting people into categories based on pre-existing knowledge of people in the world.
Prejudice
Holding negative attitude towards members of group based solely on their membership.
Explicit prejudice
Openly thinking negatively of other people.
Implicit prejudice
Subtle and expressed in ways more likely to be accepted.
Prejudice is formed through
- social learning
- repeated exposure
- attributions
- stereotypes
- ingroups & outgroups
Ingroup
Any group where you belong
Outgroup
Any group where you do not belong
Discrimination
Behaviour directed towards a social group and its members.
Direct discrimination
Treating someone unfavourably because of personal characteristics.
Indirect discrimination
Treating everybody the same way disadvantages someone because of personal characteristics.
Methods to reduce prejudice
- intergroup contact
(sustained contact)
(equality of status)
(mutual interdependence)
(superordinate goals)
- cognitive interventions
- education
- direct experienceMethods to reduce prejudice
- intergroup contact
(sustained contact)
(equality of status)
(mutual interdependence)
(superordinate goals)
- cognitive interventions
- education
- direct experience
