Unit 5: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Question 1

Define discrimination.

Answer 1

Descrimination describes negative behaviour directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group.

Question 2

Define stereotype.

Answer 2

A stereotype is a belief or association that links a whole group of people with certain traits of characteristics.

Question 3

Define prejudice.

Answer 3

Prejudice refers to negative feelings toward people based on their membership in certain groups.

Question 4

Describe the process by which stereotypes are formed.

Answer 4

1. Socialization (parents and peers)
2. Media
3. Culture

Question 5

What is social categorization?

Answer 5

Social categorization refers to the classification of individuals into groups on the basis of common attributes.

Question 6

What are the advantages of social categorization?

Answer 6

1. provides us with information about the characteristics of people who belong to certain groups
2. it is quick
3. makes life easier because we reduce the complexity of reality when we rely on stereotypes

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of social categorization?

Answer 7

1. tendency to view members of outgroups are more similar to each other than members from ingroups which perpetuates the use of stereotypes because judgments about individuals are made based on outgroup membership(s) rather than their unique individual characteristics
2. tendency to overestimate differences between groups

Question 8

What are in-groups?

Answer 8

Ingroups are groups with which an individual feels a sense of membership, belonging, and identity.

Question 9

What are out-groups?

Answer 9

Outgroups are groups with which an individual does not feel a sense of membership, belonging, or identity.

Question 10

How are in-group members perceived differently from out-group members?

Answer 10

Individuals tend to favour members of their ingroup over members of the outgroup. Additionally, negative stereotypes of outgroups can help justify the desire to exclude outgroups. In turn, these stereotypes can further promote prejudice and discrimination.

Question 11

What is the outgroup homogeneity effect?

Answer 11

The tendency to assume that there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups.

Question 12

What is illusory correlation?

Answer 12

An overestimate of the association between variables that are only slightly or not at all correlated. This happens through two processes: 1) people overestimate the association between variables that are distinctive which then leads them to overestimate the joint occurrence of distinctive variables, and 2) people overestimate the association between variables that they already expect to occur together.

The implication for perpetuating stereotypes is that people overestimate that stereotypes behaviours will go with stereotyped groups.

Question 13

What are attributional processes?

Answer 13

How perceivers explain the causes of other people’s behaviour. People are more likely to attribute situational factors when they see a person from a certain group contradict a stereotype. When a stereotype is confirmed, observers are more likely to see it as evidence supporting the stereotype rather than recognizing situational factors.

Question 14

What is subtyping?

Answer 14

When people create a subtype within a group for members who contradict a stereotype so that the existing stereotype for the group in general can remain intact. This makes it possible for stereotypes to persist in the face of multiple sources of disconfirmatory evidence.

Question 15

What is confirmatory bias?

Answer 15

The effect of stereotypes on individuals’ perceptions and their tendency to interpret, seek, and create information that seems to confirm their expectations. Stereotypes of groups influence observers’ perceptions and interpretations of the behaviours of group members.

Question 16

What are self-fulfilling prophecies?

Answer 16

Self-fulfilling prophecies happen when a perceiver’s false expectations about a person from a stereotyped group cause that person to behave in ways that confirm the perceiver’s expectations.

Question 17

Describe briefly the Robbers Cave study. What is the significance of the results of this study?

Answer 17

In the Robbers Cave Study boys were divided into two groups and given time to form their own group identity and culture. Then groups were then thrown into competition and conflict arose. Peace between the groups was not restored until superordinate goals (mutual goals that could only be achieved by working together) were introduced. The results of this study are important because they mimic the conflicts that occur around the world between groups.

Question 18

Describe the realistic conflict theory.

Answer 18

The realistic conflict theory proposes that hostility between groups is caused by direct competition for limited resources.

Question 19

According to realistic conflict theory, what role does relative deprivation play in fostering prejudice?

Answer 19

A sense of relative deprivation refers to the perception in the mind of an individual who is not engaged in any real conflict that the individual fares poorly compared to others. It fosters prejudice because people become resentful of other groups when they have a sense of relative deprivation.

Question 20

Describe social identity theory.

Answer 20

Social identity theory posits that people favor ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance their self-esteem. Self-esteem has two components: 1) a personal identity, and 2) multiple collective or social identities based on the groups that an individual belongs to. Therefore, people can enhance their self-esteem either through their own personal achievements or through their affiliation with successful groups.

Question 21

When do children first learn about their gender identity?

Answer 21

Children first learn to distinguish between men and women before their first birthday and identify the gender of individuals (including themselves) by age three.

Question 22

When do children first learn about gender stereotypes?

Answer 22

Soon after learning about gender identity, children start to form gender stereotypes and preferences that favour their own gender norms in intergroup situations.

Question 23

How do children first learn about their gender identity and about gender stereotypes?

Answer 23

1. parents
2. role models
3. society
4. media.

Question 24

What is social role theory?

Answer 24

The theory that small gender differences are magnified in perception by the contrasting social roles occupied by men and women

Question 25

Identify the sociocultural factors that help to strengthen and maintain gender stereotypes.

Answer 25

Social role theory and socialization processes can fuel stereotypes and prejudices. The perception of sex differences can be based on real differences between men and women but it is also magnified by unequal distribution of social roles the occupy. Differences in division of labour and behaving in ways that fit social roles being played provide a continuing basis for social perception that differences are biological or “natural” rather than a result of social processes.

Question 26

Describe how discrimination is perceived by the target of discrimination.

Answer 26

Depends on the extent to which they identify with their stigmatized group. Targets of discrimination frequently wonder if and to what extent others’ impressions of them are distorted by discrimination.

Question 27

How does perceiving something as discrimination affect the target’s self-esteem and feelings of control?

Answer 27

1. Attributing negative feedback to discrimination can have the effect of protecting self-esteem, causing it to remain stable.
2. Positive feedback may be attributed to reverse discrimination and being patronized and have the effect of decreasing self-esteem.
3. Individuals may feel threatened by their vulnerability to discrimination and experience decreased self-esteem when they think they have been discriminated against. Physical health problems, mental health problems, and drug use are all associated with perceiving persistent discrimination over time.

Question 28

What is stereotype threat?

Answer 28

Stereotype threat is the experience of concern about being evaluated based on negative stereotypes about one’s group.

Question 29

When does stereotype threat occur?

Answer 29

It occurs when the domain for which the stereotype is relevant is one that the individual has their identity and self-esteem invested in.

Question 30

What are the potential consequences of stereotype threat?

Answer 30

A potential consequence of stereotype threat is poorer performance in the domain due to the threat increasing anxiety and distracting thoughts. If the threat is chronic in the domain, the individual may disidentify from the domain - that is, dismiss it as not relevant to their self-esteem and identity- in order to protect their self-esteem and identity. Another domain is then selected as more important to replace it.

Question 31

Describe the contact hypothesis.

Answer 31

The contact hypothesis is the theory that direct contact between hostile groups will reduce prejudice under certain conditions.

Question 32

List the conditions that intergroup contact must satisfy for prejudice to decrease, according to the contact hypothesis.

Answer 32

1. Equal Status
2. Personal interaction
3. Cooperative activities
4. Social norms

Question 33

Describe the jigsaw classroom.

Answer 33

The jigsaw classroom is a cooperative learning method in which groups consisting of individuals from multiple groups are created and given the task of learning material. Within each group, individuals are responsible for learning a portion of the content and then teaching it to their other group members. In this system, there is interdependency between group members if the group is to succeed as a whole.

Question 34

How does the jigsaw classroom improve race relations?

Answer 34

The jigsaw classroom improves race relations by using equal status, a co-operative activity, and social norms to promote greater tolerance of diversity and reduce prejudice.