W5.b Flashcards
Why social groups are important?
They influence what we think, feel and do.
They form one of the key bases of social perception.
What is self-categorization?
Process of seeing oneself as a group member
- Social identities are accessible
- In extreme form: De-individuation
When is self-categorization likely to happen?
When we experience direct reminders of group membership.
When in the presence of out-group members.
In a minority.
What are the consequences of social and self categorization?
Me – self categorization–> We/Us
Interpersonal I I Intergroup
You –social categorization–> Them
What are the consequences for perceptions of inter and intra group structure?
Category differentiation model (Doise, 1978)
- Intergroup differentiation
- Within group homogeneity (especially for outgroups)
“Group-ness” is amplified
What is outgroup homogeneity?
Cross-race identification bias (‘other race’ effect)
Platz & Hosch (1988)
- Texas convenience store clerks
- Identification of customers
- Increased accuracy for own in-group vs. out-group
What is stereotypes?
Content-related consequences of social categorization
Stereotype: cognitive representation of impressions/expectancies about a social group (probable behaviors. traits, features) (cf. prejudice)
What is the content of Stereotype?
Stereotype Content Model (SCM; Fiske et al., 2012)
Warmth and Competence
High W and High C – Admiration. high status, not competitive. E.g., in-group, close allies.
High W and Low C – Paternalistic stereotype. Low status, not competitive. E.g., housewives, elderly people, disabled people.
Low W and High C – Envious stereotype. High status, competitive. E.g., Asians, Jews, rich people, feminists.
Low W and Low C – Contemptuous stereotype. Low status, competitive. E.g., welfare recipients, poor people.
How stereotypes are activated?
Automatically activated
Even the mere presence of a social category cue can be enough to activate (make accessible) a range of stereotype content.
Implicit Associations Test
What is Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998)?
Implicit measure of associations between social categories and other concepts.
IAT has also been used to measure attitudes (e.g., prejudice and self-esteem).
How does Implicit Associations Test work?
Response-time paradigm
-Patterns of RTs tell us something about underlying mental representations (here stereotypes)
Categorization task
- During the task, targets (often words) are placed into categories by pressing one of two response keys
- Arrangement of categories on screen makes sections of the task more or less difficult
- Comparing RTs on different sections of the task gives an indication of stereotypes
What are the effects of stereotypes?
Duncan’s experiment
Stereotypes can bias judgments about individuals
-Change the way that ambiguous behavior is interpreted
Duncan (1976)
White American participants witness an ambiguous shove (aggressive or playful) between confederates of different social categories.
- Stereotype of group to which shover belonged influenced interpretation
- Aggression was (and perhaps still is) part of the African American stereotype; here it shapes interpretation of the ambiguous shove.
Distinguish stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
Stereotype: cognitive representations of impressions of groups by associating the groups with particular characteristics (beliefs).
Prejudice: positive or negative evaluations of social group or its members (attitudes)
Discrimination: positive or negative behaviour directed toward a social group or its members.
What is in-group favoritism?
We tend to have more favorable attitudes and behaviours towards the groups to which we belong than to groups to which we don’t.
In-group favoritism, in-group bias, inter-group bias, inter-group discrimination
-Preference (in attitudes or behaviors) for in-groups over out-groups.
Why does in-group favoritism happen?
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
People prefer to have a positive self-concept (valuing me and mine)
Our selves are composed of personal and group-related (social) aspects/identities.
We are motivated to increase the positivity of our own groups relative to out-groups.
In a sense, value mine (my group) as a way of valuing “me”.
