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”.
Which experiment test the minimal conditions of in-group favoritism?
Tajfel et al (1971)
- Schoolchildren
- Choose either Klee’s or Kandinsky’s painting
- Assigned into two groups, which has nothing to do with their choice of painting (they don’t know this)
- Point allocation task
- In-group favoritism appeared
Mere categorization (based on minimal group conditions) elicited in-group favoritism.
What is Group serving biases?
Oskamp & Harty (1968): It is positive when the in-group does it.
Ultimate Attribution Error (Pettigrew, 1979)
In-group positive behaviors: disposition
Out-group positive behaviors: situation
vice versa
What other factors escalate us vs. them framing into conflict?
Categorization lays the groundwork
Competition
Threat
How does competition escalate conflict?
Realistic Conflict Theory Intergroup hostility arises from competition among groups for scarce (and thus valued) material resources.
In-group favoritism exacerbated under competition.
How does intergroup threat escalate conflict?
Integrated Threat Theory
Realistic threat: threats to the material well-being of the ingroup, such as their economic benefits, political power, and health.
Symbolic threat: threats to the in-group’s system of values
Intergroup anxiety: feelings of anxiety people experience during intergroup interactions associated with negative outcomes for the self (embarrassed, rejected, ridiculed).
Riek et al (2006)
- Meta analysis
- Realistic, symbolic and anxiety positively associated with negative outgroup attitudes.
Methods of prejudice reduction
Contact
-extended contact
-imagined contact
Contact hypothesis: the theory that certain types of
direct contact between members of hostile groups will reduce stereotyping and prejudice.
Changing categorization
Superordinate goals
What are the optimal conditions for “contact”, which is a method of prejudice reduction?
The more contact one has with an outgroup, the less prejudice one expresses.
Contact is most effective when: equal status, shared goals, authority sanction, absence of competition.
How?
- Knowledge
- Anxiety
- Empathy/perspective taking
What is extended contact?
Knowledge that other ingroup members have outgroup friends can reduce intergroup bias.
Wright et al. (1997)
- Phase 1: Two groups formed (on the basis of “personality”) and labeled blue or green.
- Phase 2: One confederate from each group chosen to interact (Friendly; Hostile, Neutral)
- Phase 3: Ingroup and outgroup evaluations: traits (e.g., intelligent, confident, inflexible, indifferent) and performance qualities (e.g., effective communication, effective problem solver)
How does empathy and perspective taking reduce prejudice?
Putting oneself “in another’s shoes” emotionally (empathy) or cognitively (perspective taking) decrease ingroup favoritism.
Galinsky & Moskowitz (2000)
- Formed groups based on minimal group paradigm: overestimators vs. underestimators
- Control vs. perspective taking
How does changing categorization reduce prejudice?
Change the cognitive representation of outgroup members so it is no longer simply us vs. them
Re-categorization
-“Us” and “them” become super-ordinate “we”
De-categorization
-“They” become individuals
Experiment of changing categorization
Participants initially form two 3-person groups (A and B) and interact within-groups, and come up with group names.
Then, come together to do a task.
Manipulation
- Control: retain original two group structure and identity (aaabbb)
- Re-categorization: form one new, superordinate group (ababab)
- De-categorization: separate individuals, with nicknames (ababab)
Evaluations
Ingroup - Outgroup difference: One < Separate < Two
Experiment of promoting cooperation
The Robber’s Cave (Sherif et al., 1961)
Summer camp
Two groups: Eagles and Rattlers
Tournament (i.e., competition: Intergroup conflict
But then, cooperative interaction
-Superordinate goals: shared goals that can be achieved only if groups work together.
Why contact may not undermine stereotype?
Explaining away inconsistent information
Compartmentalizing inconsistent information: Defend their stereotypes by resorting to specific subtypes.
Subtypes: A narrower and more specific social group.
E.g., Male executives who work alongside highly competent female colleagues can form a ‘career woman’ subtype that allows them to maintain a more general belief that most women cannot succeed in business.
Differentiating atypical group members: Contrast effects.
- Seeing stereotype-disconfirming individuals as remarkable or exceptional people.
- Perceivers can easily decide that these unusual people are not true group members at all.
What kind of contact works to overcome stereotype?
Repeated inconsistency: An antidote for “explaining away”.
Widespread inconsistency: An antidote for subtyping
Being typical as well as inconsistent: An antidote for contrast effects
-individual stereotype violators provide strong and consistent reminders of their group membership.
