Week 10-Intergroup Relations and Social Groups

Question 1

What are the explanations for prejudice?

Answer 1

Frustration-Aggression Theory
Right-wing authoritarianism
Social Identity Theory

Question 2

When teachers’ low expectations of students from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds affect those students’ achievements, this could be an example of:

Answer 2

Labelling

Question 3

Sexism that encompasses subjectively positive attitudes towards women in traditional roles, and antagonism and hostility towards women in non-traditional roles is called:

Answer 3

Ambivalent Sexism

Question 4

Define Stereotype

Answer 4

Association of a social group with specific characteristics.

E.g. Elderly being slow. Children adopting gender stereotypes.
Stereotypes slow to change
Stereotype Content Model/BIAS Map- positive, negative, mixed.
Trigger different emotions
Type of schema- widely shared.

Question 5

Define Prejudice

Answer 5

Unfavourable ATTITUDE towards a social group and its members E.g. negativity-unfavourable negative ATTITUDE.

Pre-judgement
3 different components to prejudice: Cognitive (a belief we have of a particular social group); Affective (strong negative feelings); Conative (intentions to behave a certain way)

Question 6

Define Discrimination

Answer 6

BEHAVIOURAL EXPRESSION of prejudice.
Take subtle or overt forms.
Individual (1 person individual act towards another individual) vs institutional (ingrained within different society’s and cultures e.g. institutionalised ageism homework cards. Educational attainment)

Failure to help(actively or passively don’t help a social group like people with disabilities); Tokenism(engage in a small public act of assisting but don’t go onto a larger scale, helping just for show, gay pride pin); reverse discrimination (outward expression different to what is on the inside)

Question 7

Define stigma?

Answer 7

Crocker, Major & Steele (1998): Stigmatised individuals possess (or are believed to possess) “some attribute or characteristic that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context”
CONTEXTUAL
Controllability(weight is it genetic or can it be controlled); visibility (race, disability or religious beliefs and sexual orientation)

Question 8

What are the consequences of stigma?

Answer 8

Low Self Esteem,
Low self-worth in self-efficacy- devalued
Physical and mental wellbeing.
Feel like they are the target of stigma.

INTERNALISED STIGMA-most damaging forms of stigma (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Question 9

What is Stereotype Threat?

Answer 9

The fear that you’ll confirm a negative stereotype about a group that you belong to. (Steele & Aronson, 1995). (self-fulfilling prophecy) E.g. Women not as good as Math as men.
A situational phenomenon- Certain situations trigger can confirm stereotype threats. Don’t perform as well
-Anxiety or arousal of certain emotions.
-Distraction.
-Reduced effort to fit in with label/belief.

Question 10

How to overcome Stereotype threat?

Answer 10

Strategic and motivational use identities

Question 11

What is dehumanisation?

Answer 11

When we see someone/social group less than human.

E.g. Immigration; Genocide (Holocaust) Associating people as animals/ animal characteristics; parasites

Question 12

Two forms of dehumanization

Answer 12

Haslam(2006)

• Animalistic dehumanization: denied intellect self-awareness
• Mechanistic dehumanization: robotic; machines; cold and robotic; lacking in warmth and curiosity

Question 13

What is Infra-humanization?

Answer 13

Effect of dehumanization.
Impacts different emotions. The distinction between primary and secondary emotions.
Outgroups denied the ability to feel complex emotions
Secondary emotions are more unique to humans than primary emotions.
Implicit (IIT) and explicit measures (rating scales).

Question 14

Where does prejudice come from?

Answer 14

1920-1950: Prejudice as psychopathology
1950-1990: Normal processes fuel prejudice. Contemporary forms developed because of social norms.
Mid 1990- Present: Prejudice is multidimensional; new methods to compare implicit and explicit attitudes; new conceptual perspectives.

Shift from individual to more complex.

Question 15

Social Norms and Internalization for prejudice

Answer 15

Group Norm Study-correlational and experimental evidence. Different perceptions of showing prejudice. Different range of acceptability.
Crandall et al (2002) social norms of evaluation of groups correlated to prejudice.

Question 16

Theories to explain why prejudice exists

Answer 16

Frustration-Aggression (scapegoating)
Authoritarian Personality- Different personalities
Social Cognitive explanations-Schemas
Realistic Conflict Theory
-Right-wing authoritarianism-protect value system; more moral look down. Different forms of racism. Authoritarian Submission; Political conservatism; aggression and conventionalism

• Social Dominance Theory: Ideologies that promote or attenuate hierarchies. High in SDO=Sexism; nationalism; racism. Consistent predictor. Men have stronger SDO. Men greater inter-group bias.
• Social Identity Theory- Minimal group study(Tajfel et al)-strongly bias towards the own group(ingroup favouritism); self-enhancement; uncertain reduction. Ingroup love or outgroup hate?

Question 17

What is Sexism and different forms?

Answer 17

-Sexism: Prejudice and discrimination against people based on their gender (biological and social construction of gender)
Patronising towards women.

Glick & Fiske -2 forms of sexism:

• Hostile sexism: women challenging male dominance; negative emotions. Women use sex to control men.
• Benevolent sexism: restricting roles but positive emotions towards women. Protection paternalism.

Question 18

How is sexism measured?

Answer 18

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI):

Non-sexist; Hostile; Benevolent; Ambivalent

Question 19

What is Racism?

Answer 19

Prejudice and discrimination against people based on their ethnicity/ race.
Blatant and subtle forms of racism.
Blatant racism: derogatory stereotypes, abuse, persecution, assault, discrimination
Jane Elliott study-“You are not born a racist. You have to carefully be taught to be one.”(Elliot, 2011)

Question 20

What is modern racism?

Answer 20

IGNORE REALITY OF PREJUDICE-Underplay inequality, pretend prejudice doesn’t exist.

McConahay (1978, 1986) used the term ‘modern racism’ to emphasise how prejudices changed post-civil rights movements. (Civil rights movement and black people)

According to him, modern racists start from the presumption that discrimination is a thing of the past. Given this belief, they also conclude that:
Minorities are pushing too hard
These tactics and demands are unfair
Recent gains they have made are undeserved

Question 21

What is the distinction/ difference modern and symbolic racism vs ambivalent and aversive racism?

Answer 21

Symbolic racism is more political, however symbolic and modern racism- racism still exists; however, expressed in more subtle ways due to social norms.
Private versus public displays differ.
Individual differences are often important. Emotions: hostility; dislike

Whereas ambivalent and aversive racism- mixed feelings and views. Emotions: fear, discomfort, guilt, and unease. The conflict between +ve & -ve feelings. Situational norms and justification.

Question 22

What is ageism?

Answer 22

Prejudice and discrimination against people based on their age. (prejudice towards elderly or younger)

Question 23

What is Generation X and Millenials?

Answer 23

Generation X (born between 1961-1980): skeptical, self-reliant risk-takers, who balance work and personal life

Millennial (born between 1981- 1996): hopeful, value meaningful life, diversity and change, and are technologically savvy

Question 24

What are the different expressions/sources of ageism?

Answer 24

Often socially overlooked, lack of research on the problem. Both implicit and explicit attitude towards the elderly. Institutionalized.

Sources:

• Fear of Death TMT- Terror Theory
• Benevolent ageism: Incompetent but warm stereotype. Mixed feelings.
• Unique category: Aging is inevitable. Stereotypes may be different from personal experiences.

Question 25

Discrimination against sexual orientation (LGBTQ+)

Answer 25

Momentum on anti-gay attitudes has picked up since the 1970s.

Contact; Values and religious beliefs; emotions like disgust

Question 26

Give examples of different types of prejudice

Answer 26

Sexism; Racism; Ageism; Disability; Religion; Weight

Intersectionality

Question 27

What are ways to reduce prejudice?

Answer 27

The Contact Hypothesis (Allport)- Friends with opposite people can improve Intergroup contact and relations. Equal status; Common end Goals; Intergroup cooperation; Institutional support

Question 28

What are the factors that facilitate the need for social change?

Answer 28

Social Identity Theory (SIT)- identities can link to social change.
Status: Consensual evaluation of the prestige of a group and its members as a whole. (high or low in-group status)
Permeability: How easy (or difficult) to join (or leave) a group?
Legitimacy: How justified are status differences?
Stability/ Security: How strong/ stable are status differences?

Social Mobility Belief System: Belief that intergroup boundaries are permeable. It is possible for someone to pass from a lower-status into a higher status group to improve social identity

Social Change Belief System: Belief that intergroup boundaries are impermeable. A lower-status individual can improve social identity only by challenging the legitimacy of the higher status group.

Intergroup comparisons; redefine; social creativity; social comparisons