Week 11 Stereotypes & Prejudice Flashcards
What is stereotyping?
the process of ascribing characteristic of people based on their group memberships
What is prejudice?
a usually negative attitude towards members of a group - based solely upon their membership to that group (study of intergroup behaviour)
We can also have positive prejudicial attitudes towards members of our own group, ie. in-group prejudice
What is discrimination?
Discrimination = the negative actions towards and individual or members of a group on the basis of group membership
What is positive / reverse discrimination?
Discriminating against one’s in-group (usually majority) for members of an out-group (usually minority)
What is tokenism?
It involves instances in which individuals or business public perform trivial positive actions for members of groups they believe are prejudiced against, and often leads to an excuse not to do anything more substantial
Causes of prejudice - What does LaBon say about group influence?
the madness of crowds from observations of protests, behaviours from crowds was due to a dehumanising process
thus easier and safer to display prejudice
Causes of prejudice - What does Zimbardo say about groups via deindividuation?
In large groups people become deindividuated through
- the anonymity provide in large groups
- the lowered sense of personal responsibility for their actions
thus easier and safer to display prejudice
Causes of prejudice - What did Adorno say about prejudice?
Claimed that the authorisation personality type believed to be caused by parenting practising and upbringing, ie. harsh discipline lead to targeting weaker and more vulnerable groups
Causes of prejudice - What did Rokeach say about prejudice could be caused by?
Rokeach in 1960 developed ‘dogmatism’ a cognitive style of thinking that is rigid, intolerant and close minded
Distinguishing prejudice from “normal people” (psychoanalytical foundations)
What do categorisation explanations show about why we form prejudicial attitudes?
Allport = Formation rational process of in-group and out-group categorisations
Sheriff = In group behaviour and attitudes are influenced by the interests of one group in relation to the competitive interests of the other group (Israel & Palestine)
How do cognitive miser help explain prejudice?
Cognitive misers are a rational process that claim that stereotyping and prejudice stems from our need to grossly simplify information about other
We do this due to the complexity and hugeness of our social world- we cannot afford to know people intimately
What does Hamilton say about the rational process of stereotypes?
Stereotypes are producers of generalised and necessary cognitive process that are inadvertently produce error
A correct/accurate perception can only be achieved through individual perception
What are the 3 levels in the hierarchical system of self-classifications?
Subordinate/interpersonal level = personal categorisation
Intermediate level of group membership = when you’re a member of some social in-group
Superordinate level of self as a human being = talking about ourselves as human beings
What are the 3 ways of obtaining a more positive social identity? Remember even children do this.
[individual, permeable] Social mobility = you leave into a group that is more positive/higher status
[Group, permeable] Social creativity = you measure/distinguish your group based on a particular dimension that puts your group in a more positive light
[Group, impermeable] Social change = after a recognition that your group is actually worse, and you engage in social change, ie. protests, riots to change your group status
Out of social mobility, creativity and change, which 2 are when permeable barriers exist? And which one is when you perceive the barriers to be impermeable?
Permeable = social mobility & creativity
Impermeable = social change
What is the Contact hypothesis in reducing group prejudice and what are the 3 things needed for it?
A. the theory that direct contact facilitates that breakdown of prejudicial attitudes
- Has to be equal status
- Has to have positive contact
- Groups have to be cooperative over conflictual goals!
Is the contact hypothesis supported?
No -
1. In shierriff studies - contact increase prejudice/violence
- Prejudicial people who have contact with another group often think that this individual is an exception to their group, it doesn’t change their overall negative perception of that group
What is the re-categorisation attempt to reduce group prejudice?
redefining the boundary between us and them, by working with the “Other” to complete a bigger goal
This works only because the groups are still maintained by just redefined
Why doesn’t the re-categorisation attempt work in real life?
This only works in Sherriffs groups, in real life other political, sociohistorical and economic factors override the psychological attempts to re-categorise group memberships
The ethnic preference technique measure in-group biases and out group rejection through picture selection of dolls, what are the general findings? (3)
- Children from racially dominant group will more accurately identify with the ethnic membership compared to children from minority group
- Show in-group bias for ethnic pick
- This peaks at 5-7 years of age
What are the criticisms of the ethnic preference technique?
- It’s a forced choice measure …
- Does it actually measure prejudice or just distinguishing race?
- Does preference for one always accurately imply rejection for the other?
How does the trait attribution technique produce similar results to the ethnic preference technique and why?
The dominant racially children also show in group positively and out group rejection peaking at 3-6 years of age
What does the sociocognitive approach say about the development of prejudice?
(Aboud, 1988)
- That prejudice is an affective perceptual process
- Children show prejudice due to a fear of the unknown and an attachment to the familiar, largely determined by physical attributes like skin colour
- As cognitive processes take over, older children have a better understanding of individual personality traits over group physical traits
What are three criticisms of the sociocognitive approach?
- People are still prejudicial as they get older
- Does not consider the social context
- Cannot explain non-visual prejudices like religion or autism
What is the social identity approach to development of prejudice?
- People are motivated to see ingroup as positively distinct from outgroup
- People take on the norms of a particular group and identify with the beliefs of their group - which also includes prejudicial beliefs
What are the 3 ways that social identity approach help explain?
- How prejudice can change and decrease over time, how individual prejudices may change to align with the wider changes of the group
- Accounts for how parents and children prejudicial attitudes are often different due to cultural-generational changes
- Explains how children have non-visual prejudices, because it is taught as part of their social identity
What is the most likely explanation for why prejudice occurs?
It seems to be most influenced by the surrounding social context and the social group membership
What are the implications for a SIT explanation of prejudice?
One might never overcome prejudice (due to belonging to their social group)
OR
One might never acquire ethnic prejudice if one never chooses to identify with their social group that holds prejudicial attitudes
In minimal groups, what are the 2 ways that prejudice & discrimination occurs according to SIT theory?
- When group boundaries are impermeable
- When status relations are perceived to be unstable (as a way for group members to maintain positive distinctiveness)
