Week 4; Prejudice Flashcards
Stereotypes
- Cognitive schemas that organise information on people based on their membership in certain groups
- Allows for easy and fast processing of social information
Problems with stereotypes
- Illusory Correlations
- Subtyping
Illusory Correlations
- Seeing relationships that do not exist
- They may believe false relationships as they only notice information that confirms their stereotypes
-i.e. a superstitious person who sees a black cat in the morning and misses their bus may believe that there is a correlation between the two events
Subtyping
-When people encounter someone who does not fit into their stereotype; they may put that person in a special category rather than alter their stereotype
- i.e. people who have a stereotype that Latinas are lazy may create a subtype for highly productive Latinas e.g.; Selena Gomez
The Ingroup
The group to which a particular individual belongs i.e. friend group, family etc.
The Outgroup
The group to which a particular individual does not belong
Ingroup Favoritism
The tendency for people to evaluate favourably and privilege members of the ingroup more than members of the outgroup
Outgroup Homogeneity Effect
- The tendency to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members
- i.e. believing that all people of a certain race ‘look the same’
Factors that influence the formation of ingroups
- Reciprocity
- Transivity
Reciprocity
People treat others as others treat them
Transivity
- People generally share their friends opinions of other people
Prejudice
A negative prejudgment of a group and its individual members
Stereotyping
- A belief about the personal attributions of a group of people.
-Stereotypes can be over-generalised, inaccurate and resistant to new information
Discrimination
An unjustifiably negative behaviour towards a group or its members
Racism/ Sexism
- An individuals prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviour toward people of a given race or sex
Thin Veil of Social Desirability
- People’s masking of prejudicial beliefs/ viewpoints to maintain a sociably desirable image
-When given an excuse/ opportunity to express their prejudices, they treat those who they hold prejudicial attributes much more severely than those who do not - Seen in the study with the teachers response to a black and white child insulting them
Institutionalised Practices
-Even if not motivated bby intentional prejudicial attitudes, people of a certain sex, race etc can be subordinated i.e. a “flesh” coloured crayon that matched the tones of white skin
Social Sources of Prejudice
- Self- Fulfilling Prophecy
- Social Identity Theory
- Conformity
Emotional Sources of Prejudice
- Scapegoat theory
- Need for Status
- Authoritarian Personality
Cognitive Sources of Prejudice
- Distinctive Events/ People
- Expectations
- Attributions
- Just World Phenomenon
Self Fulfilling Prophecy/ Pygmalion Effect
-An expectation or belief that can influence your behaviour, thus causing the belief to come true
- I.e. if a teacher doesn’t expect black students to succeed as much as white students, they may unintentionally treat the black students differently, making the black students feel awkward or unworthy and thus invertedly reduce their chances of succeeding
Social Identity Theory
- 3 stages
- Categorise people using prototypes/ schemata i.e. race, gender etc.
- Identify; “we” are the ingroup
- Compare; “they” are the outgroup. The comparison is often biased in favor of the ingroup
Conformity
- Tendency for individuals to align their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to the people around them
- Pressure to conform can be significant
- Rejecting past conformed viewpoints in a vital aspect of development
Scapegoat Theory
- A scapegoat is found and hostility is manifested and displaced onto it
Realistic Group Conflict Theory
- Prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources
Psychodynamic Approach
Ego needs are met in a discriminatory way i.e. lifting ourselves up by displacing others
- We derogate others when we feel threatened to feel good about ourselves
Need for Status and Belonging
Humans have an innate and evolutionary desire to belong and be included within a group
Authoritarian Personality
- A punishing personality
- Tends to manifest itself within an individual that has had a harsh upbringing, has a strong intolerance to weakness and displays a subservient submission to in-group authority
Ethnocentrism
A belief in the superiority in one’s own ethnic and cultural group and a corresponding disdain for all other groups
Distinctive Events/ People
- Those in distinctive/ minority groups tend to be judged more extremely
Expectations
- Our prejudiced/ expected negative response from an individual may influence our interaction with them and thus influence their behaviour
- i.e. woman in the scar study believed that she was being treated in a more distant way despite the scar being wiped away
Group Serving Bias
Explaining away out-group members positive behaviours while attributing their negative behaviours to their dispositions
Just World Phenomenon
- The tendency to believe that the world is just and people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
- It enables the fortunate to feel entitled to their victories and less responsible for the misfortunes of others
