Week 4 - The Target´s Perspective

Question 1

Stigma - Major & Eliezer (2010)

Answer 1

• Stigma → devalued social identity
• stigmatized do no always have lower self-esteem (coping?)
• Attributing negative outcomes in life to
  prejudice (an external factor) instead of to “the self” might protect self-esteem among the stigmatized
• attributions to prejudice have both external and internal (social identity) components
  –> attribution to prejudice is still less internal than an attribution to the self

Question 2

Attributions (ambiguity) - Major & Eliezer (2010)

Answer 2

• Attributions are often ambiguous for the stigmatized:
  –-> Self? (ability, skill)
  –-> Prejudice?
• “the self” cannot be entirely discounted as a causal factor
• when prejudice is the clear (and only) cause of an event, an attribution to prejudice will be made, and be functional
• Factors that influence attributional ambiguity:
  – Situational factors
  – Group type
  – Identification
  – System legitimizing beliefs

Question 3

Implicit vs. Explicit Self-Esteem

Answer 3

The “attribution to prejudice” coping response may be
more directly visible on explicit measures of self-esteem

–> dominant group = attributions to prejudice, self-protective

Question 4

Stereotype Threat - Spencer et al. (2016)

Answer 4

…the situation in which there is a negative stereotype about a person’s group, and they are concerned about being judged or treated negatively on the basis of this stereotype

e.g., Black-Americans and intelligence; Women and parallel-parking; White men and athletics (golf-putting)

Question 5

Stereotype Threat & it´s Effects - Spencer et al. (2016)

Answer 5

• Stereotype threat does still occur even if the target does not believe in it
  –> Requires identification with domain (e.g., academic
  performance) and group (e.g., Blacks)
  –> especially in demanding situations
• The resulting stress makes people on guard and undermines…
  – performance
  – belongingness
  – well-being

Question 6

Mechanisms & Consequences of Stereotype Threat - Spencer et al. (2016)

Answer 6

Mechanisms:
– Extra pressure to succeed (effort, working-memory, conscious attention)
– Threats to self-integrity and belonging (e.g., self-handicapping)
– Stereotype priming (cannot fully explain phenomenon)

Consequences:
– Performance
– Well-being
– Belongingness
– Self-handicapping
– Domain de-identification

Question 7

Interventions - Spencer et al. (2016)

Answer 7

– Re-construal (anxiety, or identity)
– Coping (self-affirmation, mindfulness)
– Identity-safe environments (representation, role-models)

Question 8

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Word, Zanna, & Cooper

Answer 8

An originally inaccurate expectation about the situation elicits behavior which confirms and reinforces this expectation

–> Inter-ethnic situation (job interview)

–> Interpersonal proximity (immediacy)
– e.g., distance, body posture, eye contact