Week 9

Question 1

What are stereotypes?

Answer 1

Simplified but widely shared beliefs about the characteristics of groups and their members.

Question 2

What is prejudice?

Answer 2

Any positive or negative evaluation of a social group or its members (most often discussed in terms of the negative affective reaction towards a group).

Question 3

What does Discrimination mean?

Answer 3

Unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong (most often discussed in terms of others being treated less well because of their group membership).

Question 4

What is a social group?

Answer 4

Two or more people sharing common characteristics that are socially meaningful for themselves or others.

Question 5

What are some example of social categories?

Answer 5

Religion, where you are born, age, life circumstances, and employment status.

Question 6

What are cognitive misers? (Fiske and Taylor, 1991)

Answer 6

• people can be seen to have not enough space in working memory to process everyone as an individual. People rely on short-cuts or heuristics.

Question 7

What does being ‘outcome dependent’ on another person do?

Answer 7

Means that they use stereotypes less and cognitive resources more.

Question 8

What is illusory correlation?

Answer 8

A correlation between group membership and individuals’ characteristics even when there is not.

Question 9

Why does illusonary correlation occur?

Answer 9

We have less contact with minorities and outgroups.

Question 10

Illusory Correlation example: Hamilton and Gifford (1976)

Answer 10

Pps read sentences, each describing desirable to undesirable behaviour about a member of Group a and Group b. But there was more information to read about Group A. Found that pps liked group B less. They formed an illusory correlation by perceiving a link between the two relatively infrequent and distinctive characteristics.

Question 11

What is social categorization?

Answer 11

The process of identifying individual people as members of a social group because they share certain features that are typical of the group.

Question 12

Why does social categorization occur?

Answer 12

Perceiving people as members of social groups rather than as unique individuals.

Question 13

What is a positive of social categorization?

Answer 13

Efficient - enables people to function in society by knowing how to treat others.

Question 14

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979)

Answer 14

Theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on self categorisation/ a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s).

Question 15

What happens to individuals because of social identity theory?

Answer 15

• people derive their social identity from the groups which they belong.
• shared construction of a shared self-definition in terms of in-group defining properties.

Question 16

What is the outgroup homogeneity effect?

Answer 16

• tendency to see people within a same group as being more “similar” than they really are.

Question 17

Why does the outgroup homogeneity effect exist?

Answer 17

• because we like people who share characteristics with ourselves.

Question 18

3 motives behind stereotyping?

Answer 18

1 - Mastery
2 - Connectedness
3 - Justifying the social structure

Question 19

What is mastery in terms of motives behind stereotyping?

Answer 19

Personal experiences with group members/ understanding the world.

Question 20

What is connectedness in terms of motives behind stereotyping?

Answer 20

Following social norms of our valued ingroups.

Question 21

What is ‘justifying the social structure’ in terms of motives behind stereotyping?

Answer 21

Rationalisations and justifications for its hierarchies of inequality.

Question 22

How do social roles trigger correspondence bias? (Eagly, 1987)

Answer 22

Social roles influence their behaviour. e.g. men are more likely to be in management roles, women are more likely to be in caring roles.

Question 23

Social roles and stereotypes - Hoffman and Hurst (1990)

Answer 23

Student participants read descriptions of Orinthians vs. Ackmians: from planet X.
Most Orinthians = involved child care.
Most Ackmians = outside workers.
All childcare workers - no matter the group - were described as nurturing and gentle. Same with the outside workers - who were described as competitive and ambitious.
Pps then asked to guess the ‘creates’ typical characteristics attached traits to the group rather than roles.
All Orinthians = nurturing
All Ackmians = competitive

Question 24

When does classical conditioning occur?

Answer 24

When a person or object is repeatedly paired with emotion or trauma.

Question 25

How do public communications affect stereotypes?

Answer 25

when people form impressions of groups second-hand - their impressions of the group are even more stereotypical and can continue even after first contact with the group.

Question 26

How do stereotypes justify the social structure?

Answer 26

Justify existing inequalities.

Question 27

What are the two types of sexism?

Answer 27

Hostile and Benevolent sexism.

Question 28

What is hostile sexism?

Answer 28

Women pose a threat to men’s position.

Question 29

What is benevolent sexism

Answer 29

Women are wonderful and necessary for men’s happiness.

Question 30

What does correspondent bias mean?

Answer 30

Tendency to think that a person who acts in a certain way must possess the associated trait.

Question 31

What is the Intergroup emotions theory? (Mackie and Smith, 2002)

Answer 31

Nature of emotions depends on the relative power and status of the groups.
Power - anger and aggression.
Powerless - fear and avoidance.

Question 32

What is the Intergroup anxiety model? (Stephan and Stephan, 1985)

Answer 32

• people expect to feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.
• people expect to be exploited.
• people expect to be negatively evaluated by the outgroup and ingroup.