Chapter 12

Question 1

What is prejudice?

Answer 1

Hostile attitude toward a group of people, based solely on their membership in that group

Question 2

Cognitive, affective and behavioural components of prejudice

Answer 2

o Cognitive component: stereotyping
o Affective component: anger, disgust (feelings experienced when think, interact with member of that group)
o Behavioural component: discrimination

Question 3

Jim Crow Laws

Answer 3

o Racial caste system operating primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states b/w 1877 and mid 1960’s
o Jim crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism
o Overruled by civil right act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965

Question 4

Causes of Prejudice - Biological?

Answer 4

• Evolutionary psychologists claim that there may be an innate tendency to favor those who are genetically similar to us, and to loathe those who are not.
• Inconclusive – but specifics of prejudice appear to be learned.

Question 5

Causes of Prejudice - Social Categorization

Answer 5

• We have the tendency to see people as belonging to either our group or another group
• In-group vs. out-group

Question 6

In-group Bias

Answer 6

• Tendency to evaluate in-group members more favorably than out-group
• The stronger one’s group identity, the stronger the denigration of the out-group – boosts self-esteem (only when identity is threatened and self-esteem is low

Question 7

Out-group Homogeneity Bias

Answer 7

• Tendency to believe those in the out-group are very similar to one-another, while in-group members are very heterogeneous

Question 8

Prejudice Reduction - Social Identity

Answer 8

• Make salient the superordinate group to which both the in- and the out-group members belong
• Causes a shift in focus from specific group to broader group that includes members of out-group

Question 9

Prejudice Reduction - Self-Esteem

Answer 9

• Provide alternate routes to self-esteem

- Engaging in self-affirmation reduces the need to derogate members of the out-group

Question 10

Prejudice Causes - Stereotype

Answer 10

• Stereotyping is at the root of prejudice; and whether negative stereotypes are activated depends on two factors:
  1) the motivation to control prejudice
  2) the need for self-enhancement

Question 11

Motivation to control prejudice

Answer 11

• Stereotyping is an automatic process
• To counteract the stereotype that is activated, you must engage in controlled processing
• This requires effort and attention, therefore you must be motivated to want to avoid being prejudiced

Question 12

Need for self-enhancement

Answer 12

• Factor affecting whether a negative stereotype will be activated is if doing so boosts self-esteem
• Good evaluation = stereotype inhibition
• Bad evaluation = stereotype activation

Example:

• Positive interaction with black doctor will activate positive stereotype of Dr.
• Negative interaction with black doctor will activate negative stereotype of black people

Question 13

Prejudice Causes: Meta-Stereotypes

Answer 13

• The stereotypes we believe others hold towards our group

- The more we believe an outgroup holds stereotypes about us, the higher our prejudice towards that group

Question 14

Prejudice causes - Mood

Answer 14

• Evaluate out-group members more favourably when in a good mood than when in a bad mood

Question 15

Prejudice causes - ultimate attribution error

Answer 15

• negative behaviours of out-group = internal
• positive behaviours of out-group = external

STUDY: Gender and success

• When women succeed b/c of hard work, when fail b/c not capable
• When men succeed b/c capable, when fail b/c didn’t try hard enough, bad luck

STUDY: Kids gender and IQ tests

• when boys did good because ability when bad; bad luck
• when girls did good because good luck, fluke; when bad because lack of ability

STUDY: Native and White children’s perspectives on success

• White kids said successes were internal and failures external
• Native kids said successes were external and failures internal

Question 16

Prejudice Causes - Realistic Conflict Theory:

Answer 16

• Limited resources leads to conflict between groups = increased prejudice and discrimination
• US: (-) correlation: price of cotton during 1882-1930, and lynchings of blacks in southern US
• Canada: 1975-1995 unemployment increased, negative attitudes toward immigration increased
• STUDY: Esses (1998) – Sandirian study
• Two versions of editorial – varied in terms of whether the scarcity of jobs was mentioned
• Results: more negative attitudes in competition condition

Question 17

Prejudice Cause - Normative Conformity

Answer 17

• Many people hold prejudiced views and engage in discriminatory behaviour in order to conform or fit in with prevailing majority view
• Crandall et al. (2002): social norms – asked participants asked how acceptable it is to have negative feelings toward X and then asked feelings toward X (positive or negative)
  • Correlation between social norm and their feels: 0.96
• Other study: told participates either their attitude was more positive than the average or more negative than the average; then later when asked them again they went more toward what they thought average was
  o Injunctification: things are the way they are right now because they’re the way they ought to be…way to justify unjust system

Question 18

Types of Prejudice

Answer 18

• Modern prejudice: outwardly act unprejudiced (to avoid social disapproval), but inwardly maintain prejudiced views
• Aversive racism: believe you are not prejudiced but subconsciously hold prejudiced views

Question 19

Reducing Prejudice

Answer 19

o Hypocrisy induction: emphasize importance of treating minorities fairly and recall event in which you treated minority group member unfairly
o Creates dissonance = people change their discriminatory behaviour in a positive direction

Question 20

Who is more likely to be prejudice

Answer 20

1) Subscribe to just world beliefs
• The world is a fair and just place where people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
• Engage in more blaming of the victim – hold more negative attitudes toward the poor and homeless
2) High in right-wing authoritarianism
• High degree of submission to authority and conformity to rules established by authority figure
• Non-egalitarian attitudes toward women and high levels of prejudice against homosexuals
3) High in religious fundamentalism
• A strong belief in the absolute and literal truth of one’s religious beliefs
• Blame homosexuals and single mothers (morally bereft) for unfortunate situations (Ex: unemployment)
4) High in social dominance
• Belief that groups of people are inherently unequal; it is acceptable for some groups in society to be benefitted more than others

Question 21

Reducing Prejudice

Answer 21

• Creating a sense of shared identity b/w the high dominant people and the target of prejudice
• Create awareness that attitudes toward the target group are much more negative than those of others (try and create dissonance)
• Encourage interaction with member of the out-group

Question 22

Prejudice - Victims

Answer 22

o Stereotypic threat
- Apprehension over behaving in a manner that confirms an existing stereotype
- Mistreatment can lead to poor performance, confirming the negative stereotype and perpetuating the discrimination
- Victims of discrimination may blame themselves for their poor performance
STUDY: black/white students do IQ test; one condition told it’s IQ and other condition told it’s just a random thing
• Results: blacks did bad when told it was for their IQ – self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 23

4 ways to reduce prejudice

Answer 23

1) Have people experience what it’s like to be the victim of discrimination
2) Encourage contact between in-group and out-group members
3) Jigsaw classroom: small desegregated groups where individuals are dependent on one another to succeed 4) Extended contact: a member of one’s own group has a close relationship with a member of the out-group (not necessarily direct, could be just exposure)

Question 24

The contact hypothesis

Answer 24

• Mutual interdependence
• Common goal
• Equal status
• Friendly, informal setting
• Multiple contacts with several members of the out-group
• Social norms that promote equality

Question 25

Jigsaw classroom

Answer 25

• Decreased in prejudice and stereotyping
• Increased liking for group mates
• Increases in self-esteem
• Increased ability to empathize
• Performed better on exams
• Liked school more

Question 26

4 techniques to approach someone who has other ideas

Answer 26

1) ask person “why do you say that?”; “do you think every member is like that”
2) try to arouse cognitive dissonance in person; “wow, I’m really surprised to hear you say that, because you always struck me as someone who is open minded”
3) tell person how it makes you feel to hear what they’re saying; “it makes me uncomfortable when I hear you say something like that”
4) approach person with respect rather than self-righteous indignation