Exam 3 Flashcards
(36 cards)
What is a stereotype? Describe their contents, features, and purpose.
Stereotype: shared beliefs about traits, qualities, tendencies associated with a group or category.
- A schema for organizing information about various groups
- Helps us make sense of the world
- Involves generalization
According to the stereotype content model, what are the two major dimensions of most stereotypes and what do those dimensions mean?
Communion and agency dimensions
Communion: warmth
- “Friend or foe?”
Agency: competence
- “Capable or incapable?”
Who’s stereotyped as more agentic, men or women? Communal?
Women stereotyped as the more communal sex
Men stereotyped as more agentic sex
In class, we discussed four “quadrants” of stereotypes variably high or low in agency and communion. What are the four quadrants? What kind of prejudice is associated with each?
The four quadrants are:
High agency & communion: pride, admiration -> men
Low agency & communion: contempt, disgust, anger, resentment
Low agency, high communion: pity, sympathy -> women (housewives), paternalistic prejudice
High agency, low communion: envy, jealousy -> Career Women
What is meant by the “women are wonderful” effect? For whom is it reserved and for whom is it withheld?
Stereotypes about women tend to be more favorable than those about men
Particular to gender-traditional, middle-class, White women
Violating gender roles = negative stereotypes
Lower SES = low agency and communion
Black women as less communal but more agentic
What is meant by a “subgroup?” How does this affect stereotypes toward different subgroups of women (i.e., are stereotypes of women consistent across subgroups, or do they differ somehow)?
Within broad gender categories, there are subgroups with their own unique stereotypes.
- Levels of communion (warmth) and agency (competence) can therefore vary within a gender category depending on the subgroup
What consequences does intersectionality have for group stereotypes? Are intersectional stereotypes simply the sum of their parts, or do they produce unique information?
Intersectional stereotypes of multiply-subordinated groups contain unique elements not found in the individual groups
- E.g., “Middle Eastern women” stereotypes differ from “Middle Eastern” and from “women” (see asterisks*), produce unique information
What is a prototype? How do these relate to stereotypes? (hint: consider who’s the prototype for gender stereotypes, and who’s the prototype for racial stereotypes).
Powerful groups serve as prototypes
Prototype: most typical cognitive representation of a category (i.e., the cultural default for a group)
- Gender = Male
- Race/Ethnicity = White
Can make those with multiple subordinated identities feel “invisible” (Chapter 6)
How do stereotypes typically describe transmen and transwomen? How do stereotypes typically describe lesbians and gay men? What “mistake” do lesbian, gay, and transgender stereotypes have in common (i.e., what do they conflate)?
Little research on transgender stereotypes
Transwomen: similar to cisgender women
Transmen: more androgynous than cisgender men
Transgender stereotyped as “confused,” “gay”
Conflation of gender identity and sexual orientation
No existing research on nonbinary, genderfluid
Sexual inversion theory: stereotypes conflate sexual orientation and gender identity
Lesbians = masculine
Gay men = feminine
Subgroups: “lipstick lesbian” vs. “angry butch;” “flamboyant” vs. “hypermasculine,” etc.
Heteronormative assumptions lead heterosexual stereotypes to mimic typical gender stereotypes
According to evolutionary theory, where might gender stereotypes come from?
Gender stereotypes derive from and reflect genetically inherited differences tied to different adaptive problems
Women: parental investment, child-rearing
- Empathic, sexually reserved, nurturing
Men: attracting and competing for mates
- Agentic competitive, aggressive, strong
Stereotypes won’t change until genes do
According to social roles theory, what information is used to inform stereotypes?
Social role theory: gender stereotypes arise from and reflect large-scale sex differences in social roles
- Distribution of roles informs gender stereotypes
- Role changes can produce rapid stereotype changes
Men’s roles:
- Physically demanding
- Risky
- Work outside the home
- Higher status positions
Women’s roles:
- Child-rearing
- Domestic duties
- Work inside the home
- Lower status positions
For example, imagine someone encounters a male nurse. Does social roles theory suggest we’ll use his sex to inform stereotypes about him, or his role as a nurse?
Yes, we would judge him based on his role as a nurse.
According to biosocial constructionist theory, where do gender stereotypes come from? How are they maintained?
- Divisions of labor informed by biological sex differences
- Gender stereotypes arise from observing these divisions
- Gender socialization prepares us for future roles by rewarding gender-consistent behavior
- Girls: kind, tidy, emotionally responsive
- Boys: brave, confident, active
Differentiate gender prescriptions from gender proscriptions. What is the meaning of each? How do they differ? What are common prescriptions and proscriptions for women?
Gender Prescriptions: “What should X do?”
- Women = warm, interested in children, attentive to appearance
- Men = athletic, self-reliant, rational
Gender Proscriptions: “What shouldn’t X do?”
- Women =/= rebellious, arrogant, promiscuous
- Men =/= emotional, childlike, gullible
Status incongruity hypothesis - why do people dislike individuals who violate gender prescriptions (or enact gender proscriptions)? What purpose does it serve?
Status incongruity hypothesis: violating gender rules produces discomfort about gender hierarchy
Dislike “dominant women,” “low-status” men
Justify and reinforce gender inequality
What is stereotype threat? Give an example of what it is and how it works.
Stereotype threat: Members of negatively stereotyped groups feel anxiety about the confirming those stereotypes.
- Women and science/math ability
- When the stereotype is salient, elicits anxiety
- Anxiety reduces working memory capacity, undermining performance
- Ironically fulfills the stereotype
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy? Describe an example of the process.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Stereotypes inform expectations about a target
- Expectations influence behavior toward the target
- Target behaves in line with expectations
- Outcome reinforces perceiver’s stereotypes
Darley & Gross (1983) randomly assigned “Hannah” to low or high socioeconomic status (SES).
People interpreted her ambiguous test-taking behavior to indicate lower academic ability, only when low SES.
How do these two concepts differ from one another? (Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecy)
Stereotype threat is on how an individual of that negatively stereotyped group feeling anxiety about confirming stereotypes, eventually confirming it, though self-fulfilling prophecy is when an outside party thinks a certain way about someone then treating them differently confirming what they predicted to see.
Are stereotypes generally accurate or inaccurate, according to research? Consider the three types of accuracy (direction; discrepancy; rank-order).
Direction accuracy: the direction of the sex difference
Discrepancy accuracy: the size of the sex difference
Rank-order accuracy: accuracy of relative sizes of sex differences (some bigger than others)
Research generally supports stereotype accuracy for sex differences in: –> direction nd discrepancy accuracy
Cognitive ability (underestimate real size)
“Big 5” personality traits
Nonverbal and verbal communication
- Exception: no real sex difference in talkativeness
Strong correlation between stereotypes and real differences (r = .79) –> rank-order accuracy
In the United States, what groups are typically dominant? Subordinate?
Dominant: White and Male
Subordinate: Women and colored people
What is a patriarchy? A matriarchy? Are human societies patriarchal, matriarchal, or some combination? What is meant by patrilineal? Matrilineal? Give an example. Are human societies patrilineal, matrilineal, or some combination? What is Patrilocal or Matrilocal? Are human societies patrilocal or matrilocal?
Patriarchy: men as dominant group.
Matriarchy: women as dominant.
Are human societies patriarchal, matriarchal, or some combination?
Patriarchal, no true Matriarchal in human societies
In terms of ancestry:
What is meant by patrilineal? Matrilineal? Give an example.
How do we determine ancestry?
- Patrilineal trace descent & pass inheritance through fathers.
- Matrilineal: through mothers
Are human societies patrilineal, matrilineal, or some combination?
It is some combination, examples of matrilineal: Navajo of North America, Garo of India, Tuareg of Northern Africa
In terms of locality:
What is meant by patrilocal? Matrilocal? Give an example.
With whom do we live?
- Patrilocal: wives live near husbands’ families.
- Matrilocal: husbands live near wives’ families.
Are human societies patrilocal, matrilocal, or some combination?
Some combination, matrilocal: affords some power, if not political… e.g., Tuareg of Sahara Desert (seminomadic Muslim society) affords women same sexual rights as men (e.g., take lovers before marriage, divorce without shame, keep property and rights after divorce)
Define power. What is structural power (i.e., what kind of power does it afford)? Who tends to have it, men or women? What is dyadic power (i.e., what kind of power does it afford)? Who tends to have it, men or women?
Power: capacity to determine own & others’ outcomes.
Men = structural power (power over society at large).
- How society operates
- Who gets resources
Women = dyadic power (home and family power).
- Choose & control intimate partners, relationships
- Dependent on age, ethnicity, income, education
Structural power can be used to limit dyadic power
What is sex ratio theory? What predictions does it make about dyadic power in societies in which women are outnumbered by men (i.e., there are more men than women in a society)? What evidence is there for and against sex ratio theory?
Sex ratio theory: women should hold more dyadic power when they are outnumbered by men
- Women = more selective, more emphasis on status & commitment
- Men = more committed (appealing to mates)
Support:
Male commitment (less divorce)
Women’s traditional work more valued
Women marry younger, have more children
- Note: women’s structural power decreases (literacy, education, labor force)
Against:
Women’s selectivity dependent on culture
- e.g., Western autonomy vs. “bride purchases”
Male coercion toward wives often increases (e.g., partner violence)
What are the three ways people can exert power over others? Force - what is it? Resource control - what is it? Cultural ideologies - what is it?
Force, Resource Control, and Cultural Ideologies
Force - what is it?
The capacity to inflict physical or psychological harm on another
Who uses force more often, men or women?
Used by men more than women
Who is more likely to be targets of force, men or women?
Men more likely to be targets of force
How do race and sexuality intersect with this?
Racial and sexual minority men more likely to be targeted than White, straight men –> for targets of force
Resource control - what is it?
The creation, distribution of essential & desirable goods (e.g., money, land, food)
Who has greater resource control, men or women (and what’s the exception)?
Historically & presently greater in men
- Exception: child custody
How is resource control distributed by race? Sexuality?
Higher in White, Asian than Black, Latino people
Sexual minorities experience barriers (e.g., adoption legislation, denial of services)
Cultural ideologies
The beliefs & assumptions about groups used to explain & justify unequal social hierarchies.
We discussed 3 forms of “-centrism” that treat some groups as the default, while ignoring or dismissing the problems of others. What were those centrisms, and why might they maintain our society’s power dynamics?
Androcentrism: defines men as the universal or default
Ethnocentrism: dominant ethnic group = universal / “normal”
Heterocentrism heterosexual people as universal / “normal”
- Communicates that subordinate groups are less normal and less important
What is privilege and how can it maintain power discrepancies in a society?
Are people always aware of their power? Not necessarily.
Privilege: automatic, unearned advantage associated with belonging to a dominant group.
- In US, privilege afforded to: White, male, heterosexual, cisgender, able-bodied, Christian, and middle class/wealthy
- May fail to notice privileges afforded by group membership.
