Hillard and Liben (2010) Flashcards
Social identity theory + social cognitive theory (9 cards)
1
Q
Aim
A
To investigate how social category salience can lead to the development of stereotypes of the “out-group”
2
Q
Method
A
pre-test/post-test design (field experiment)
3
Q
Sample
A
57 US children (3 years 1 month – 5 years 6 months), from two preschools (roughly equal number of male and females)
4
Q
Variables
A
5
Q
Out-group homogeneity
A
- by categorizing ourselves into in-groups and out-groups, we then begin to see the members of outgroups as more similar to each other than they actually are
- Out-group homogeneity then makes it easy for us to apply stereotypes to the members of the groups without having to consider whether the characteristics are actually true of a particular individual
6
Q
Key factors of the experiment (first measure)
A
- Children completed gender aptitude test to measure gender flexibility
- Shown activities and asked if a boy or girl should perform them
- 22 male, 20 female, 24 neutral items
- Lower numbers of ‘‘both’’ responses indicate a higher number of gender stereotypes
7
Q
Key factors of the experiment (second measure)
A
- Second measure: observing their play to determine to what extent they played with same-sex vs opposite-sex peers
- Random allocation to two conditions: high salience (made aware of gender + competitions between genders) + low salience (teachers were given no instructions – control group)
- Policy in preschools to avoid gendered language
- Two-week study
- Brief debriefing program after the study
8
Q
Results
A
- Decease in number of ‘boths’ after two weeks of high gender salience
- High salience: playing with the out group decreased significantly after the two weeks
9
Q
Evaluation
A
- Conducted in children’s natural environment
- High ecological validity
- Low internal validity
- Sampling bias
- Difficult to generalize findings
- Indicates cause-and-effect relationship
- Not possible to measure level of salience
- Undue harm or stress
