Lecture_11_Prejudice

Question 1

Prejudice

Answer 1

A hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group based solely on their membership in that group

Question 2

3 Components of Prejudice

Answer 2

• Cognitive: Stereotypes
• Affective: Emotions
• Behavioral: Discrimination

Question 3

Cognitive Component of Prejudice: Stereotype

Answer 3

A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people. Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information (and sometimes accurate)

Question 4

Stereotyping

Answer 4

– A cognitive process
– Can be positive or negative
– Technique we use to simplify our world
- “Cognitive misers” take shortcuts and adopt rules of thumb to understand people
– Better memory for information consistent with stereotypes
- Denies individuality of person

Question 5

Adaptive Stereotypes

Answer 5

When accurately identifies attributes of a group well

Question 6

Maladaptive Stereotypes

Answer 6

Blinds us to individual differences

Question 7

Stereotypes of Gender

Answer 7

• Hostile sexism
• Benevolent sexism

Question 8

Hostile Sexism

Answer 8

Stereotypical views of women that suggest that women are inferior to men
- E.g., that they are less intelligent, less competent, and so on

Question 9

Benevolent Sexism

Answer 9

Stereotypical, positive views of women

Question 10

Ambivalent Sexism

Answer 10

Gender attitudes frequently mix a benevolent sexism (“Women have a superior moral sensibility”) with hostile sexism.

Question 11

Negative Outcome of Hostile Sexism

Answer 11

Increase gender inequality

Question 12

Negative Outcomes of Benevolent Sexism

Answer 12

Discouraging the hiring of women in traditionally male-dominated occupations

Question 13

Emotion Component of Prejudice

Answer 13

• Negative emotions about groups are often ingrained/firmly fixed.
• This makes such attitudes difficult to dispel

Question 14

Behavioral Component of Prejudice: Discrimination

Answer 14

An unjustified negative or harmful action toward the members of a group simply because of their membership in that group

Question 15

Racial Discrimination

Answer 15

Social Distance
– A person’s reluctance to get “too close” to another group

Question 16

Gender Discrimination

Answer 16

Occupations segregated by gender
– People form stereotypes about the requirements of such careers
▪ “Female” jobs: require kindness and nurturance
▪ “Male” jobs: require strength and smarts

Question 17

The Activation of Prejudice

Answer 17

Behave more aggressively toward stereotyped target when:
– Stressed
– Angry
– Suffered a blow to self-esteem
– Not in control of conscious intentions

Question 18

Suppressing Prejudices

Answer 18

People hide prejudice.
– When situation becomes “safe,” their prejudice will be revealed

Question 19

Suppress prejudices for two reasons

Answer 19

– Sincere motivation to become less prejudiced
– Avoid being labeled a sexist, racist, etc.

Question 20

Identifying Suppressed Prejudices

Answer 20

1. Bogus pipeline
2. Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Question 21

Bogus pipeline

Answer 21

• Participants believed a “lie detector” could detect true attitudes
• More likely to express racist attitudes

Question 22

Explicit Attitude Change

Answer 22

Education

Question 23

Implicit Attitude Change

Answer 23

• Implicit attitudes may linger
• Changing only as we form new habits through practice

Question 24

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Answer 24

Measures the speed with which people can pair
- a target face (e.g., Black or White, old or young, Asian or White)
- with positive or negative stimuli (e.g., the words honest or evil) reflecting unconscious (implicit) prejudices

Question 25

Limitation of IAT

Answer 25

IAT may be measuring bias OR… – It measures a cultural bias or stereotype, not a personally held bias – IAT could be due to common cultural associations, not prejudice

Question 26

The Effects of Prejudice on the Victim

Answer 26

1. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 2. Social Identity Threat (or Stereotype Threat)

Question 27

Example of The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Prejudice

Answer 27

1. White students displayed discomfort and lack of interest when interviewing African American candidates, not white (e.g., sat farther away, ended interview sooner) 2. If a society believes that a particular group is stupid, uneducable, it will act in accordance with beliefs - Educational resources will not be provided to that group

Question 28

Social Identity Threat (or Stereotype Threat)

Answer 28

Experience of being at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one's social group - Can negatively impact their performance

Question 29

Example of Social Identity Threat

Answer 29

Women are not as good at math as men -> Anxiety -> Reduced working memory

Question 30

Stereotype Threat Model

Answer 30

1. Cultural stereotype -> 2. Stereotype threat -> 3. Performance deficits <-> 4. Disidentification with stereotyped domain

Question 31

Reversing the Effects of Stereotype Threat

Answer 31

1. Alternative mindset: - “I’m a good student” 2. Self-affirmation: - Practice of reminding yourself of your good qualities

Question 32

Causes of Prejudice

Answer 32

1. Pressures to conform: Normative rules 2. Social identity theory: Us versus them 3. Realistic group conflict theory

Question 33

Pressures to Conform

Answer 33

- Institutional discrimination Cause: Normative conformity

Question 34

Institutional discrimination

Answer 34

Practices that discriminate, legally or illegally, against a minority group by virtue

Question 35

Normative conformity

Answer 35

Strong tendency to go along with the group in order to fulfill the group’s expectations and gain acceptance

Question 36

Social Identity Theory

Answer 36

Self-concept that is based on his or her identification - with a nation, religious or political group, occupation, or other social affiliation - Part of our identity that stems from our membership in groups

Question 37

Ethnocentrism

Answer 37

The belief that your own culture, nation, or religion is superior to all others

Question 38

In-group Bias

Answer 38

The tendency to favor members of one’s own group and give them special preference over people who belong to other groups

Question 39

Motive of In-group Bias

Answer 39

– Individuals enhance self-esteem by identifying with specific social groups – Self-esteem is enhanced only if the individual sees these groups as superior to other groups

Question 40

Out-Group Homogeneity

Answer 40

- In-group members perceive out group members as being more similar (homogeneous) than they really are - Know one out-group member, you know something about all of them - “They” are all alike

Question 41

The Own-Race Bias

Answer 41

White subjects more accurately recognize the faces of whites than of blacks - Vice versa

Question 42

Personal Identity and Social Identity Together Feed Self-esteem

Answer 42

1. Individual achievement + self-serving bias -> Personal identity and pride -> Self-esteem 2. Group achievement + Ingroup bias -> Self-esteem

Question 43

Passing on Prejudice to the Next Generation

Answer 43

Children often learn prejudice from parents and grandparents

Question 44

Blaming the Victim

Answer 44

The tendency to blame individuals (make dispositional attributions) for their victimization, is typically motivated by a desire to see the world as a fair place - Serves a self-protective function - "Can’t happen to me, wouldn’t behave that way"

Question 45

Scapegoating

Answer 45

When frustrated or unhappy, people tend to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible, and relatively powerless - Form of aggression dependent on what in-group approves of or allows

Question 46

3. Realistic group conflict theory

Answer 46

Economic and Political Competition – Limited resources leads to conflict among groups, which leads to prejudice and discrimination – The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources

Question 47

When times are tough and resources are scarce...

Answer 47

1. In-group members will feel more threatened by the out-group 2. Incidents of prejudice, discrimination, and violence toward out-group members will increase

Question 48

Robbers Cave Experiment: Eagles versus Rattlers

Answer 48

1. 2 groups of boy throughout the first week of the camp by doing various activities together 2. 4 days of competitions -> group prejudice 3. forcing the groups to work together to reach common goals -> eased prejudice and tension among the groups

Question 49

Social Inequalities: Unequal Status and Prejudice

Answer 49

1. Social dominance orientation 2. Authoritarian personality

Question 50

Social Dominance Orientation

Answer 50

"Status breeds prejudice" A motivation to have one’s group dominate other social groups - View people in terms of hierarchies - To embrace prejudice and to support political positions that justify prejudice

Question 51

Authoritarian Personality

Answer 51

favor obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status

Question 52

Reducing Prejudice

Answer 52

The Contact Hypothesis - Mere contact between groups not sufficient to reduce prejudice - Can create opportunities for conflict that may increase it - Prejudice will decrease when two conditions are met: * Equal status. * Share a common goal

Question 53

Why does presenting people with information counter to stereotypes does not change beliefs

Answer 53

- Strengthen stereotypes - Disconfirming evidence challenges them to come up with additional reasons

Question 54

When Contact Reduces Prejudice

Answer 54

1. Mutual interdependence 2. Common goal 3. Equal status 4. Friendly, informal setting 5. Knowing multiple out-group members 6. Social norms of equality

Question 55

Interdependence

Answer 55

The need to depend on each other to accomplish a goal that is important to each group

Question 56

Discussion Question: How might college campuses combat the negative effects of stereotype threat on the academic performance of some students?

Answer 56

Stereotype threat + the contact hypothesis