Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination Flashcards
(60 cards)
1
Q
What is Intergroup Bias
A
- Systematic tendency to perceive one’s own group (the ingroup) more favourably than a group to which one does not belong to (the outgroup)
- Intergroup bias pervasive in different parts of the world (racial groups in Canada, castes in India, sects of Christianity in Ireland, ethnic groups in Rwanda, religious groups in the Middle East, immigrants in Canada, NZ, Australia, and Europe)
- Bias can manifest itself in terms of attitude (prejudice), behaviour (discrimination), or cognition (stereotyping)
2
Q
How to define groups
A
- Can be defined in many ways (ethnic, national, religious, gender, university, sexual orientations, etc.)
- Cultural context influences which group membership ppl choose to focus on (nationality, ethnicity, religious identity, political orientation, etc.)
3
Q
Manifestations of Intergroup Bias - Stereotypes
A
Generalized beliefs that links a whole group of ppl with certain traits or characteristics (friendliness, intelligence, athleticism); can be positive or negative
4
Q
Manifestations of Intergroup Bias - Prejudice
A
Negative attitudes or feelings toward a certain group and its individual members
5
Q
Manifestations of Intergroup Bias - Discrimination
A
Action or bhvr in favour or against an individual based on their group membership (willingness to vote, hire, or help member of group x vs y)
6
Q
Overlapping Normal Distributions of Two Groups with Different Mean Heights
A
The normal distribution of Chinese and American males’ heights, based on the group means, might look something like this; the shaded areas represent cases in which we could be wrong if we simply assumed that American males are taller the average Chinese male or that Chinese males are shorter than the avg American male
7
Q
How can intergroup bias emerge in blatant or subtle forms?
A
- Blatant forms of bias may emerge in racist epithets or derogatory sexist comments
- Social norms have lead to a decline in such expressions as they are seen as morally wrong
- However, bias hurtful when ppl treat cultural differences as problematic, mock another for being different, or exclude others based on their identity
- Bias maybe more subtle in the form of aversive racism or implicit stereotyping or prejudice (has gone more underground)
8
Q
Items on the Modern Racism Scale
A
- Over the past few years the government and the media have shown more respect to Blacks than they deserve
- It is easy to understand the anger of Black ppl in Canada (R)
- Blacks are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights
- Discrimination against Blacks is no longer a problem in Canada
- These are all very explicit attitudes (although at the time, used to find implicit attitudes, now moreso to see if there is no explicit attitudes)
9
Q
Aversive Racism
A
- A form of racism that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, social acceptable, and easy to rationalise (studies have shown the discrepancy in self-reported attitudes and bhvr)
- For example, White participants were assessed for racial attitudes in 1989 and 1999 and then later were asked to evaluate Black or White candidates with either strong, ambiguous, or weak qualifications
- Results showed a decrease in the level of explicit bias overtime, however implicit bias levels did not change
10
Q
Implicit Bias
A
- Stereotypes or prejudice considered unconscious or implicit when ppl express them without awareness and without being able to control their responses
- Implicit prejudice and stereotypes broadly represent mental associations between a group and feelings or beliefs
11
Q
How can we measure bias without people’s awareness or control?
A
- Several tools used to measure implicit bias including the IAT (Implicit Association Task), evaluative priming, GNAT (Go/No-Go Association Task), etc.
- People may be implicitly biased even when their explicit responses are unbiased (for the most part don’t correlate w explicit attitudes)
12
Q
Are we biased in general?
A
- If measured with Modern Racism Scale, no, but if we measured with IAT, yes
- When asked about preference for Whites vs Blacks, ~70% said Whites, 17% said little or no preference and 12% said Blacks
- Black ppl show less preference for Black ppl (ingroup) due to societal norms of preferring Whites over Blacks
13
Q
Studies with Implicit Bias
A
- Over a hundred studies have shown that implicit attitudes and stereotypes predict a variety of behaviours
- Implicit attitudes predicts greater seating distance and more negative nonverbal behaviours
- Implicit biases predict medical doctor’s recommendations, evaluations of a lawyer’s performance, and ratings of one’s work
- Implicit attitudes predict job discrimination toward women and ethnic minorities in real world contexts
- Research may need to be considered via a vis the replication crisis
14
Q
Controversies with Implicit Bias
A
- Debate on the extent to which these represent one’s true attitudes or cultural beliefs (not what you actually believe/feel, just what you know)
- Nevertheless, they do predict behaviour often even better than self report measures (also a debate here)
- Other measures such as shooter bias (weapon tool identification task), weapon/tool identification tasks, etc also used to capture implicit biases
- Neuroscientific measures such as ERP and fMRI also used to study implicit biases (ERP and fMRI studies have shown that ppl perceive greater threat from outgroup than ingroup members; studies using fMRI show that ppl dehumanize certain outgroups)
15
Q
Stereotype Content Model
A
- The stereotypes we have of different groups can range along two dimensions of competence and warmth
- As a result, we have different emotional reactions to different types of groups
- People high in both elicit pride (student, “American”)
- People low in both elicit disgust (homeless, drug addict)
- People low in competence and high in warmth elicit pity (elderly, disabled)
- People low in warmth, high in competence elicit envy (rich, professionals)
16
Q
Harris & Fiske, 2006 study on Stereotype Content Model
A
- Picture viewing of ppl embodying each quadrant activated this mPFC (vmPFC), part of the social brain and mentalizing network, except the disgust pictures
- These pics activated the amygdala and insula, indicative of a negative, visceral response
17
Q
Sexism
A
- Gender stereotypes are distinct, not only descriptive but also prescriptive (they tell ppl what they should do or be)
- Both men and women across many cultures believe that men are competent and independent, while women are warm and expressive (communal vs agentic, professional and relational consequences)
18
Q
Social Role Theory
A
- Stereotypes come from roles and behaviours that societal pressures may impose on a particular group
- Stereotypes attached to groups are often a function of historical and culturally embedded social constraints
19
Q
Gender and Social Role Theory
A
- Small gender differences are magnified in perception by the contrasting social roles occupied by men and women
- Gender differences tend to get exaggerated and generalized
- Perceived groups differences on various traits were significantly greater than actual difference between sexes
20
Q
What are the three steps that social role occurs in
A
- Combination of biological and social factors influence division of labour in the first place
- People behave in ways that fit the roles they play (reinforce roles)
- These behavioural differences provide a continual basis for social perception that men are dominant and women are domestic/communal ‘by nature’
21
Q
Gender Backlash
A
- Violation of gender stereotypes can result in social and economic backlash
- Studies find that agentic female candidates less liked and less hired for managerial jobs that require interpersonal skills relative to identically agentic men
- When qualifications are ambiguous, women seen as less competent than men but liked as men; however, when sufficiently qualified for a job, women are less liked than men
22
Q
Bias Against Homosexuals, Handicapped & Overweight
A
- Attitudes toward homosexuals quite varied across history and geography
- Homosexuality removed from list of mental disorders only in 1973
- Fundamentalist Christian attitudes correlated with prejudice toward homosexuals
- Persons 40% less likely to be interviewed after indicating volunteer work for gay organizations
23
Q
Bias Against Handicapped
A
- Bias against the physically and mentally handicapped is a long standing problem
- Afflicted people labeled witches and killed; exterminated under the final solution; label used to justify executions in other places
- Some attempts to improve the conditions of these groups, but still much variability in bias around the world
24
Q
Bias Against Overweight
A
- Attitudes toward obese individuals also tend to be negative (especially for overweight women) as they are held as personally responsible, therefore often internalized
- Bias against obese individuals in various contexts
- For example, obese perceived to be lazy and offered less support for university education
- Person sitting beside an overweight woman judged more negatively than person sitting beside average weight woman, even when strangers
25
Sources of Intergroup Bias
- Economic (realistic conflict)
- Motivation (identity, system justification, uncertainty reduction)
- Cognition (social categorization, biased processing)
- Individual differences
- Culture
26
Economic Perspective
- Competition for material resources can lead to intergroup bias
- Scape-goating
- Poor economic conditions appear to be related to increased hatred toward outgroups (economic conditions in the US between 1882-1930 correlated with lynching of black ppl)
- Economic threats do not lead to prejudice against all outgroups just those perceived as threats
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Scape-goating
When dominant groups become frustrated and displace aggression onto relatively powerless, visible, and disliked groups (oftentimes immigrants)
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Realistic Conflict Theory
- Competition for scarce resources between groups breeds prejudice, stereotypes, and hostility (Robbers Cave study, Eagles vs Rattlers)
- Competition between two groups is sufficient for intergroup hostility, not necessarily based on different backgrounds, histories, etc.
- Superordinate goals that require groups to work together (not just putting them together) helps reduce hostility between them)
- Resource conflict does not have to be real (can be perceived/subjective)
- Realistic conflict may underlie various conflicts
29
Motivational Perspective
- Humans live, work, play, and fight in groups
- A fundamental motive is the need to belong and affiliate
- It serves as a basic motive of self-protection (you are more protected and powerful w/in a group than not)
- Also can generate readiness for "us vs them" mentality
30
Minimal Groups Paradigm
- Paradigm in which researchers create groups based on arbitrary criteria and then examine how members of these 'minimal groups' behave towards each other
- Based on an arbitrary dot estimation task, ppl allocate more resources towards their ingroup (even though RA to overestimators or underestimators group)
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Social Identity Theory (SIT)
- Our self concept and self esteem are not only derived from our personal identity and accomplishments, but also from the status and accomplishments of groups to which we belong
- People favour ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance their SE
32
According to SIT, people still show bias even if...
- They are explicitly told that they are classified in a random/arbitrary way
- They are never at a personal advantage regardless of how they divide the points
- They never meet members of any of the group members
33
Studies on SIT
- Have shown that by giving preference to ingroup members, ppl boost the group's standing and elevate SE
- Ppl allowed to engage in ingroup favouritism showed higher SE than those not allowed to engage in ingroup favouritism
- Watching one's team win a game led to increased SE and more optimistic predictions about the future
- Some studies have also shown derogating outgroups members can boost SE
- For example, participants received positive or negative feedback on their abilities and were then asked to evaluate a Jewish or non-Jewish job candidate using her resume, photo, and a video of the interview
34
System Justification
- In contrast to motive for ingroup favouritism, system justification theory argues for ideological motive to justify the status quo even if it negatively impacts one's own group
- Evidence in different domains (for example, women paid themselves on avg less than 18% than men did fot the exact same quality of work; ppl may vote for policies that go against their best interests, like in Kansas)
35
Uncertainty Reduction
- We are motivated to know who we are and how we relate to others - we like to feel relatively certain about things in life
- Social identification is one way to reduce uncertainty by offering prototypes and defining our place with respect to others
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Findings on uncertainty and intergroup bias
- People identify w groups more strongly under times of uncertainty
- Identification especially less likely with groups that are homogeneous, intolerant of dissent & governed by a more ideologically orthodox system ("loss of jobs")
- In instances of threats and uncertainty, we look for stronger govts (US currently)
37
Cognitive Perspective
Intergroup bias result from the ways in which we process information about ppl
38
Social Categorization
- The classification of ppl into groups on the basis of various attributes (categorization of race and gender occurs at 100 and 150 milliseconds respectively)
- Adaptive and helpful in processing complex world
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Cons of Social Categorization
- Can lead to overestimation of between group differences and underestimation of w/in group differences
- Biologists and anthropologists find more genetic variation w/in race than between, yet race assumed to be biologically distinct
- When placed in 'minimal groups' participants assume their beliefs are more similar to those of another ingroup member and more different from outgroup members
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When are stereotypes especially likely
- When we are tired, cognitively loaded, or low on mental energy
- Ppl were more likely to make stereotypical judgements when they were at a low point of their circadian rhythm
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Outgroup Homogeneity Effect
- Social categorization can lead to this
- Tendency to assume that there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups
- Occurs because often we have more contact w ingroup members to notice divergent opinions and we do not treat ingroup members as representative of the whole; we think of it as idiosyncrasies of the individual
42
Biased Info Processing
- Stereotypes also influence how we communicate, process info and interpret events
- Participants rated drawings of ambiguous bhvr as more aggressive and less playful when performed by a Black child than White child
- Although Ps told story of an Australian football player that included both stereotype consistent and inconsistent info, only included stereotypic info by the time it was told to the 4th person
43
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
- Sometimes our stereotypes create a self-fulfilling prophecy by leading us to act toward outgroup members in ways that encourage the very bhvr we expect
- Ps interviewing Black candidates tended to sit farther away, paused and ended the session earlier than when the candidate was White
- White applicants who were treated the same as the W or B candidates from before behaved in similar ways to that observed in the previous study
44
Subtyping
- Explaining away exceptions to a stereotype by creating a subcategory that differs from the group as a whole
- Tend to be more critical of exceptions to the rule than those congruent w the stereotype
45
Individual Differences
Researchers have also been interested in how individual differences on certain dimensions can influence intergroup biases (SDO, RWA)
46
Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)
Extent to which one sees hierarchy of groups and desires their ingroup to dominate over; relates to beliefs in social ideologies and policies that support group based hierarchy (civil rights, social programs, etc.)
47
Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA)
Extent to which one values conventionalism, authoritarian aggression and submission; high RWAs show especially strong prejudice toward deviant groups (drug dealers), but not necessarily subordinate groups (housewives or physically disabled)
48
Motivation to Control Prejudice
- Expressions of intergroup biases may be influenced by the extent to which one is motivated to control prejudice
- Ppl may be externally motivated to control prejudice by not wanting to appear prejudiced in front of others (OR)
- Ppl may be internally motivated to control prejudice by not wanting to be prejudiced because they personally think it is wrong to do so
49
Intergroup Bias in Bhvr - Discrimination
- Ppl strongly differ in biased bhvr (although not understood well)
- IAT and personality measures have offered mixed results
- Possible explanations of neuroanatomy, theory of mind, and social brain regions
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Theory of Mind and the Social Brain - Social Brain
- dmPFC
- Temporal Parietal Junction (right)
- Precuneus/Posterior cingulate
- Anterior temporal pole
- Inferior Frontal Gyrus
- Posterior superior temporal sulcus
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Theory of Mind and the Social Brain - Self-referential
- mPFC
- PCC
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Neuroanatomy Measures
- Objective, stable differences in brain structure or function, like the EEG, which measures resting state frequencies, or the MRI, which measures voxel-based morphometry
- Can explain stable individual differences in personality and bhvr (take care with functional inferences and supplement w data related to the psychological process)
53
Baumgartner et al., 2012 - What was intergroup matter associated with?
Increased grey matter in the Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ) and the Dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC)
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Baumgartner et al., 2012 - What was the mediator
Mentalizing (ex. perspective-taking to understand another's actions; empathy)
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Baumgartner et al., 2012 - Other associations with TPJ and DMPFC
- Share rich, reciprocal connections
- Functional connectivity in decision making
- Part of a mentalizing network
- Better mentalizing/ToM potentially lead to more egalitarian bhvr
- Reanalyzed the study, focusing on white matter
56
Neuroanatomy and Discrimination
- White Matter integrity at TPJ and connectivity between TPJ and DMPFC reduced intergroup bias
- Non-biased mentalizing mediated both links
- Individual differences in intergroup bias are explained by neuroanatomical differences in an interconnected mentalizing system
57
Cultural Influence
- Socialization refers to process by which ppl learn the norms, rules, and info of a culture of group
- Intergroup bias is influenced by socialization and media
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Example of Socialization and media influence
- The manifesto 'Hutu ten commandments' published in a popular paper warned of the dangers of the Tutsis instigating the Rwandan genocide
- However, after the genocide, radio programming that promoted intergroup cooperation and communication helped reduce bias
- Media messages can also influence self-conceptions (women exposed to gender stereotypic TV commercials indicated less interest in being leaders and fewer career aspirations in a follow up task)
59
Being a Member of a Stigmatized Group
- May suffer setbacks in health, wealth, employment prospects, etc.
- Often aware of the biases others may hold against their group
- Biases have (-) consequences through negative health outcomes, attributional ambiguity and stereotype threat
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