Week 8 - Stereotypes

Question 1

Stereotypes cognition

Answer 1

Affect, behavior, cognition

Cognitive representation of a group

Prejudice:
* Affect
* Negative affective reaction to outgroup

Discrimination = behavior

Question 2

What are stereotypes?

Answer 2

1. Pictures in our heads
2. Cognitive representation of a category of people
3. Consists of knowledge/assumptions about traits
4. Central tendency in traits
5. Variation in these trates
6. Exemplars vs prototypes

Stereotypes often include positive + negative traits. Negative aspects weigh more.

Question 3

Self/Auto-stereotype

Answer 3

Stereotype about in-group but usually no prejudice

Question 4

How to measure stereotypes

Answer 4

Indirect measures such as the Implicit Association Test

Measure implicit, automatic associations with outgroup members

Question 5

How can we use IAT for ‘The Self’

Answer 5

It shows how people view themselves in terms of overweight or underweight

Question 6

How do stereotypes develop?

Answer 6

1. We like to categorize
2. Social categorisation –> dividing the world into groups of people
3. Social categorisation is to a large extent automatic

Question 7

What is the ‘Who Said What’ paradigm?

Answer 7

Paradigm in which 6 people each make 5 statements (too much to remember) and afterwards, observers have to judge who said what.

Mistakes that are made by participants say something about how this person uses categorisation

Intra-categorical error: It is easier to confuse discussants within a gender than between genders

Chronically accessible: Gender is often used to categorise

Question 8

Intraclass/interclass effect

Answer 8

1. Overestimate differences between categories
2. Underestimate differences within categories

Question 9

Outgroup homogeneity effect

Answer 9

Outgroup is generally seen as more homogenous than the ingroup: effect increases in competition

Question 10

How does the content of stereotypes develop?

Answer 10

1. Illusory correlation: from personal experience
2. From ‘hearsay’ (social learning):
   * Upbringing
   * Friends
   * Media

Question 11

What were the results of Weisbuch et al. in their experiment: ‘Influence of the Media’

Answer 11

White co-start received more positive nonverbal behavior
* Despite ‘scriptedness’ of the scene

Question 12

How can stereotypes be reinforced?

Answer 12

1. Confirmation bias
2. Self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 13

Minimal Groups: What happens in the Klee vs Kardinsky experiment (tajfel, 1970)

Answer 13

People feel connected as a consequence of social categorisation

Question 14

What are features of minimal groups

Answer 14

1. No previous experience with the categorization
2. No interaction between participants
3. Categorization is anonymous
4. No direct personal gain.

Question 15

Ingroup favoritism

Answer 15

Participants often want to maximize the difference in rewards between ingroup and outgroup

Question 16

Social Identity Theory

Answer 16

Self-esteem influenced by the status of the groups we identify with. Threats to self-esteem will lead to derogation of other groups

Question 17

Stereotype content model

Answer 17

Two basic dimensions of social perception:
* Warmth (cooperation)
* Competence (status)

Brands are rated on:
1. Low competence x low warmth
2. Low competence x high warmth
3. High competence x low warmth
4. High competence x high warmth

Question 18

Dissociation model

Answer 18

Phase 1: Stereotype activation
* Automatic (for high- and low-prejudice people)

Phase 2: Stereotype application
* Not necessarily automatic
* Low-prejudice people < high-prejudice people
Given sufficient cognitive capacity

Question 19

When do phase 1 and 2 of the Dissociation Model take place

Answer 19

1. Phase 1: automatic
   * Limited cognitive resources
2. Phase 2: controlled
   * When enough cognitive capacity
   * When motivation high enough

Question 20

Consequences of Stereotyping

Answer 20

Judgements (job interviews, lawsuits)
* In particular when dealing with complex, ambiguous information
* When reduced cognitive capacity

Question 21

Shooter bias

Answer 21

More errors are made when it is a black target

1. Happens in trained police officers
2. Also in Afro-Americans
3. Can be reduced through training

Question 22

Blatant prejudice

Answer 22

Strong, explicitely communicated negative feelings towards outgroup
* Hate, disgust

Reduced by legislation and social norms

Question 23

Modern prejudice

Answer 23

More implicit
More subtle
* Distance
* Positive bias towards in-group rather than rejection of the out-group
Expressed when rationalization is possible
* Women are rejected on the basis of body length, not because they are women
Ambivalance
* “I don’t have anything against homosexuals, but they shouldn’t kiss in public”
Diverse, mild emotions; feeling uncomfortable

Question 24

Stereotype threat

Answer 24

The fear that one will be reduced to a stereotype in the eyes of others

Question 25

Supressing stereotypes

Answer 25

When asked not to think in stereotypes, stereotype is avoided

Question 26

What works in reducing stereotypes?

Answer 26

Goals: e.g. shooter bias experiment: “If I see an unarmed person, I will not shoot”

Intergroup contact:
* Lots of conditions (e.g. equal status, common goals)
* Does have positive effect