Week 9 - Social Categorization + Stereotypes

Question 1

What are Stereotypes?

Answer 1

What someone believes about another persons attributes (ie: personality traits) that define a group.

“Pictures in our heads” – Lippmann, 1992

Stereotypes are often ambivalent: positive and negative

Question 2

Stereotype Activation

Answer 2

There are networks of associations

Stereotype can come to mind automatically without intention or conscious effort.

Question 3

Are Stereotype accurate?

Answer 3

Yes and No

They can contain some truth but are usually oversimplified, context-dependent and often misleading

Question 4

Social Categorization

Answer 4

We divide the world into groups of people based on common attributes (ie: gender, politics, schools, etc)

Question 5

Social Categorization – Why do we categorize?

Answer 5

Categories help us to efficiently and effectively navigate the world.

Social categorization is at the heart of stereotyping.

Epistemic function:

• All categories: Transform the world from chaotic complexity into predictable order
• Social categories: Infer goals, intentions, skills, knowledge, traits, predict expected behaviors

Identity function:

• Social Categorization Theory:
• Social Identity Theory:

Question 6

Social Categorization – Social Categorization Theory

Answer 6

Cognitive aspects of grouping people based on shared characteristics

• Categorizing others involves self-categorization and considering our status vis-à-vis the target

Question 7

Social Categorization – Social Identity Theory

Answer 7

Emotional and identity related consequences of group memberships

• Connection/belonging vs. alienation/distancing
• Meaning and a positive, distinct self-concept

Question 8

Automaticity of Social Categorization

Answer 8

1. We group people by categories like race or gender to make sense of information.
2. When overwhelmed (too much to remember), we rely on those categories to recall “who said what.”
3. This leads to systematic errors (e.g., confusing two people of the same race), revealing that social categories shape our thinking without conscious intent.

Question 9

What leads to Stereotyping?

Answer 9

Biased Perceptions of others lead to Stereotyping!

Two key effects:

1. Intraclass/Interclass Effect:
   * We overestimate differences between different groups
   * We underestimate differences within groups
   we do this because it gives us a sense of clarity and order
2. Out-group Homogeneity Effect:
   * We see out-groups as more similar (“they all look the same”)
   * We see our in-group as more diverse
   This leads to stereotyping and biased judgments, especially with less out-group contact

Both effects show how categorization distorts our perception and leads to stereotyping

Question 10

The Minimal Group Paradigm

Answer 10

The Minimal Group Paradigm determined that people favor their in-group, even when the formation of groups is arbitrary (ie: groups were formed via flipping a coin and have never met in-person)

What drives in-group favoritism?

• Positive Distinctiveness: people want their group to feel superior.

Tajfel, 1970s

Question 11

Stereotype Content

Answer 11

Stereotype’s attach specific traits to groups that reflect cultural beliefs (not facts)

• Thus, stereotypes vary from group to group (ie: Americans and Germans stereotype “dominant Male roles” differently)

Question 12

How is Stereotype Content Learned?

Answer 12

Age Development:

• 12 months: babies recognize gender categories
• 3-6 years: kids develop stereotypes across categories (gender, race, age)

Learning Mechanisms:

• Perception: what we see — skin, height, voices, jobs, etc.
  Social learning: labels used by society, parents, implicit cues, media, and friends

Question 13

Salience and Content

Answer 13

Salience: People notice “rare” things more (ie: a minority member doing something negative), and then overestimate how often that happens

• this leads to Illusory Correlations: false associations between group and behavior

Stereotypes can develop without objective reasons or from having learned them from others.

Question 14

Stereotype content is learned…

Answer 14

Early and automatically from what we see and hear — even when it’s not accurate or statistically justified.

Question 15

Stereotype Content Model

Answer 15

Stereotypes vary along two key dimensions:

1. Warmth (friendly vs. cold)
2. Competence (capable vs. incompetent)

Question 16

What predicts warmth & competence?

(Stereotype Content Model)

Answer 16

Competition and Status predict Warmth and Competence

Predictors:

• Competition –> Do they intend to help or hurt you? (Warmth)
• Status –> Are they capable of carry out intentions? (Competence)

Question 17

Stereotypes + Emotions = Prejudice

Answer 17

Question 18

Implicit Associations Test

Answer 18

Reaction time task measuring strengths of associations

Question 19

Gender-Equality Paradox

Answer 19

More egalitarian and developed countries: Greater occupational gender segregation

Question 20

Gender Stereotypes from Language

Answer 20

Listening to and producing language could lead to the formation of
cultural stereotypes.

Gender encoded in language:

• Titles: Mr., Miss, Mrs
• Names: Sam, Ashley
• Pronouns: He, she, they, etc.
• Job titles: Waiter, waitress
• Contexts: Gendered associations
• Grammatical gender systems: Enfermera;
  enfermero (nurse)