Stereotypes and stigma, prejudice and discrimination

• Stereotypes are a collection of beliefs held about people who belong to a particular group, regardless of differences within the group.
• Discrimination refers to positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members
• Prejudice refers to a negative attitude towards members of a group, based solely on their group membership
• Sustained contact when just contact over time is not sufficient, there needs to be specific conditions present for the sustained contact to be effective in reducing prejudice
• A super-ordinate goal is one that cannot be achieved by any one group alone. Superordinate goals overrides other existing goals which each group might have
• Mutual independence is two groups being somehow dependent upon one another to meet a goal (often the super-ordinate goal)