situation

• Situation factors affecting prejudice - social norms

  • social norms = situation - refer to unwritten rules about what is socially acceptable and desirable within a social group.
  • a part of social identity theory = people follow the norms created by their ingroup as violation may lead to rejection - wish to avoid rejections because group belonging is a strong situational influences
• Situation factors affecting preduce - social norms

  • Cantril (1941) suggested that this group identity, and thus socialisation by the group, is central to the formation of prejudiced views.
  • individuals become increasingly prejudices as they internalise a group's 'frame of reference'
  • many studies have shown that the expression of prejudice and discrimination are influenced by social norms
  • eg, Minard (1952) noted the difference in relations between white and black coal miners in the US Below ground (identified as miners) they were freindly and worked well together - above ground (identified in their white and black social groups) they held negative views toward eachother
• situation factors affecting prejudice - Competition and resource stress

  • realistic conflict theory highlighted the importance of competition in escalating prejudice
  • when groups are in competition for limited resources the result is prejudice - this competition between groups = a situational factor
  • Esses (2001) use the term resource stress to describe the problem that occurs when people believe that commodities, such as jobs and money, are limited. Prejudice arises if and when the ingroup perceive themselves to be in direct competition for scarce resources with some other salient group - in this study the other group were immigrants
  • this is heightened if the situation is seen as 'zero-sum', meaning provision for the other group will come at a cost to the indigenous population
  • at this point the ingroup try to demonstrate the outgroup's lack of 'worthiness' due to the perceived threat they pose.
• Factors affecting prejudice - evaluation (supporting)

  • strength = research supprt
  • a swedish study conducted by akrami (2009) experimentally manipulated social norms - some participants heard a confederate express scepticism that anyone could agree with the statement: "Discrimination of women is no longer a problem in sweden."
  • mean levels of sexism were significantly lower for a group who had heard this statement compared to a control group who had not
  • furthermore, participants who read a short article predicting a bleak social and economic future for sweden expressed more prejudiced attitudes than a control group
  • shows that prejudice can be affected by situational factors such as perceived social norms and social threat.
  • although mean levels of prejudice differed between the experimental and control groups - akrami also reported that personality variables had an influence
• factors affecting prejudice - evaluation (application)

  • provides ideas about how to combat prejudice
  • Esses (2001) suggest targeting the zero-sum beliefs that lead to prejudice against immigrants
  • in their experimental study they found this to be an effective strategy although reactance in participants who were high in SDO (social dominance orientation) created even more negative attitudes showing that a more indirect approach may be necessary to address prejudice in some people
  • this is critical research if we are able to move successfully towards a 'truly harmonious global village'