prejudice

• Stereotypes


  Generalized beliefs about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics that they are believed to share
• Stereotypes


  • They are cognitive components of attitudes about social groups. The affective and behavioural components are prejudice and discrimination respectively
  • Can be positive or negative, accurate or inaccurate, can be agreed with or rejected by group members
  • They influence processing of information
• Why do People Form and Use Stereotypes?

  • We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. In the absence of the "total picture," stereotypes in many cases allow us to "fill in the blanks"
  • Stereotypes often act as schemas. Stereotypes save cognitive effort and serve motivational purposes
  • Out-group homogeneity - members of an out-group appear to be "all alike" or more similar to each other than are members of the in-group
  • In-group differentiation - members of own group are more heterogeneous
  • Devine (1989) states that we become highly aware of the contents of many stereotypes through socio-cultural mechanisms
• How are stereotypes activated?

  • Automatic processing - Triggered by observing stimuli associated with stereotyped group. Occurs without conscious effort. Based on cultural environment
  • Motivated processing - Activated when stereotypes could help fulfil goals/ needs of the perceiver. Goals influenced by individual differences or situational factors
• Factors that influence stereotype activation

  • Amount of exposure to the stereotype
  • The kind and amount of information the perceiver encounters
  • The perceiver's motivational goals
• How do Stereotypes Operate?

  • Stereotypes strongly affect how social information is processed
  • Information related to an activated stereotype is remembered better
  • Stereotype-consistent information is more likely to be noticed
  • Stereotype-inconsistent information often is refuted or changed to make it appear consistent with the stereotype
  • People who do not fit their group's stereotype are put in a subtype and the stereotype is not changed. A subtype is a subset of a group that is not consistent with the stereotype of the group as a whole
• How do Stereotypes Survive?

  • Selective memory: information relevant to an activated stereotype is often processed more quickly and remembered better that unrelated information
  • Illusory correlations: perceiving a relationship between variables when no such relationship exists. i.e., the perception of a stronger association between two variables than actually exists. Example: White Americans overestimating crime rates of minority groups
  • Attribution biases can perpetuate stereotypes. Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional cues on others' behaviour
  • Subtyping: protects the stereotype by placing inconsistent information into a separate group
  • Contrast effect: judgment of a person's characteristics or behaviors is influenced by comparisons with other individuals. Perceived difference are exaggerated as a result
  • Stereotypes are often maintained and strengthened through confirmation biases. The stereotype creates a "self-fulfilling prophecy."
• Gender Stereotypes


  Overgeneralization of the traits possessed by females and males, which distinguish the two genders from each other. Contain both positive and negative traits and convey status. Women are seen as kind, nurturing, and considerate (positive) as well as dependent, weak, and overly emotional (negative). Men are seen as decisive, assertive, and accomplished (positive) and aggressive, insensitive, and arrogant (negative). These traits are thought to show that men are a higher-status group than women.
• Do Stereotypes Ever Change?

  • Change may result when the relationships between groups change and in-group favouritism becomes socially unacceptable
  • Change may result when social values and group memberships change
• How do stereotypes affect The Self?

  Stereotype threat - belief that one may be judged based on a negative stereotype of their group. If stereotype threat occurs, a person's performance in the stereotyped domain may suffer.
• Discrimination


  Differential (usually negative) behaviours directed toward members of different social groups. Examples include racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism. Systemic discrimination stems from assumptions and stereotypes about women and men, as well as about class, age, race, sexuality, ethnicity, and ability. Learned through the socialization process. Whether prejudice will be expressed in overt discrimination depends on the perceived norms or acceptability of doing so.
• Prejudice


  Negative attitudes toward members of specific social groups. People high in prejudice toward a certain group tend to process information about that group differently compared to information about other groups. Information consistent with prejudiced attitudes is given more attention and is remembered better. Incidental feelings are felt separately or before target is encouraged – they are irrelevant to the group being judged, but can still affect judgments of the target.
• Why does Prejudice Persist?

  • Boosts self-esteem (individual/ group)
  • Saves cognitive effort (relies on quick, heuristic processing)
  • Prejudice may occur beyond one's awareness
• Types of Prejudice


  • Implicit prejudice can be automatically activated and can affect overt behaviour even though people are unaware that they hold such views
  • Explicit prejudice operates at the conscious level and are the attitudes you are aware of towards a specific event, situation, person, or group
• Origins of Prejudice


  • Threat to self-esteem or group interests: Holding prejudiced attitudes toward an out-group allows people to increase their self-esteem when they are feeling threatened
  • Competition for scarce resources: Realistic Conflict Theory (Bobo, 1983) - prejudice stems from direct competition between various social groups over scarce and valued resources
  • Social-categorization: Individual as a member of a group and others as members of a different group. The us-versus-them effect. Social Identity Theory - concerned with the consequences of perceiving the self as a member of a social group and identifying with it
• Techniques for Countering Prejudice

  • Learning not to hate - Social Learning View — prejudice is acquired through direct and vicarious experiences
  • Benefits of contact - Contact Hypothesis - increased contact between members of various social groups can be effective in reducing prejudice between them
  • Re-categorization - Shifts in the boundaries between an in-group and some out-group. Common In-group Identity Model — suggests that to the extent individuals in different groups view themselves as members of a single social entity, intergroup bias will be reduced
  • Social influence - efforts by others to change the behaviour, attitudes, or feelings of one or more others. Lowering the in-group's endorsement of prejudice can reduce prejudice in prejudiced people
  • Collective guilt - Exposure to harmful actions of members of own ingroup can raise collective guilt and subsequent strategies to reduce it
• Consequences of Exposure to Others' Prejudice

  • Exposure to prejudiced comments can make people yield to conformity pressures and express prejudice
  • Exposure can cue negative stereotypes
  • People who hold prejudiced attitudes are more likely to respond to being primed by others' prejudice, by expressing prejudice themselves compared to people who do not hold racist attitudes and people who hold ambivalent racial attitudes
• Measuring Racial Attitudes


  • Modern racism - More subtle beliefs than blatant feelings of superiority. It consists of thinking minorities are seeking and receiving more benefits than they deserve and a denial that discrimination affects their outcomes
  • Explicit measures: Bogus Pipeline — "lie detector" convinces subjects to respond honestly. Measures your true attitudes, irrespective of what you express
  • Implicit measures: Bona fide Pipeline - uses priming to measure implicit racial attitudes. The assumption is that someone who is prejudiced against Black people will answer "unpleasant" faster after seeing a Black face than a White face
• Required Reading: Social Psychology by Robert A. Baron & Nyla R. Branscombe, Chapter SIX: The Causes, Effects and Cures of Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination