Prejudice, Obedience and Conformity

• Authoritarian parenting


  • No positive rewards for behaviour, only punishment
  • No explanation of the rules children are expected to follow
• Authoritarian parenting


  Parenting style with high expectations for the children to follow rules unconditionally with no explanation. Children grow up to be highly obedient and have an exaggerated respect for authority figures. Children are likely to develop an authoritarian personality as adults
• Authoritarian approach


  Developed by Theodor Adorno to understand the appeal of fascist political parties in the 1940s
• Socialisation


  1. Occurs from birth and throughout our lifetimes

  2. We learn the rules of the society we live in
• Socialisation


  • Linked to our parenting, schooling, social class and many other factors
  • We are told the correct behaviours we should follow in various scenarios and therefore learn to follow these
• Authoritarian Parenting

  1. We are taught to obey authority figures from a young age

  2. We watch our parents obey the law

  3. We obey rules in school and are rewarded when we follow these rules correctly

  4. This can lead us to automatically continue obeying authority figures when we become adults
• Strengths

  • This was a lab experiment, which meant Milgram had a lot of control over variables. This also means that Milgram’s experiment had great reliability and if the study was to be repeated, results would be consistent.
• Realistic conflict theory (RCT)


  Developed by Sherif (1954), argues that prejudice occurs when there is a need to compete over resources
• If an in-group believe that the only way they can get the resources they need is by taking them from or competing with an out-group


  Hostile behaviour such as prejudice and discrimination can arise
• Superordinate goals


  Goals that require people from the in-group and out-group to come together in order to achieve
• Superordinate goals in place

  Prejudice between two groups can reduce
• Social identity theory of prejudice

  Developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979, suggests that people can be prejudiced towards others due to the need to promote their own social identity or that of their group
• Emphasising positives of own in-group

  Gives a stronger sense of belonging and boosts self-esteem
• Focusing on negatives of out-group

  Gives a stronger sense of belonging and boosts self-esteem
• Showing prejudice and discrimination to out-groups

  Can improve self-esteem, particularly if in competition with them
• Social Categorisation

  Deciding to identify with a group, then identifying other things/people who also identify with this group, which becomes part of your social identity
• Social Identification


  Identifying new people as either part of the in-group or out-group, and changing behaviours to fit in more with the group
• Social Comparison


  Comparing your in-group with others, and believing your group is superior to other groups
• Aims of the Sherifs Study

  1. To investigate whether groups could be manipulated into behaving in a prejudicial manner towards each other through perceived competition of resources

  2. To see whether this manipulated prejudice could then be reduced by introducing superordinate goals
• Participants


  • 22 American school-boys aged 11

  Split into two groups named Eagles and Rattlers

  Study conducted at a summer camp run by the Boy Scouts in Oklahoma
• Method/Procedureof Realistic Conflict Theory


  Boys arrived in their groups separately, unaware of the other group

  2. After a week, boys became aware of the other group

  3. Groups began a tournament with tasks like scavenger hunts, baseball, tug-of-war

  4. Researchers attempted to create superordinate goals by blocking the water pipe to both camps
• Stereotypes


  Inaccurate or unfair ideas about an individual based on their membership or perceived membership of a group
• Stereotypes


  • We often use them to simplify our complex, social world
  • They reduce the amount of cognitive processing when we meet a new person
• Stereotypes can be damaging
• Social categorisation


  Creates a 'them and us' mentality
• Confirmation bias


  The tendency to look for and remember information that fits with our prior beliefs
• We are much more likely to remember information that we are already expecting
• Authoritarian personality


  Some people have this personality type, which involves being hostile to people they see as inferior but obedient to those they believe are superior, having an extreme hatred and rejection of minority groups, and rejecting any changes to tradition
• Authoritarian parents


  Children raised by them are likely to develop an authoritarian personality as adults. Had little affection from parents, were harshly punished with little or no explanation and grew up with an exaggerated respect for authority
• After the atrocities of World War 2 and the Holocaust, psychologists were particularly interested in why ordinary citizens had been so willing to support such extreme prejudice and discrimination
• Adorno et al (1950) argued that some people have an authoritarian personality
• Those who have authoritarian personalities are likely to be hostile to people they see as inferior but obey those they believe are superior to them
• They may have an extreme hatred and rejection of minority groups, and reject any changes to tradition
• They will be much more likely to follow extreme prejudice and support ideas that are anti-democratic