factors affecting predjudice

• factors affecting prejudice: personality and culture
• Authoritarian personality 


  Characteristics that mean a person is more likely to be hostile to people of a different: race, social group, age, sexuality, or other minority
• ethnocentrism


  belief that ones own ethnic group is superior to others
• conservatism


  a belief in tradition and social order with a dislike for change
• anti-democratic


  views that oppose the fair election of government
• Adorno et al (1950)

  • interviewed two students (mack and Larry) about political beliefs, how they were raised and their attitudes towards minorities.
  • He then developed a series of scales that were used to make up the f-scale. the scales measured the authoritarian personality in particular: antisemitism, ethnocentrism, conservatism
  • He also did 80 interviews on background, beliefs, religious and political ideology.
  • all the data gathered was used to produce a theory of prejudice
• what makes up the authoritarian personality according to Adorno?

  • rigid in thinking
  • intolerant to change
  • submissive and obedient to authority
  • confrontational attitudes
  • conform to wider social group norms
• culture can have an affect on prejudice if that culture has existing social norms that: legitimise prejudice practice, strict religious events or laws, events that trigger prejudice
• Katz and Brady (1933)


  Investigated the national stereotypes of Americans about other cultures using students from Princeton uni. They used a questionnaire where ppnts had to pick 5-6 traits they associate with an ethnic group from a list of 84 traits.
• Katz and Braly (1933)

  Found that the students classified African Americans as superstitious and ignorant and jews as shrewd. They may have been responding in a socially desirable way.
• Karlins et al (1969)

  Replicated Katz and Brady (1933). found that some national stereotypes had changed but others persisted. Cultures doesn't affect prejudice but as culture changes so do the prejudices they hold.
• Al-Zahrani et al (1993) - cultural comparison


  Compared a collectivistic (Saudi) and individualistic (America) culture. They found that Saudis had more ingroup favouritism and out group bias.
• Kleugal (1990) - cultural comparison


  Found that collectivism is associated with greater tolerance and lower racism.
• Comparisons between cultures don't support the idea that one culture type is more prejudice that another. Cross cultural comparison is hard to measure.