Chapter 13: Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

Stigma by Association

-rejection of those who associate with stigmatized other -common stigmas: obesity, mental illness poverty, physical blemishes

Aversive Racism

-simultaneously holding egalitarian values, while also holding negative feelings towards minorities -believe in racial equality and equal opportunity, but feel uncomfortable around minorities and try to avoid them -more subtle form of racism

Superordinate Goals

goals that can be achieved only by cooperating and working together

Discrimination

unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

-a behavior that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will come true -people will come to act like the stereotypes other hold of them -"honors" classroom

Self-Defeating Prophecy

-a prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will not come true -Ex. students with baby-faces performed better to defeat the stereotype that they were not smart. crime rates higher in low socio-economic areas for boys with baby-faces to defeat stereotype that they were not tought

Sherif Studies (1953) Robber's Cave

-after one week of group competition, two groups 11 year old boys were intensely hostile -only way to induce cooperation was to create subordinate goals for the two groups to accomplish together (telling one group good things about the other and creating bonding activities did not work) -easier to create hostility than reduce it

Stereotypes

-beliefs that associate groups of people wit certain traits -can be good or bad -difficult to change -content of stereotypes is learned through socialization -people automatically know stereotypes and have to work to override them (but not everyone is motivated to) -stereotype as mental short cut (conserve energy) -helps powerful group retain power -used to boost self esteem and rationalize status quo -can be positive or negative, but negative are more durable -takes more exceptions to disconfirm a bad stereotype -conflict and stress tend to bring out stereotypes -more likely to use stereotype when in disagreement (come to mind during conflict)

Social Side of Sex: Roots of Sexual Prejudice

-both men and women are more intolerant of homosexuality within their ow gender: perhaps due to fear of sexual advances, or may fear they will respond positively with sexual to advances -illogical fear of homosexuality within own gender, because it actually reduces competition for finding a mate

Subtypes

-categories that people use for individuals who do not fit a general stereotype -instead of changing stereotypes, we tend to put people who do not fit the stereotype in a separate category

Jigsaw Classroom

-cooperative learning technique for reducing feelings of prejudice -some contribution from every member is necessary to complete is necessary

Stereotype Threat

-fear that one might confirm the stereotypes that others hold -stereotype is most powerful when it is difficult to contradict -creates anxiety in interracial interactions for both races, as members of both races worry about confirming stereotypes about themselves

Stigma and Self Protection

-groups can reject being labeled as inferior -African American generally have higher levels of SE than European Americans

Contact Hypothesis

-idea that regular interaction btwn members of different groups reduces prejudice, providing that it occurs under favorable conditions -negative stereotypes arise b/c groups don't have contact with each other -bringing conflicting groups together reduces prejudice as members learn and understand one another -support for hypothesis provided interaction takes place under positive conditions Problems: -when the interaction is not mutually satisfying, can result in increased hostility and prejudice -interaction of different racial background is generally negative -contact only works among people of equal status (one person cannot be perceived as better than another) -outgroup members must be perceived of as typical of their group (not subtype-

Stereotype Accuracy

-many based on genuine difference, but then overgeneralized -take an approach that is true most the time and act as though it is always true -heuristics may be accurate, but then exaggerated with little factual basis -gender stereotypes tend to be accurate in both content and degree -people's judgments about, gender, racial and ethnic differences averaged within %20 of objective facts (very accurate) -political stereotypes of Republicans and Democrats, personality stereotypes of traits based on countries were very inaccurate -genuine effect of stereotype on judgment of individual person, but pretty small. people rely on information specific to the person, and to a small extent fill in gaps with stereotypes -as a heuristic, people try to hold fairly accurate stereotypes -stereotypes may be exaggerated if used to enhance self-esteem or justify disadvantaged minorities

Prejudice

-negative feeling (attitude) toward an individual based solely on their membership in a particular group -tendency to hold prejudice may be innate -can be self affirming

Reducing Prejudice

-non prejudice people consciously override prejudice feelings -people exert themselves to overcome prejudice -internal and external motivation to overcome prejudice -modern americans have a long way in overcoming stereotypes -people accused of prejudice often exert themselves to prove the they are not Internal: -morally wrong External: -avoid social disapproval

Outgroup Members

-people who belong to a different group or category than we do -"them" -angry outgroup members are easier to identify than angry ingroup members (related to keeping track of dangerous people: angry people from an outgroup may post a threat)

Ingroup Members

-people who belong to the same group or category as we do -"us" -eyewitnesses testimony more reliable from ingroup member Ingroup favortism: --preferential treatment or favorable attitudes towards one's own group members --white privilege --ingroup favoritism occurs even when group assignment was random

Social Categorization

-process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in common (race, gender, age, religion) -supports theory of "cognitive miser" (think in a way to minimize effort) -cultural component to social categorization

Competition

-situation in which people attain their goals only if others do not -education and social activities built on competition -societies built on competition produce more advancement -competition bring both social ills and advancement

Cooperation

-situation in which people must work together with others to help all achieve their goals -societies built on cooperation are healthy and happy, but not leaders in advancement

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

-the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another -explanation: less exposure to outgroup members than ingroup members ---lack of exposure can lead to prejudice -"they are alike, we are more diverse"

Discontinuity Effect

-the finding that groups are more extreme, and often more hostile, than individuals -motivated by fear and greed -intergroup hostility can be reduced by having people think about the long term effects of their actions -when people are deindividuated they are more likely to engage in anti-social behavior

Scapegoat Theory

-the idea that blaming problems and misfortunes on outgroups contributes to negative attitudes towards these groups -related to self-serving bias and attribution theory -creates friction in diverse society -people like to blame others for problems when times are rough -harsh times cause people to act more aggressively towards others

Realistic Conflict Theory

-the idea that competition over scare resources leads to intergroup hostility and conflict -hunter-gatherer societies (-Ex. jobs, resources, fight for survival) -established groups blame immigrants for taking up resources -groups who readily formed prejudices and acted to drive out others were more likely to survive

Categorization

-the natural tendency of humans to sort objects into groups instead of thinking about them separately -helps makes sense of a complicated world

Confirmation Bias

-the tendency to focus more on evidence that supports one's expectations than on evidence that contradicts them -explains why inaccurate stereotypes are so resilient (only looking at confirming evidence while ignoring other sources)

ABCs of Intergroup Relations

Affective = prejudice Behavioral = discrimination Cognitive = stereotyping

Homophobia

excessive fear of homosexuals or homosexual behavior

Minimal Group Effect

people show favoritism toward ingroup members even when group membership is randomly determined

Racism

prejudiced attitudes towards a particular race

Salience

stereotypes can form simply on the basis of salience- "standing out"