Psyc 201 final: Chapter 11 Stereotypes prejudice and discrimination

What are some examples of situations that might elicit stereotype threat?

(A) White male students do worse on math tests when they are surrounded by Asian students. (B) Female Asian students do worse on math tests when prompted to think about being female, but better when prompted to think about being Asian. (C) Black students perform worse at golf when it's described as a test of "sports intelligence," but White students do worse on the same task when it's described as a test of "natural athletic ability" (D) Black students perform worse on aptitude tests when asked to indicate their race on the test booklet before starting.

What was the Robbers Cave Study? What does it say is the best way to reduce intergroup conflict?

- 22 fifth-grade boys (all strangers) participated in a 2 ½ week summer camp at Robbers Cave State Park in OK. - The boys were divided into groups of 11 - Kids brought together for competition and heavy arguing and discord occurred Phase Three: The researchers tried a few things in an attempt to "reverse" the prejudice and reduce conflict between the 2 groups - Attempt #1: Mere Exposure The boys were brought together in noncompetitive settings i. This failed...The boys insulted each other, fought, etc. - Attempt #2: Superordinate Goals The researchers created larger goals that made the groups of boys have to depend on each other in order to succeed - Required both groups to work together for a common goal - This worked...Prejudice went away! On the ride home, the boys took the same bus, shared candy, etc

Define Benevolent Sexism

- Attitudes of protection, idealization, and affection towards women in traditional gender roles - In other words, chivalry. i. "Women should be treated delicately" ii. "In an emergency, women should be rescued before men."

Explain Ambivalent Sexism

- Hostile and benevolent sexism often co-exist i. "Women are incompetent... ...so men should protect them and take care of them."

What is the relationship between self-esteem and intergroup bias?

- People are motivated to view their ingroups favorably because this enhances self-concept and self-esteem. -Ingroup Bias: Because identity-related self-esteem is based in part on group membership, we're motivated to boost the status of our ingroups. -When ingroups succeed, we have higher self-esteem.

Explain Modern Racism

- Prejudice against a racial group that exists alongside the rejection of explicit racist beliefs - Example: Opposing racial segregation/discrimination, but treating outgroup members differently in more subtle ways (e.g. sitting further away, being less likely to hire them) More "subtle" indicators...not necessarily verbalized. - Modern racism is suppressed when expressing it would clearly look "racist," but emerges when it seems "safe." -"Oh, there are a bunch of people...someone else will help."

Explain Traditional Racism

- Prejudice against a racial group that is consciously acknowledged and openly expressed by the individual - Relatively rare in contemporary society

What is stereotype threat?

- The fear that we will confirm a stereotype that others have because of a group we're in - Group members typically know the stereotypes that others hold about them/their groups

What is realistic group conflict theory? What does it say about why intergroup bias arises?

- When groups compete for limited resources, the groups experience conflict, prejudice, and discrimination. 1) Territory 2) Jobs 3) Power - Arises because of Economic perspective

There's a quote in the slides from Dan Gilbert about stereotypic beliefs about women's roles. What does this quote illustrate? What does it say about the importance of construal and the impact of stereotypes?

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What are true 3 areas intergroup bias comes from?

1) Economic Perspective Competition with outgroups over valuable/scarce resources. 2) Motivational Perspective Identification with an ingroup, frustration, or social identity. i. People are motivated to view their ingroups favorably because this enhances self-concept and self-esteem. 3) Cognitive Perspective We are "fast and frugal" with our thinking patterns. - Stereotypes become harmful when rigidly over-applied. - When you rely on schemas and automatic judgments to dictate how you respond in any one particular situation (or to any one person), that's when it's a big problem. - Flash mob is cancelled...the flash mob is cancelled.

What is the outgroup homogeneity effect?

1) The tendency to assume that members of outgroups are "all alike," whereas members of ingroups are varied and distinct. 2) You encounter the ingroup all the time, so unique/identifying information is most useful, frequent, and attention-grabbing. 3) If you rarely encounter outgroup members, the only information you may have about them are stereotypes.

What is Social Identity theory?

A person's self-concept and self-esteem are derived from personal identity AND ingroup status/accomplishments.

What did Roberts cave study say is the best way to reduce intergroup conflict?

Competition against outgroups often increases cohesion - A superordinate goal helps reduce intergroup conflict i) The intergroup conflict led the ingroups themselves to adopt group names, social norms, create a shared social identity, etc.

What do distinctiveness and illusory correlations have to do with profiling and discrimination?

Illusory Correlation: An incorrect belief that two things are related when they actually are not - Distinctive (low frequency) events capture attention i) Minority members are, by definition, low frequency ii) Negative behaviors also occur less frequently than positive * As a consequence, negative behaviors from minority members are doubly distinct. - -> Negative behaviors from minority members are likely to seem much more correlated than they really are.

How does stereotype threat impact performance?

In a performance situation, people often want to prove that the stereotype's not true i. This leads to anxiety about accidentally confirming it ii. This actually makes it more likely one will confirm it

How do self-fulfilling prophecies influence intergroup bias?

Interview Study (Word et al., 1974) - Interviewers came in with negative expectations. - They acted in ways that elicited negative behaviors they expected. --> Applicants who were interviewed by actors trying to act like how the first interviewers had interviewed the Black applicants were rated more negatively. * Yes, the Black applicants usually acted more negatively in Study 1... ...but so did a later sample of White applicants when they were treated the same way by the interviewers.

What is the difference between stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination?

Stereotype: - Belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of particular groups -Cognition Prejudice: - A negative (or positive) attitude toward a certain group that is applied to its individual members - Emotion Discrimination: - Unfair treatment of members of a particular group based on their membership in that group -Behavior

According to the cognitive perspective, what is the benefit of stereotyping? Why might it be helpful?

Stereotypes can be useful because they decrease the time/effort needed to deal with the environment 1) "The real environment is altogether too big, too complex, and too fleeting for direct acquaintance. 2) We are not equipped to deal with so much subtlety, so much variety, so many permutations and combinations...

Define Hostile Sexism

What you typically think of when you think about "sexism." Domination, hostility, and degradation "Women are less competent than men."

Steele: Stereotype Threat & Female Math Performance

½ participants told that there's "no gender difference" ½ told that men tend to do better In the second condition, women do worse. Results: * When the test was described as one that yields gender differences, it aroused stereotype threat among female participants, and their performance dipped