PSYC 215: Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination

True or false: believing stereotype is true is necessary for racial bias

False

superordinate goals

Finally worked to restore the peace in the Robbers cave experiment. Superordinate goals are mutual goals achieved only through cooperation between groups. Camp truck broke down and both groups needed to pull it out of mud. By the end of experiment the two groups were all friends.

True or false: awareness of stereotype is necessary for racial bias?

True

Stigmatized

individuals who are targets of negative stereotypes, perceived as deviant, and devalued in society because they are members of a particular social group or because they have a particular characteristic. Targets of stigmatization often wonder to what extent others impressions are distorted through the lens of race. Black students felt less of a blow to self-esteem when insulted by white students as they attributed it to race, on other hand self-esteem was reduced by positive comments from white students as believed feedback was due to race.

racially ambivalent

most people are racially ambivalent, want to see themselves as fair but they still harbour feelings of anxiety and discomfort about other racial groups.

4 conditions deemed ideal for intergroup contact according to contact hypothesis

1. Equal Status: contact must occur in circumstances where two groups have equal status. 2. Personal interaction: must involve one on one interaction among individual members 3. Cooperative activities: two groups work together to achieve subordinate goals 4. Social norms: social norms by relevant authorities should favour intergroup contact

Why does contact reduce prejudice?

1. enhance knowledge of out group 2. reduce anxiety about intergroup contact 3. increase empathy and perspective taking.

two basic predictions of social identity theory

1. threats of ones self esteem heighten the need for in-group favouritism 2. expressions of in-group favouritism enhance one's self esteem Blow to one's self esteem leads to prejudice and expressing this prejudice can restore our self-esteem.

Where is ambivalent sexism most exhibited

Ambivalent sexism is prevalent around the world. People from countries with the greatest degree of economic and political inequalities between sexes tend to have both the most hostile and benevolent sexism.

Systematic racism

At the institutional or cultural level, some people are privileged while others are disadvantaged. Another way to define racism is as institutional and cultural practices that promote the domination of one racial group over another.

sex discrimination example with recommendation letters

Both male and female professors tended to include more pieces of information raising doubts in for female recommendation letters and not male recommendation letters. These minor doubts made a significant difference on the evaluation of the person reading the letter.

Confirmation Bias in terms of stereotypes

Confirmation bias is people's tendencies to interpret, seek and create information thats seems to confirm expectations. Th effect of stereotypes on individual perceptions is a type of confirmation bias. ex. mother yelling at 16 year old girl vs construction worker yelling at 16 year old girl, lawyer behaving aggressively vs homeless man behaving aggressively. Very different images come to mind, stereotypes of groups influence peoples perceptions and interpretations of behaviour of group members. This is especially likely when the target of stereotype behaves ambiguously, perceivers reduce ambiguity by interpreting behaviour as consistent with the stereotype. Ex. experiment where 6th grade boys watched video of black and white students bumping each other on shoulders, judged behaviour are more threatening when it happened by a black student rather than white -> confirm racial stereotypes.

Shadenfreude

Enjoyment of another person's misfortune. Particularly for celebrities are people we don't feel empathy for. People who identify strongly with their social groups frequently experience this pleasure toward out group misfortunes and lack of empathy.

Internal vs external motivation to control prejudice

Externally driven motivation is to not appear prejudiced to others and internally driven is not wanted to be prejudice regardless if anyone knows about it. Internally rotated are more likely to be successfully at controlling stereotypes or prejudice, but still vulnerable to automatic stereotyping and implicit bias.

Implicit association test

First developed by Anthony Greenwald in 1998. IAT measures the extent that two concepts are associated. Measures how people associate white and black people along with things they associate as good and bad. Implicit racism can be measured if someone is consistently slower at identifying a good thing after a black face. Can also look at things like old vs young or gay vs straight etc. Interestingly as we get older 6 year old vs adult we show less explicit racism however the level of implicit racism stays the same. Another example is white people with pro white implicit bias were shown to be more likely to prescribe pain killers to white patients after surgery.

Contact Hypothesis

Gordon Allport's theory in 1954 book, under certain conditions, direct contact between members of rival groups will reduce intergroup prejudice. This as based on harmful effects of racial segregation in schools and it resulting in poor self-esteem and academic performance for black students. Re-examination of hypothesis in 1986 forced after studies found 56% of studies found increases in prejudice after desegregation. However the contact hypothesis was not wrong, it was just the ideal situation for successful intergroup contact did not exist in public schools upon desegregation.

Robbers Cave Field Study

In 1954, 11 year old boys (white middle class) arrived at a summer camp. Boys spent first week hiking, camping, boating etc. Gave themselves group name and printed it on shirts. Thought they were only ones at camp, however, it was then revealed to them there was a second group. When the Rattlers and the Eagles met, they did so under tense circumstances -> competing in tournament of different competitive games like football and capture the flag. Groups turned very hostile towards each other: ransacked cabins and burned opposite teams flag, food fight in cafeteria. Next tried to restore the peace. First tried to say nice things about other group but that did not work.

Jigsaw Classroom

In newly desegregated public schools, assigned fifth graders to sell racially and academic mixed groups. The material to be learned was divided into small sections (like jigsaw puzzle) and each student responsible for learning one piece of the puzzle and taught material to the others. Everyone, regardless of race, ability or self-confidence, is needed for the group to succeed. This was developed to avoid the typical competitive environment in classrooms to present an environment with cooperation and shared goals to breed contact hypothesis. Results were children in these classrooms like each other more and were less prejudiced and had higher self-esteem.

Implicit Racism

Modern racism may be conscious but is more often unconscious. When racism is unconscious and unintentional it is known as implicit racism.

The Shooter Bias and related video game study

Police shootings involving unarmed black men. In 2002 scientists designed a video game where participants had to decide to shoot or not shoot. ON screen flashed black and white males either holding gun or harmless object. If target held gun, they were quicker to press shoot if person was black rather than white. Participants were more likely to shoot unarmed black man than unarmed white man. Participants took longer to say don't shoot for unarmed black men then white men. When examining police officers, the decision was not biased however they did show bias in reaction time.

gender stereotypes

Starts from birth with blue for boys and pink for girls. The continues with the toys children are exposed to from very young age. Young boys expected to earn money by mowing lawns and girls by babysitting. Persists into college as more boys major in economics and science and girls major in arts, language and humanities. In the work place many jobs are typically male (construction, mechanics, engineers, pilots) and others are female (nurse, secretary, teacher, housewife or bank teller)

meta-stereotypes

Stereotypes about a stereotypes. stereotype that members of one group have about the way in which they are stereotypically viewed by members of another group. Individuals engaging in intergroup interactions often activate meta-stereotypes and worry about being consistent with these stereotypes. People may avoid interracial reactions due to fear of appearing racist or being treated in a racist way and this makes the problem worse.

Overestimators and Underestimators Study

Study in 1971. Boys we asked to estimate the number of dots on a line. Later participants are told that some people are chronic "overestimators" and others are chronic "underestimators". Boys then divided into groups based on this. Participants then told to allocate money to other participants. This created minimal group: groups based on trivial and minimally important similarities. Under estimators and over estimators had no history, they had no competition and didn't even know each other and yet participants allocated more money to members of their own group. This form of discrimination is known as in-group favouritism .

social identity theory

Theory to explain in group favouritism. According to this theory we all achieve to enhance our self esteem which has two components 1. personal identity and 2. various social identities based on our groups. People boost self esteem through personal achievement or through affiliation with successful groups. Allows us to derive pride from our connections with others even if we don't receive direct benefits. However we often all feel the need to belittle the other groups to feel better about our own groups. ex. gossip about a third party and two people feel closer to each other.

What makes gender stereotypes different from other stereotypes

They are prescriptive rather than descriptive. The stereotypes indicate what people believe men and women should be and not what they believe they are. ex. people do not believe old people should be forgetful and conservative but people believe women should be nurturing and men should be unemotional. Women that have a trait that is valued in society but defies gender stereotypes (ex. being assertive and ambitious) are often viewed in especially harsh terms -> double standards. Another different is the degree that the in-groups interact, unlike black and white people who may not interact as often, men and women are very familiar with each other and interact all the time, however this does not reduce sexist beliefs or attitudes.

Social Categorization

We divide our social world into groups. We routinely sort people around us into groups based on gender, race, age and other common attributes. This is natural and adaptive. Allows us to rapidly form impressions and guide new interactions. Allows us to same time and energy by using group membership to make inferences about new people. However often result in us overestimating the differences between groups and under estimating the differences within groups.

Automatic Stereotype Activation

We do not need to believe or agree with the stereotype for them to still have bias. Can still lead to illusory correlation and self-fulfilling prophecy without believing it or influence how we think, feel and behave towards members of the group. Just being aware about the stereotype is often enough. People are so highly aware of stereotypes through socialization that people may automatically activate stereotypes when they are exposed to member of that group. Ex. when we hear bacon we think eggs, in the same way we see group member and think stereotype.

Attributions and stereotypes

When observing the behaviours of others, people often don't take into account the situational factors that lead to the behaviour. This can perpetuate bad stereotypes ex. poor performance by member of stereotyped group could be due to stereotypes rather than lack of ability. On the other hand, when people contradict a stereotype, people are more likely to take the situation into account. ex. if women defeats man in athletic event. Rather then accept stereotype de-confirming behaviour at face value, people take situation into account ex. random luck or ulterior motives. This allows perceivers to maintain their stereotypes.

Contagion of racial bias

When white student sees another white student demonstrating racial negative attitudes to a black student, they are more likely to do the same. This is not the case if the white student was targeting a white student or if the white student was saying positive things to the black student. It is as if the student "caught" the disease from exposure t the subtly prejudiced behaviour of the fellow student.

Dilemma women phase about portraying masculine stereotypes to get a job

Women vying for jobs and career advancements face a dilemma. Often seen as more competent if they present themselves with stereotypically masculine traits, however, this results in them being perceived as less socially skilled and attractive, which could ultimately cost them the career advancement they were seeking. Women and men are often judged more harshly for mistakes made on jobs traditionally held by the opposite sex.

Identity fusion

a strong sense of "oneness" and shared identity with a group and its individual members. Motivates helpful behaviour to the group even in the risk of personal sacrifice. When we feel threatened we feel even more motivated to reaffirm out identification and closeness with our in group as it makes us feel safe and secure.

illusory correlation

a tendency for people to overestimate the link between variables that are only slight or not at all correlated. Stereotypes can be reinforced by illusory correlations. ex. people read about criminal acts, most of which are committed by members of majority group (whites) and some committed by a minority group (blacks) . People will overestimate the association between the minors group and the criminal behaviour (rare group with rare behaviour). This can create and perpetuate negative stereotypes. This is an example of over estimating association between two relatively rare variables. Another type of illusory correlation is overestimating connection between variables they already assume go together. ex. if someone perceives a women as a bad driver and then see 100 women and 100 men drive and 10% of both crash, they overestimate number of women who crashed and underestimate men.

Social Role Theory

although the perception of sex differences may be based on some real differences, it is magnified by the unequal social roles men and women occupy. This involves 3 steps. 1. biological and social factors have resulted in division of labor between sexes, both at home and at work (ex. women take care of children and men do construction work around the house). 2. since people behave in ways that fit there roles, men are more likely to yield social, economic and physical power. 3. these behavioural differences provide continuing bases for social perception leading us to perceive men as dominant and women as nurturing by nature (however really just reflects the different roles they play). In summary, unequal distribution of men and women in social roles have resulted in sex stereotypes. We assume behavioural differences between men and women arise from gender but in reality they arise from social roles.

glass ceiling effect

an invisible barrier limiting career advancement of women and minorities. Even when men and women have comparable jobs, the women are often paid less than male counterparts and glass ceiling makes it difficult to rise to highest positions of power in business.

Stereotypes

beliefs or associations that link whole groups of people with certain traits or characteristics. Think associations and beliefs

Realistic Conflict Theory

direct competition for valuable but limited resources breeds hostility between groups. Lets say two groups fight for the same land and one wins, the losing group becomes frustrated and resentful and wining group feels protective and threatened. Likely this has lead to large amount o prejudice int eh world.

Evolutionary role of in groups and out groups

early humans survived by forming small groups similar to each other. Fundamental motive to protect in group and be suspicious of out group When peoples basic motivations of self-protection are activated (in threatening situation) people are more prone to exhibit prejudice against out groups. This also explains why we feel connection and solidarity with in groups, chances our feeling of control and meaning.

Micro aggression

everyday and subtle but hurtful forms of discrimination that are experienced frequently by targeted groups

Polyculture approach

focus on the ways that racial and ethnic groups have interacted and influenced each others cultures throughout history. Very effective in promotive positive intergroup relations.

Outgroups

groups with which an individual does not feel a sense of membership, belonging, or identity. We see people in fundamentally different way depending on if we consider them as part of ingroup or outgroup

ingroups

groups with which an individual feels a sense of membership, belonging, and identity. ex. country, religion, political party, hometown sports team.

Self-regulation of prejudiced response model

internally motivated individuals may lear to control their prejudice more effectively over time. People who are truly motivated to be fair and unprejudiced are often confronted with sad reality they have failed to live up to goal which leads to guilt. These leads to them developing expertise at recognizing situations that trigger these failures and can therefore exert more controls. They can begin to interrupt was used to be automatic stereotype activation.

extended contact effect (indirect contact effect)

knowing that an ingroup friend has a good and close relationship with a member of an outgroup can produce positive intergroup benefits in ways similar to direct contact. It is because ti reduces ignorance and anxiety about out-group members and provides individuals with positive examples out out group members.

stereotype content model

many group stereotypes vary along two dimensions: warmth and competence. Groups can be low on both, high on both, or low and high on both. Ex. old people high on warmth and low on competence. Competence based on the status of that group in society. Warmth is based on perceived competition within the group. Greater competition perceived with lower warmth. Women climbing social later is seen as less warm but more competence

Reducing stereotype threat

negative effects f stereotype threat can often be significantly reduced or eliminated by minor but very important changes. Important that individuals feel a sense of trust and safety in the situation. They feel they don't have to be concerned with unfairness and they are not the target of others low expectations.

Prejudice

negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group. Think feelings

subtyping

often when we see stereotype de-confirming behaviour that cannot be explained away by the situation, we use sub typing. This means we tell ourselves this individual is an exception to the rule rather than just developing a more diversified view of females in general we say this particular women is a cutthroat women. Existing image of women remains relatively intact.

Jackie Robinson (1947)

one of the most successful demonstrations of desegregation when Jackie Robinson played for Brooklyn Dodgers and became first black person to break color barrier in major American sport. This came because the owner of the dodgers, Branch Rickey, felt integration was good for the game and the moral thing to do. Rickey knew about contact hypothesis and was assured by social scientists the team had the right conditions to make it work. Although Robinson did face a great deal of racism, he endured and baseball was integrated.

Aversive racism

one of the theories of modern racism. Ambivalence between individuals sincerely fair minded attitudes and beliefs and yet at the same time unconscious and unrecognized prejudicial feelings and beliefs.

Ambivalent sexism

overall stereotypes of women tend to be more positive than those of men. However positive stereotypes of women re less valued in work domains. Ambivalent sexism consists of two elements: hostile sexism which is negative and resentful of women abilities, values and challenge to men's power. Also consists of benevolent sexism characterized by chivalrous feelings that women need and deserve to be protected. Although benevolent sexism doesn't seem very bad, it is positive correlated with hostile sexism. People who believe in benevolent sexism also display hostile sexism when women defy traditional gender roes.

Genetics of race

people assume there is a clear genetic basis for classifying people by race. However in reality there is more genetic variation within races than between them. Race is more of a social conception than a genetic reality. For example, early twentieth century Americans considered Irish people to be their own race but today this thinking is rare.

terror management theory

people cope with fear of their own death by constructing world views that help preserve their self esteem and important values. ex. people created religion to cope with fear of mortality. Favouring in group over out groups is an important way to preserve cultural world view and try to attain a kind of immortality.

Why does outgroup homoegeneity effect occur?

people have less personal contact and familiarity with individual members of out groups. The more familiar people are with an out group, the less likely they are to perceive them as homogenous. People often do not experience a representative sample of the outgroup, but only know a few. Experiments found people interpreted faces more holistically if they were told strange face goes to their university vs rival university. Effects of in-group/out group labeling can even override the effects of racial biases.

Acting colour-blind

people often try to act as if race is unimportant to them they don't even notice it and do not care about it. Often this is sincere but intentions back fire and make members of racial minority feel even more uncomfortable. A multicultural approach that acknowledged and positively values racial and ethnic differences if often more effective in promoting better intergroup attitudes and behaviours.

Social dominance orientation

people with a desire to see their in-group as dominant over other groups and tend to support cultural values that contribute to the oppression of other groups. "if certain groups stayed in their place, we would have fewer problems"

Sexism

prejudice and discrimination based on person's gender or as institutional and cultural practices that promote the domination of one gender over another.

Racism

prejudice and discrimination based on racial background. At individual level people can be racist towards others.

common ingroup identity model (2010)

proposes that if members of different groups recategorize themselves as members of a more inclusive superordinate group then in-group attitudes and relations can improve. Instead of they, students become we and a common in-group identity among all of them can be formed.

system justification theory

proposes that people are motivated to defend and justify the existing social, political, and economic conditions. These beliefs protect the status quo. In this model, even disadvantaged groups think the system is fair and just, may even show out group favouritism for people that thrive in the system

Modern Racism

subtle form of prejudice that tends to surface when it is safe, socially acceptable or easy to rationalize. More subtle than what some call old-fashioned racism (ex. racial taunting) and likely present under a cloud of ambiguity. Subtle and often unconscious prejudice and discrimination.

Stereotype Threat

the experience of concern about being evaluated based on negative stereotypes about one's group. Can be particularly threatening for individuals who identify and self-esteem are invested in domains where the stereotype is relevant. Stereotype threat plays a crucial role in influencing the intellectual performance of stereotypes group members. Ex. Black and white student both due bad on first test of the year, but black student worries she will be perceived with negative stereotypes. This can induce anxiety and distraction, even if student doesn't believe the stereotype and impair performance. If student continues to feel this threat often, the situation may becoming threatening to self-esteem. To buffer against threat to self-esteem, the student by dis-identify with school. Academic performance will become less important to identify, she will then work less hard and perform worse. For person to be affected by stereotype threat, they do not need to believe the stereotype.

relative deprivation

the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself -> leads to people become resentful of other groups. Ex. what matters is not how big my house is, but how big it is relative to my neighbours house. Absolute or actual resources don't matter, perceived resource disparities lead to conflict.

Socialization

the process by which people learn the norms, rules and information of a culture or group. We learn large amount of information without realizing it by absorbing what we see around us in our culture, family and groups. This results in us learning stereotypes, prejudices and which groups are valued or devalued in society.

discrimination

think behaviour. Negative behaviours directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group. Note: stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination can operate some what independently but often influence and reinforce each other.

outgroup homoegeneity effect

we exaggerate the differences between our in-group and other out-groups. This exaggerations leads to the reinforcement of stereotypes. We assume there is greater similarity among members of the same out group. There are many differences among "us" however "they" are all alike. Ex. people from china vs Korea vs Japan see themselves as very different but we see them all as asian. Furthermore, people are less accurate in distinguishing and recognizing faces of members of racial out-groups than in-groups.

subliminal presentation and stereotypes

when information is presented so quickly that perceiver do not realize they have been exposed to it. Study presented words associated with black people such as Africa, ghetto and basketball subliminally. This activated the African American stereotype and they then interpreted another persons behaviour as more negative and hostile. What is most important is participants did not need to consciously believe the stereotypes. Peoples very quick judgments can be influenced by stereotypes even if they don't believe them to be true. Stereotypes can be activated implicitly and automatically and influence subsequent thoughts, feelings and behaviours even if person has low prejudice levels.

Objectification

when someone is treated as a body or an object as opposed to fully functioning human being. Women are often portrayed as sexual objects in advertising and popular media. Also happens in real life, like being sexually harassed on public transport. Leads to negative impacts on mental, physical health, academic performance and social interactions. Objectification happens to men as well but less frequently.

self-fulfilling prophecy

when stereotypes group members are led to actually behave in stereotype confirming ways. Self-fulfilling prophecy is when perceivers false expectations about a person cause the person to behave in a way that confirm expectations. ex. when white person interviews black person, they tend to sit further away, make more speech errors and hold shorter interviews. This then leads the black person to act more nervously and awkward. Racial stereotypes of white person hurt the interview performance of the black person. Since black person interview was objectively worse than white person, it confirms the white persons stereotypes