Psychology 5.4

Out-group Derogation

The tendency to put down other groups and treat them unfairly. e.g. Full-time employees in an office treat temporary workers negatively and unfairly

In-group Solidarity

The tendency for people within a group to trust, help, and understand each other.

In-group Bias

The tendency to favor and feel positively toward one's own social group. e.g. Veronica tends to favor her social group of Anglo friends

Scapegoat Theory

The tendency to find a group on which to blame problems in order to divert attention away from one's own failings. e.g. Joe blames his job loss on illegal immigrants.

Robbers Cave Experiment

A study by Muzafer Sherif in 1954 at Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma in which the researchers created and then resolved conflict between groups. -- [in-group solidarity] formed two groups (20 boys each) and had them bond separately, without any knowledge of each other -- [intergroup conflict] provoked intergroup conflict by putting the two groups into competitive activities (Positive attributions were given to their own group and negative attributions to the other.) -- [superordinate goals] then an "emergency situation" was created that can only be resolved with the joint efforts of both groups. -- this finally resulted in each group coming to realize that their former attitudes toward the other group were unjustified.

Stanford Prison Experiment

A study conducted by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in 1971 in which students played the roles of prisoners and guards. -- in a sense, turned out too successful -- had to be stopped after 6 days due to the "guards" becoming increasingly cruel and the "prisoners" showing signs of extreme distress

Jigsaw Classroom

Activities that require students to depend on each other in order for all students to reach a desired goal. -- developed by Muzafer Sherif and his team -- Students were first assigned to expert groups, where each member of the group had to learn one part of a lesson well. -- One student from each group was placed into a new group and the students had to rely on other members from different expert groups to each the what they needed to know -- Result: Prejudice was lost and among the Mexican-American kids, self-efficacy and self-confidence improved.

Prejudice

An unjustifiably hostile or negative attitude toward a group or its individual members. -- refers to the affective (emotional) domain -- the group shuns the individual e.g. We are predisposed to dislike the new girl because she is cute and all the boys are falling over themselves following her. Our feelings get in the way of making a thorough and accurate evaluation. ~~~ Condescending, negative attitude toward the elderly

Discrimination

An unjustifiably negative or harmful behavior toward a group or its members. -- the behavioral component -- the individual shuns the group -- our attitudes are not the best predictors of our behavior, but if we don't like certain members of a particular group of people, we are more likely to engage in behavior toward them that is unjustified. e.g. Refusing to hire a 71-year-old engineer with 40 years of experience, although he is the most qualified candidate

Intergroup Conflict

Conflict between groups.

Contact Hypothesis

Direct contact between hostile groups will reduce prejudice when the groups are fairly equal in status and there is personal interaction between group members in cooperative activities. -- tl;dr People who once hated each other will get along better if they get to know one another better // The reduction of prejudice through interaction between groups of equal status

Superordinate Goals

Goals shared by different groups that make a conflict between the two groups seem less important.

Negative Attitudes Toward Outsiders

One explanation is that we make this distinction to preserve our self-esteem. Many of us make negative attributions about the groups we're not in and try to maintain our self-esteem by glorifying the attributes of our own group. We make the social situation a case of "us" vs. "them."

Out-group Homogeneity Effect

The tendency to think that members of the out-group are all the same while failing to see them as individuals. e.g. Paulo, a Chilean immigrant, believes that all Anglos have basically the same attitudes.

Stereotyping

To force one or more stereotypes onto a person. -- Stereotype: A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people ~~~ the cognitive component of our attitudes -- a judgment about people made in our thoughts e.g. Belief that all elderly people are inefficient workers due to senility