Stereotypes Prejudice and Discrimination

Protestant Work Ethic (PWE)

"Religion" of Americans- the more you put in, the more you get out; those who work hard are rewarded (deserve more).

Race

*Perceptions* of classifications of humans based on phenotypic traits.

"IQ is (related/synonymous?) to intelligence."

*Related* Also to school performance, job performance, income, criminality, athletic performance, etc.

Roots of Physical differences between "races"

-Environment (solar radiation, cold/heat, etc.) -Random effects (genetic drift) -Local preferences (reinforce particular phenotypes)

Prejudice (definition)

A prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a particular group.

Stereotype (definition)

A stereotype is an oversimplified and generalized idea about a particular type of person or thing.

Interpretation of Hamilton's Rule (c<rb)

Altruistic behavior evolves if the cost to the actor is less than the benefit of the recipient, scaled to the coefficient of relatedness.

Redlining

Bankers or policy makers limiting loans/opportunities in particular districts because of their ethnic make-up.

Altruism

Behavior that benefits another individual at a cost to oneself.

Symbolic Racism

Belief that Black Americans should be more self-reliant, but are not. American values + Racial Animus

Ingroup Altruism/Favoritism

Evolution may have created- Ingroup can be trusted (altruism may be repaid, cheaters can be sanctioned)

Moralistic Fallacy

Implies that because something 'ought to' be, we make the assumption that it 'is' in fact the case. ex| Opportunity aligns with the values of the USA- it *ought to be* available to everyone and we assume that it is.

Naturalistic Fallacy

Implies what 'is', is so because it 'ought to' be. ex| Slavery or male dominance- those groups were made to be masters and it should be that they dominate others.

Kin Group Discrimination Cues

Mechanisms that we may have relied on in evolution to recognize relatives- similarities. -proximity/familiarity -phenotypic similarity (skin color, physical features, hair type) -similar odor

Differences in IQ (Nature/Nurture?)

Mostly environment ("nurture")

Discrimination (definition)

The behavioral manifestation of the prejudiced attitudes one holds.

Discrimination (example)

Tom dismisses a female applicant solely as a result of her gender.

Stereotype (example)

Tom thinks all women are incompetent.

Prejudice (example)

Tom thinks men would do better work at his company than women.

Truth of PWE

Truer for some groups than others. Rich can put in less effort to get just as rich as middle class who put in more work. We infer if someone is poorer than another, they must have put in less work.

Hamilton's Rule

c<rb c= cost to the actor, r=relatedness (probability of shared genes), b=benefit to the recipient (see interpretation)

Gains in Trade

net benefits from an increase in voluntary trading ex| everyone gets a piece of a variety of candy (skittles, dumdums, smarties, snickers, etc.) Some happier than others. Total happiness=h. When allowed to voluntarily trade with others, h increases- no one gets less happy, only more b/c its voluntary.

Coefficients of relatedness

r=(1/2)^n where n is the number of steps in genealogy. Sibling=(1/2)^1=.5 Aunt=(1/2)^2=(1/2)(1/2)=.25

Yale Baby Lab

studied preferences in food, morality, and social groups demonstrating babies' discriminating behaviors. Conducted by Wynn and Bloom.