Stereotypes and Prejudice Chapter 5

What Caused the Holocaust? Pure Evil/ Psychopathology –can possibly explain Hilter’s actions, but can it explain the actions of an entire country?

What Caused the Holocaust? Social/situational factors

Hitler’s Challenge Jews were well-integrated in German society Inter-marriage rate was 50% His challenge: to get Germans to hate a well-respected and liked group in society

Hitler’s Challenge How did he succeed? –Jewish essentialism

Stereotypes Definition: beliefs that people have about individuals based on their membership in a social group

Prejudice Definition: negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group

How Do Stereotypes Form? Social categorization: we tend to sort people into groups on the basis of common attributes (e.g., race, gender); this is a cognitive process

How Do Stereotypes Form? Social categorization: we tend to sort people into groups on the basis of common attributes (e.g., race, gender) –Drawbacks: leads us to overestimate the differences between groups and underestimate the differences within groups

How Do Stereotypes Form? Ingroups versus Outgroups (cognitive process) Ingroup - group you belong to or identify with Outgroup - groups you don’t belong to or identify with “Us” versus “them”

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect Definition: tendency for social perceivers to assume there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups

Cross-Race Identification Effect

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect Why does it occur? –We have little personal contact with outgroups –We often don’t encounter a representative sample of outgroup members

How Do Stereotypes Form? “If we have come to think that the nursery and kitchen are the natural spheres of a woman, we have done so exactly as English children have come to think that a cage is the natural sphere of a parrot - because they have never seen one anywhere else” –George Bernard Shaw

How Do Stereotypes Form? Motivational approach –Because of esteem needs

Ingroup Favouritism Study Participants looked quickly at a series of dots on a slide

Ingroup Favouritism Study Participants guessed how many dots there were and were split into 2 groups: –Overestimators –Underestimators Participants allocated money to other participants (both ingroup and outgroup members)

Ingroup Favouritism Study Results Participants allocated more money to their ingroup than to members of the outgroup

Social Identity Theory People favour ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance their self-esteem Our self-esteem has 2 components: 1) personal identity 2) social identities (based on the groups we belong to) People belittle “them” in order to feel secure about “us”

Eye of the Storm Video Blue-eyed versus brown-eyed kids

Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants wrote a test and were given positive or negative feedback –Participants given negative feedback temporarily had lower self-esteem than participants given positive feedback

Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants wrote a test and were given positive or negative feedback –Participants given negative feedback temporarily had lower self-esteem than participants given positive feedback

Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants then participated in a second study in which they evaluated a job applicant –Half of the participants evaluated Maria D’Agostino (Italian) –Half of the participants evaluated Julie Goldberg (Jewish)

Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice?

Does the Expression of Prejudice Restore One’s Self-Esteem?

Summary of Study A threat to one’s self-esteem can lead to the expression of prejudice The expression of prejudice can, in turn, lead to an increase in self-esteem

Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Confirmation bias –People look for confirming evidence to support the stereotype they hold

Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Confirmation bias –People look for confirming evidence to support the stereotype they hold

Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Self-fulfilling prophecies –our expectations about others can lead us to act in ways that cause other people to behave consistently with our expectations

Why do Stereotypes Persist? Portrayal in the media –E.g., gender stereotypic portrayals of men and women –Face-ism

Telephone Game Get into groups of 6-8 First person reads the information on the sheet, then puts the sheet away Whisper the info to the person next to you The last person in the group writes down what they heard

Telephone Game Get into groups of 6-8 First person reads the information on the sheet, then puts the sheet away Whisper the info to the person next to you The last person in the group writes down what they heard

Racism Definition: prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s racial background Levels of Racism –Individual level: a given individual is racist towards another person –Institutional/cultural level: factors that unfairly give privilege to some people in society while causing discrimination against others

Racism Definition: prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s racial background Levels of Racism –Individual level: a given individual is racist towards another person –Institutional/cultural level: factors that unfairly give privilege to some people in society while causing discrimination against others

Modern Racism Definition: a form of prejudice that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, socially acceptable and easy to rationalize

Helping Study White participants worked in a group with either an African-American or a white confederate Confederate asks for help on the task Half of the participants were told that the confederate had tried really hard, the other half were told that the confederate had not tried very hard on the task Who do they help?

Helping Study Results White participants helped both the African- American and White confederate when they believed that they tried hard When they believe the confederate did not try hard, white participants helped the White confederate, but not the African- American confederate

Effects of Being Stereotyped on Stigmatized Groups Stigmatized people: individuals who, by virtue of their membership in a particular social group, or by possession of particular characteristics, are targets of negative stereotypes and are devalued in society

Stereotype Threat

Methods to Reduce Prejudice