Antisocial Relations RG 14c

Prejudice Simply called, “prejudgment,” a prejudice is an unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members – often of different cultural, ethnic or gender groups. Components of Prejudice Beliefs (stereotypes) Emotions (hostility, envy, fear) Predisposition to act (to discriminate)

Prejudice works at the conscious and [more so] the unconscious level. Reign of Prejudice Prejudice works at the conscious and [more so] the unconscious level. Thus prejudice is more like a knee-jerk response than a conscious decision in the opinion of most psychologists and sociologists. HATE

Why does prejudice arise? Causes of Prejudice Why does prejudice arise? Social Inequalities (have vs. have nots) Social Divisions/Identities Emotional Scapegoating Thought patterns…cognition

Social Identities -- In and Out Groups Ingroup: People with whom one shares a common identity…”us” Outgroup: Those perceived as different from one’s ingroup…”them” Ingroup Bias: The tendency to favor one’s own group. Michigan/Ohio State rivalry

Social Identities…Jane Elliott’s Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Experiment 3rd grade teacher wanted to show students about discrimination and prejudice in response to MLK jr. assassination So she separated her classes by eye color…giving one group privileges and special treatment and treating the other with contempt

After 9/11 many people lashed out against innocent Arab-Americans. Scapegoat Theory Prejudice provides an outlet for anger [emotion] by providing someone to blame. After 9/11 many people lashed out against innocent Arab-Americans.

Cognitive Roots of Prejudice One way we simplify our world is to categorize. We categorize people into groups by stereotyping them. Foreign sunbathers may think Balinese look alike.

Husband/Wife Story L1 L2

Cognitive Roots of Prejudice The tendency of people to believe the world is just and people get what they deserve and deserve what they get (the just-world phenomenon).

Reducing Prejudice Contact hypothesis: stereotypes and prejudice toward a group will diminish as contact with the group increases Is contact alone enough? Most research has shown that its NOT enough alone…it is part of the solution, but also need educational techniques to address social cognitions & perceptions

Aggression Aggression can be any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy whether done reactively out of hostility or proactively as a calculated means to an end. Research shows that aggressive behavior emerges from the interaction of biology and experience.

Biological Influences Genetic Influences: Animals have been bred for aggressiveness – for sport and at times for research. Twin studies show aggression may be genetic. In men, aggression is possibly linked to Y chromosome. Neural Influences: Some centers in the brain, especially the limbic system (amygdala) and the frontal lobe are intimately involved with aggression.

Biological Influences Influences Biochemical Influences: Animals with diminished amounts of testosterone (castration) become docile, and if injected with testosterone aggression increases. Prenatal exposure to testosterone also increases aggression in female hyenas.

Learning and Cultural Mechanisms When aggression leads to desired outcomes, one learns to be aggressive – seen more in individualist than collectivist cultures Cultures that favor violence breed violence. Scotch-Irish settlers in the South had more violent tendencies than their Quaker, Dutch counterparts in the Northeast of the US.

When are people aggressive?

Frustration-Aggression Principle A principle in which frustration (caused by blocking to achieve some goal) creates anger, which can generate aggression In other words, people won’t be aggressive unless they are frustrated. Most research has shown that this is a bit too simplistic and general of a theory…but do agree that the direct cause of most kinds of aggression is negative affect (emotion)

Arousal from one experience may carry over to an independent situation Excitation Transfer Arousal from one experience may carry over to an independent situation Key is…independent situation must trigger the aggression say you just got back from a 3-mile jog and your brother insults you…you are more likely to respond aggressively because body in an already heightened state

Ron Artest (Pacers) attack on Detroit Pistons. Aversive Events Studies in which animals and humans experience unpleasant events reveal that those made miserable often make others miserable. Ron Artest (Pacers) attack on Detroit Pistons.

Stressful Environments High temperatures, air pollution and noise have all been found to increase aggressive tendencies