International Relations Institute Moldova The Role of Prejudice Lynn W. Zimmerman, PhD Fulbright Scholar International Relations Institute Moldova Chisinau, Moldova Lynn.Zimmerman@trainingexpress.es

Intergroup Attitudes Attitudes Influence how we respond toward objects or people Cognitive – ideas, beliefs Affective - emotional reactions to the person or thing

Uses of Intergroup Attitudes (Katz, 1960): Negative intergroup attitudes can have two consequences: “Increase our confidence in predicting strangers’ behavior, but they also decrease the accuracy of our predictions” (p. 137) “lead to anxiety in interacting with strangers” (p. 137)

Matching ethnocentrism Judging all groups according to your own group’s values cultural relativism The ability to understand the behavior of others within the context of their culture prejudice An attitude and an emotional reaction based on a stereotype which can lead to discrimination discrimination Biased behavior toward and treatment of someone or a group xenophobia Fear of strangers/foreigners racism Prejudice based on race sexism Prejudice based on sex/gender ageism Prejudice based on age anti-Semitism Prejudice against Semitic peoples, specifically Jews

Ethnocentrism Judge all groups according to own values Related to nationalism Can lead to ideas of superiority anxiety about interacting with strangers “Can have positive functions for the ingroup, but it consequences for outgroups tend to be negative” (p. 139)

Crash What evidence of ethnocentrism, and even xenophobia, do you see?

Some Functions of Ethnocentrism (Rosenblatt, 1964) Nationalism/ethnocentrism can help maintain ingroup integrity (Rosenblatt, 1964) High levels of ethnocentrism can be Functional Dysfunctional Misperception of outgroups – everyone in group will hold these views and be reinforced

Cultural Relativism Ability to understand the behavior of others within the context of their culture Requires openness to other cultures knowledge about them

Prejudice An attitude based on a stereotype which can lead to discrimination  Can be an attitude and an emotion. Attitude – develops from negative stereotypes Emotional – appraisal that someone is being unfairly treated at our expense Often a resistance to and an inability to deal with strangers

Dimensions of Prejudice “We are all prejudiced to some degree” (p. 143) Related to our perception of how to treat strangers Racism Anti-Semitism Anti-gay/homophobia Ageism Sexism If people are not highly prejudiced they will change their prejudgment based on info “highly prejudiced people tend to alter their beliefs to justify their attitudes when confronted with contradictory information” (p. 145)

Explaining prejudice - Katz (1960) Utilitarian – related to in-group/outgroup Ego-defensive – blaming others Value-expressive – negative feelings just because the other is different Knowledge – helps us organize our world The window for change When someone person learns something new about other and is open to changing.

Prejudice and Discrimination Discrimination – behavior and how someone is treated  Strangers tend to believe that discriminatory behavior is directed at their group, not just at them individually. Overt prejudice (Stephan & Stephan, 1996) A result of perceived threats Negative stereotypes of strangers Affected by: Amount of previous experience/prior contact with this group How positive that contact was or is Status inequality- May be unequal status Strength of identification with ingroup Lack of knowledge = higher anxiety – inability to predict

Covert prejudice Internalized prejudicial attitudes Conflict between what we think we should believe and behave, and how we do (Myrdahl) Positive and negative feelings Two dimensions to prejudice negative attitudes about outgroups lack of positive attitude toward them

Prejudice & Communication Prejudice affects intergroup communication Stereotyping Hate speech Derogatory terms Discriminatory attitudes Media contribute by consistently showing stereotyped images

Responding to ethnocentrism and prejudice Expressing our views, either positive or negative, influences those around us. We are also influenced by their expressing their views. Beliefs won’t necessarily change, but the willingness to express them does.  How do we react? To take a moral stand also means to speak up. Silence = condoning

Aspen Declaration of Character Education Respect Responsibility Trustworthiness Caring Justice and fairness Civic virtue and citizenship

Changing our expectations of strangers Can prejudices and stereotypes change? Our interactions with strangers can influence change. Make a conscious effort Can change how you feel toward another group as a whole Increased contact is important in this process.

References Gudykunst, W.B. & Kim, Y.Y. (2003). Communicating with strangers: An approach to intercultural communication. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw- Hill.