Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Causes and Consequences 10 Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Causes and Consequences

What are Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? Prejudice – a negative learned attitude toward a group of people Discrimination – negative behaviors directed at a specific group of people

What are Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? Stereotype – a general belief about a group of people Differs from prejudice in that it can have positive or negative connotations Runs the risk of becoming prejudicial and leading to discrimination

What are Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? (continued) Racism – discrimination directed at a specific racial group Sexism – discrimination directed at a specific gender Ageism – discrimination directed at various age groups

Until the 1950s, the United States maintained a policy of racial segregation in schools and public places.

Racism Has a long and unpleasant history in the United States Racial prejudice – holding a hostile attitude toward a person due to their race

Racism (continued) Though progress has been made, racism remains a significant problem Many people still use racist humor and "laugh it off" as a joke. Do you make such jokes? Do your friends do? Is it okay with you?

Hate Groups in America. There are 932 hate groups currently operating in the United States.

Sexism Gender prejudice – treating people unequally due to their gender Gender stereotypes – people’s ideas about how men and women should behave Based on socially and culturally defined beliefs Can be formed very early in life What messages do children get about "boy" and "girl" activities?

Studies suggest that children learn traditional gender roles from a young age.

Sexism (continued) How have attitudes changed in the past 70+ years?

Sexism (continued) Sexism is not an "American" phenomenon Many cultures place very different values and expectations on men and women Ambivalent sexism – the contradiction between hostile and benevolent sexism Hostile sexism – feeling resentful and openly derogatory toward the abilities of women Benevolent sexism – when men behave in ways that appear chivalrous, but can also communicate to negative female stereotypes

How do We Measure Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? Do we have to agree with a stereotype in order to be affected by it? Stereotypes seem to be a function of automatic processing Environment plays a role Even automatic processes can be overcome with controlled processing

How do We Measure Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination How do We Measure Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? (continued) Old-fashioned racism Overt prejudice and discrimination Involves oppressive acts and feelings Modern racism Covert, subtle feelings directed toward a racial group Includes the belief that racism and discrimination no longer exist

How do We Measure Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination How do We Measure Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination? (continued) Old-fashioned sexism Overt sexism based on the belief that women are less competent Promoting traditional gender roles and different treatment of men and women Modern sexism More covert and subtle, typified by resisting policies that support women Denial that sexism still exists, and overt antagonism toward women

Covert Measures The Implicit Association Test (IAT) Students are shown pictures of different faces Positive or negative words are presented The time it takes to pair word with faces is measured Findings – people tend to have implicit negative stereotypes about those who are different than themselves

Is Prejudice on the Decline? Attitudes have clearly changed in recent decades Many forms of prejudice still exist, however, in more subtle forms Aversive racism Whites who show support for equality, but who discriminate in subtle ways They may rationalize their subtle racism

What are the Sources of Stereotyping and Prejudice? What do you think of the "Compton Cookout?" Color-blindness – is this a desirable attitude? Do we claim one belief in public and another in private?

Social Learning Many of our attitudes are formed in the home Parents are an enormous source of information and influence

Social Learning (continued) Peers (classmates, friends) also shape our attitudes Authoritarian personality – favors obedience, eschews lower status people Is contributed to by our upbringing

Cognitive Sources Social categorization Dividing people into categories based on common attributes Race, gender, other common features Do you speak "loudly" to elderly person without even thinking about it? Are we instinctively drawn to categorizing based on differences?

Cognitive Sources (continued) Social categorization Outgroup homogeneity The belief that "all of them are the same." Seeing outgroup as being very similar Seeing ingroup members as very diverse Studies show that this can occur very early in life, even in infancy May be contributed to by a lack of familiarity of the outgroup

Ingroup Favoritism The "we/us versus they/them" mentality Can lead to discriminatory behavior Robber’s Cave – the groups started with heavy ingroup favoritism Over time (with cooperation) this dissipated Social dominance orientation – group should be ordered according to worth

Attributional Biases Ultimate attribution error Explaining group behaviors in terms of internal, dispositional factors Disregarding situation constraints A more global form of the fundamental attribution error Negative outgroup behavior is used to support prejudice toward the entire group

Attributional Biases (continued) Just-world hypothesis The belief that victims of misfortune deserve what they got Allows us to see the world as predictable and fair “Blame the victim" mentality 10-20% believe rape victims are at least partially responsible for being attacked Do we do this to create the illusion that we have control of our fate?

Motivational Factors Realistic group conflict theory Groups compete for resources Ingroup favoritism and outgroup discrimination increase Robber’s Cave The groups became possessive of common areas (baseball diamond, campground)

Motivational Factors (continued) Relative deprivation Feeling unhappy because we think those in an outgroup will fare better than we will Could this be why affirmative action has so many opponents? Minimum ingroup paradigm People who are put together randomly will still form an "ingroup" mentality

Motivational Factors (continued) Being part of a minority group Can lead to greater ingroup favoritism due to a feeling of uniqueness Might explain why larger "groups" do not have their own clubs on campus It is harder to distinguish them from everyone else Status within a group can affect how we treat outgroup members Feeling a threat to the whole group can lead to enjoying another group’s failure

Moods and Emotions What kinds of emotions bring out prejudice? You might be surprised! Both good and bad moods! Good moods – we think less carefully Bad moods – we may pay too much attention to details around us Negative emotions can interfere with proper cognitive processing

Sources of Stereotyping and Prejudice Sources of Stereotyping and Prejudice. Stereotyping and prejudice originate from several different sources.

What are the Consequences of Stereotyping? The dangers of stereotyping are many Influences our perception of others Affects our behaviors Affects the behaviors of the stereotyped group Confirmation bias – remember this?

What are the Consequences of Stereotyping? (continued) Self-fulfilling prophecy “A belief that causes itself to be true" Can lead to positive or negative behaviors How might a student perform who is told that she is "excellent?" How might that same student perform if she is told she is "average?" We may inadvertently promote such outcomes based on how we interact with people

Stereotype Threat The risk of confirming a negative stereotype about oneself Similar to the self-fulfilling prophecy When we are aware of stereotypes, we might live down to them

How can We Combat Stereotyping and Prejudice? Children with Williams syndrome do not demonstrate racial bias This may be due to unusual activity in the amygdala There are four techniques that can be used to reduce stereotypes and prejudice

How can We Combat Stereotyping and Prejudice? (continued) Contact Hypothesis Increased communication between groups reduces prejudice/discrimination Equal contact between the groups is also essential

Group Interdependence Gordon Allport proposed 4 conditions to decrease prejudice Equal status between groups Institutional support for both groups Intergroup cooperation Common goals for both groups

Group Interdependence (continued) The Jigsaw Classroom (Aronson, et al., 1978) Each student serves a necessary purpose A common goal can’t be completed without each purpose being present Fosters cooperation Leads to a decrease in negativity

Group Interdependence (continued) Education It is not enough to just talk about it People have to participate in order to reduce prejudice and discrimination Motivation Motivation can reduce automatic processing that leads to prejudice It is important to make people aware of their own prejudices to create positive change Action learning: The jigsaw classroom

The Jigsaw Classroom. The jigsaw classroom technique fosters cooperation and reduces stereotyping and prejudice.