Social Psychology PSY450 Instructor: Briana Harvey Welcome! Social Psychology PSY450 Instructor: Briana Harvey

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Common Prejudices and Targets

Affect, Behavior, & Cognition Social Psychologists seek to understand how human beings think, act, and feel ABC Triad Affect (How people feel inside) Behavior (What people do) Cognition (What people think about)

ABC’s of Intergroup Relationships Affective component Prejudice (Racism) Behavioral component Discrimination Cognitive component Stereotyping

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Prejudice: a negative feeling toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Racism: prejudiced attitudes toward a particular race Aversive racism: simultaneously believe in equality and yet still hold negative feelings toward a race

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Discrimination Unequal treatment based on group membership Prejudice and Racism = attitude Discrimination = behavior

Sexual Harassment as Gender Discrimination Fitzgerald (1993) As many as 50% of women are sexually harassed during their academic or working lives Faley et al. (1999) U.S. Army spent $250 million in one year to deal with problems related to sexual harassment

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Stereotype Beliefs that associate groups with certain traits Subtypes Categories for people who don’t fit a general stereotype

Stereotypes What are the characteristics of: A typical New Yorker? A typical Californian? A typical white male? A typical “career woman” A typical “stay-at-home” mom

Stereotypes Stereotypes about racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual orientation groups are schemas.  Generalized belief about members of a group May or may not be accurate Most researchers believe it is even possible to have a schema that you don't personally believe (OTHER PEOPLE think that Group x has qualities y... but I don't)…

Three Levels of Stereotypes Public What we say to others about a group Private What we consciously think about a group, but don’t say to others Implicit (Implicit association test!) Unconscious mental associations guiding our judgments and actions without our conscious awareness Public stereotypes have decreased in North America recently (“political correctness”)

Race of Atheletes Stone et al. (1997) Radio broadcast played to participants They are shown a “photograph” of the player to be analyzed Participants rated the player better if they thought he was black

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Categorization Natural human tendency to group objects Social categorization Sorting people into groups on common characteristics

How Stereotypes Form: Social Categorization The classification of persons into groups on the basis of common attributes. Helps us form impressions quickly and use past experiences to guide new interactions. Serious drawback By categorizing people, we often: Overestimate the differences between groups Underestimate the differences within groups Can bias our perceptions

Groups Outgroup members (“them”)- people who belong to a different category than we do Ingroup members (“us”)- people who belong to the same group as we do Outgroup homogeneity bias is “the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another”. “They are all alike!” “If you have seen one, you have seen all!”

Common Prejudices and Targets Most prejudice arise from external characteristics Racial prejudice (Racism) Gender prejudice (Sexism) Most people claim not to be prejudiced Behavior sometimes differs from expressed attitudes Online dating based on photo…often choose own race Assume that same race means same interests/opinions/personalities

Common Prejudices and Targets Arabs and Muslims Prejudice and discrimination increased tremendously in U.S. after September 11, 2001 EX: profiling at security gates, “No-Fly” list

History Repeats Itself Who is more likely to get harassed at the airport security check?

Common Prejudices: Homophobia

Percentage Saying “Should” * 07/16/96 Do you think homosexuals should be hired for the following occupations? 100 Salespersons Percentage Saying “Should” Doctors 50 Many still believe homosexuals should be excluded from some jobs. Elementary School Teachers 1977 1982 1989 1992 1996 YEAR *

Social Side of Sex- Roots of Anti-Gay Prejudice Both men and women are intolerant of homosexuality in their own gender Perhaps people fear being the target of sexual advances from a homosexual May fear a positive response to homosexual advances

Prejudice based on your Friends Stigma Individual’s characteristics considered socially unappealing Stigma by association Discrimination toward people associated with a stigmatized person

Why Prejudice Exists Tendency to hold stereotypes and prejudices maybe innate Predisposition to categorize by steroetypes may be natural Content of stereotypes is learned through socialization What type/strength of prejudice is based on your environment

Why Prejudice Exists Ingroup favoritism Preferential treatment or favorable attitudes toward one’s own group members Minimal group effect Ingroup favoritism occurs even when group membership was random EX: School district, branch of retail store, etc…

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Outgroup members: people who belong to a different group or category than we do. THEM Ingroup members: people who belong to the same group or category as we do US

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations Out-group homogeneity bias: the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another “They are all alike….” “We are so unique...” Eyewitnesses are more accurate identifying people of their own racial group

Who has the Weapon? A B

Us Versus Them: Groups in Competition Intergroup relations at Robber’s Cave (Sherif & Sherif, 1954) Children’s camp, random camp assignment All white, middle class, 11 year old boys Rattlers VS Eagles After one week of group competition the two groups were intensely hostile

Robber’s Cave Experiment Realistic conflict theory Competition over scarce resources leads to intergroup hostility and conflict trophies To induce cooperation, researchers introduced superordinate goals: Goals that can only be achieved through cooperation

Us Versus Them: Groups in Competition Discontinuity Effect Groups are more influenced by competition than individuals are Motivated by fear and greed

Reducing group competition Can reduce by Making group members identifiable Having people think about the long-term effects of their actions

Ignorance? The contact hypothesis Prejudice stems from ignorance Contact Hypothesis: idea that regular interaction between members of different groups reduces prejudice, providing that it occurs under favorable conditions Video: 30 days Robbers gave state park

Rationalizations for Oppression Stereotypes used to justify social inequality between races or sexes People in positions of relative power and wealth use stereotypes to explain their superiority

Stereotypes as Heuristics Stereotypes as mental shortcuts Law of least effort (Allport, 1954) Stereotypes simplify the process of thinking about other people We conserve energy and effort by using stereotypes Use information from other people versus direct experience

Why Prejudice Exists Prejudice and self-esteem My group (“I”) must be superior, therefore other groups are inferior.

Explanations of why prejudice exists Competition Ignorance Rationalizations for oppression Stereotypes as heuristics Prejudice boosts self esteem

Are stereotypes always wrong, mostly wrong, or mostly right? Swim (1994) Found that gender stereotypes were mostly accurate about the traits and the degree of difference Jussim et al (in press) Racial and ethnic differences mostly accurate Gender differences mostly accurate Judd & Park (1993) Political stereotypes were consistently inaccurate!

Are stereotypes always negative? NO! Asians are good at math and schoolwork African Americans have superior talent in sports and music Heavy men are jolly

Stereotyping for Blame Scapegoat theory Scapegoating is the practice of blaming an individual or group for a real or perceived failure of others Blame problems on outgroup, contributing to negative feelings Self-serving bias: take credit for good, blame for bad Unemployment, inflation, food shortages, the plague, and crime in the streets are all examples of ills which have been blamed on minority groups.

Motives for Overcoming Prejudice Plant & Devine’s (1998) measure Internal Motivation Based on strong inner belief that prejudice is wrong External Motivation Socially unwise to express politically incorrect opinions Dutton (1971) study of formal wear at restaurant

Impact of Prejudice on Targets Self-fulfilling prophecy Prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will come true People would come to act like the stereotypes others hold of them EX: “babyface” people tend to be more honest

Impact of Prejudice on Targets Self-defeating prophecy Prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will not come true EX: “babyface” young, low-social class boys tend to commit more crimes Trying to go against their stereotype Prove they are not babies or weak!!!

Fear that one’s behavior may confirm a stereotype that others hold Stereotype Threat Fear that one’s behavior may confirm a stereotype that others hold Spencer, Steele & Quinn (1999) Told women either: a) this test tends to have gender difference OR b) nothing Group a) women performed poorly Group b) women performed better than males Woman do worse on math tests, WHY WOULD WOMAN IN GROUP A PERFORM WORSE