PSY 321 Dr. Sanchez Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination: Intergroup Bias

The Self-fulfilling Prophecy as a Three-Step Process

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) Teachers were told that, on the basis of an IQ test, a certain group of students was on the verge of an intellectual spurt This group of students was randomly chosen Test was bogus 8 months later, this group of Students actually outperformed others on an IQ test

Racial Profiling as a Self-fulfilling Prophecy

What is the state of intergroup bias in the U.S.? “Not everybody’s life is what they make it. Some people’s life is what other people make it.” - Alice Walker

Racism: Healthcare Black and Latino cardiac patients less likely to receive appropriate heart medicine Less likely to undergo coronary bypass surgery Less likely to receive dialysis or kidney transplant Receive lower quality basic clinical services

Racism: Hiring (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2003) Sent 5000 phantom applications to job ads in Boston & Chicago Resumes were identical, EXCEPT: RACE WAS VARIED by use of NAMES (Tamika vs Kristin; Tyrone vs Brad) Results?

Racism: Mortgage Discrimination White people are far more likely than Black people to be granted mortgage loans This effect cannot be “explained away” statistically by differences

Sexism: Pay Inequity In 2003, women who worked full-time made __ cents for every dollar a man made. Asian women: 75 cents White women: 70 cents Black women: 63 cents Native women: 57 cents Latina women: 52 cents These differences cannot be explained away….

What Is a Social Group? Two or more people perceived as having at least one of the following characteristics: Direct interactions with each other over a period of time. Joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes. A shared, common fate, identity, or set of goals.

Defining Important Terms Stereotypes: COGNITIONS/BELIEFS Prejudice: AFFECT/EMOTIONS Discrimination: BEHAVIORS

Perceiving Groups: Three Reactions

A CLASS DIVIDED Social Categorization: Jane Elliot’s Class Exercise Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes

How Stereotypes Form: In-groups vs. Out-groups We have a strong tendency to divide people into ingroups and outgroups. Benefits Consequences outgroup homogeneity effect

Why Are Out-groups Seen As Homogeneous?

Social Categorization Tajfel’s Minimal Group Paradigm Minimal Groups = categorizing persons on the basis of trivial info Ps watch a coin toss that randomly assigned them to X or W “Overestimators” vs. “Underestimators”

Social Categorization Tajfel’s Minimal Group Paradigm General Findings

Social Identity Theory

Social Identity Theory Basic Predictions: 1) Threats to SE = need for ingroup favoritism 2) Ingroup favoritism = repairs SE

Stereotypes

absent-minded reads books drinks coffee wears glasses Definitions What is a stereotype? beliefs about characteristics of group members e.g., professor absent-minded reads books drinks coffee wears glasses

Stereotype Content Warm-Competence Women Homeless People Rich The Elderly

The Stereotype Content Model (Fiske et al., 2002) Two fundamental dimensions: warmth & competence Positive Stereotypes Negative Stereotypes MIXED: Paternalistic stereotypes (high warmth/low competence) e.g., elderly, disabled people, some gender stereotypes Envious stereotypes (low warmth/high competence) Asians, Jews The 4 different combinations of warmth and competence are associated with different intergroup emotions

Stereotype Content Model (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 1999; 2002) Low competence, Low warmth -> Contempt Low competence, High warmth -> Pity High competence, Low warmth -> Envy High competence, High warmth -> Pride

How Stereotypes Survive: Illusory Correlations an overestimation of the association between variables that are only slightly or not at all correlated Confirmation Biases Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Attribution & Subtyping

Stereotype: Black men are dangerous Is it a weapon (Correll et al., 2002)? Subjects played video game (see p. 149 of text for picture) IVs: Race of target Target is holding weapon or harmless object DVs: Pushed “shoot” or “don’t shoot” button

Stereotype: Black men are dangerous Results: Subjects mistook harmless objects for guns when held by black targets In other words, subjects biases caused them to “confirm” their expectations

“White men can’t jump” Stone et al., 1997 Subjects listened to same basketball game IV: Subjects were led to believe player was black or white DV: How athletic was the player? How “court smart” was the player?

“White Men Can’t Jump”?

Stereotypes as (Sometimes) Automatic Devine (1989): We become highly aware of the contents of many stereotypes through sociocultural mechanisms. Automatic Can influence behavior even when do not consciously endorse the stereotype.

What Factors Can Influence Stereotype Activation? Cognitive Factors Cultural Factors (e.g., media and norms) Motivation (e.g., be egalitarian, restore SE) Personal Factors (High in Prejudice)

Overcoming Stereotypes Motivation to Control Prejudice for Internal Reasons Cognitive Resources (Energy & Control)

Prejudice: The emotional component Competition-based prejudice Explicit vs. Implicit prejudice

Realistic Conflict Theory The theory that hostility between groups is caused by direct competition for limited resources.

Competition for Limited Resources Realistic Conflict Theory scarce resources ------- People feel a sense of--- feeling threatened -------> prejudice and discrimination

Realistic Conflict Theory Example 1 (Hovland & Sears) cotton & lynchings in South (1882-1930) as cotton prices went down (i.e., scarce resources), number of lynchings of Black people increased Example 2 Jewish Holocaust As German economy worsened, Jewish people were scapegoated, resented, killed.

Realistic Conflict Theory Example 2 (Sherif & Colleagues)

Realistic Conflict Theory Example 2 (Sherif & Colleagues) Boy Scout Camp (Eagles vs Rattlers) Strengthened cohesiveness w/in group in first week Enhanced competition btw groups in second week Resources were source of conflict How was conflict restored????

Types of Racism Modern Racism: A form of racism that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, socially acceptable, and easy to rationalize Calling strikes by umpires Establish “moral credentials” Implicit Racism: Racism that operates unconsciously and unintentionally

Implicit Attitudes Explicit Attitudes Operate at conscious level Function in an unconscious & unintentional manner How do we measure?? Explicit Attitudes Operate at conscious level Best measured by traditional, self-report measures

How Can Implicit Racism Be Detected and Measured? Use reaction times to measure associations between race and positive/negative words Fazio et al.’s (1995) bona fide pipeline measure. see face, then respond to good/bad words Greenwald et al.’s (1998) Implicit Association Test (IAT) Pair faces with good/bad words

Facial Features and Prison Sentences

Development of Explicit vs. Implicit Racial Preferences

Sexism: Ambivalence and Double Standards in Section Two

Beyond Racism: Age, Weight, Sexuality, and Other Targets Other types of discrimination

Being Stigmatized Being persistently stereotyped, perceived as deviant, and devalued in society because of membership in a particular social group or because of a particular characteristic.

Gay Pride and Spare Change Individuals in a parking lot near a shopping center in southern England were approached by someone who politely asked, “Excuse me, can you help me please, I am short of change and need 10 pence to pay my parking fee, could you check to see if you have a 10-pence piece I could have?” Requestors wearing a T-shirt with the words “Gay Pride” on the front were significantly less likely to be offered the change than requestors wearing a blank T-shirt. Based on Hendren & Blank, 2009. c Cengage Learning

Stereotype Threat Stereotype threat is the fear that one will be reduced to a stereotype in the eyes of others. How can stereotype threat hamper academic achievement?

Stereotype Threat and Academic Performance

Stereotype Threat General Features Threat is situational Domain connected Strength varies with… About social identity  applies to many groups

Not Good at Math Good at Math Stereotypes and Multiple Identities Not Good at Math Good at Math

Remind Asian-American women of their Multiple Identities (Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady,1999) Remind Asian-American women of their Asian identity (questions about languages spoken, race, etc.) Female identity (questions about co-ed housing) Neither identity (questions about telephone service) Take a math test

Multiple Identities (Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady,1999)

Preventing Stereotype Threat (Table 5.6) Test as Nondiagnostic Informing that Group does not perform worse Think of intelligence as malleable v. fixed

Interracial Interactions- Why do all the White and Black kids sit together?* Whites Concern with being perceived as prejudiced White Ps high in implicit racism tend to experience cognitive depletion in interracial interactions Concerns and tensions influence interracial interactions and interest Blacks Concern with being treated negatively because of prejudice and being perceived stereotypically (Mendoza-Denton et al., 2002; Shelton, 2003) Concerns influence social judgments about and during interracial contact 12:40pm yes or after, no! Or we have 15 min left (Need 35 min left- 12:45pm

Interpersonal Concerns with Prejudice Whites and Blacks Harbor fear of rejection because of their group memberships Fear that out-group members will perceive them in a way that threatens their identity (Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2003)

Pluralistic Ignorance People observe others behaving similarly to themselves but believe that the same behaviors reflect different feelings and beliefs (Miller & McFarland, 1987, 1991)

Other person’s behavior Pluralistic Ignorance Own behavior Reflect fears of social exclusion Other person’s behavior Taken at face value Reflects the person’s true feelings

Divergent Attributions You enter the dining hall for dinner. You are alone because your close friends are in a review session. As you look around the dining hall for a place to sit, you notice several White (Black) students who live near you sitting together. These students also notice you. However, neither of you explicitly makes a move to sit together.

Fear of Rejection Divergent Attributions Lack of Interest How likely is that fear of being rejected because of your race would inhibit you from sitting with these students? Lack of Interest How likely is that your lack of interest in getting to know these students would inhibit you from sitting with them? Answered for self and other (counterbalanced) 7-point scale where 1 = not at all and 7 = very much

Black Participants Responses for Self and Other in Interracial Contact Black participants with a White partner – so the interracial interactions Blacks indicate that Fear of rejection is a better explanation for their inaction compared to the out-group. But lack of interest is a better explanation for the out-group’s inaction compared to my inaction. In addition, fear of rejection is a better explanation than lack of interest for the self. However, lack of interest is a better explanation than fear of rejection for the other person.

Same for White Participants Judgments If you look at Whites, you see a very similar pattern. In the interracial interaction…. Fear of rejection is a better explanation for my inaction compared to the out-group. But lack of interest is a better explanation for the out-group’s inaction compared to my inaction.

Black Participants with Black Partner But if you look at the intraracial interaction for blacks you see that the pattern doesn’t exist. Here you simply see a main effect for type of attribution.

White Participants with White Partner For the intraracial interactions for Whites, you see the main effect for type of attribution again. Whites are more likely to indicate that lack of interest explains their own and their White partner’s inaction.

Blacks and Whites Divergent Attributions Make divergent attributions for own and out-group members’ avoidance of interracial contact Interpersonal Concerns with Prejudice I’m afraid of being rejected! They lack interest in interacting! Misunderstanding occurs even before the interaction

Repeated Intergroup Contact that involves What Can We Do? Repeated Intergroup Contact that involves Individuation Common In-Group Identity (reduce us v. them)

Self-Esteem in U.S. Minority Groups From J. M. Twenge and J. Crocker, “Race and Self-Esteem: Meta-Analysis Comparing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 128, 2002, pp. 371-408.

Coping with Stigma Stigma = having an attribute that is viewed as inferior, deficient, etc. 1) attributing negative feedback to prejudice (2) comparing outcomes with those of their ingroup (3)