Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Psychology by David G. Myers 9 th Edition Prejudice: Disliking Others

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Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Prejudice Prejudice comes in many forms-for our own group and against some other group: “northeastern liberals”, “southern hillbillies”, Arab “terrorists”, people who are short, fat, or homely, etc. Shortly after 9/11 hostilities flared up against people who appeared to be of Arab descent. What are some other prejudices? What are some of your prejudices?

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice What is prejudice? –Prejudice: a preconceived negative judgment of a group and it’s individual members Prejudice is an attitude A prejudiced person may dislike those of a particular group and may behave in a discriminatory manner. Do you think it is possible to be completely free of prejudice? –Stereotype: a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people. Stereotypes are sometimes over generalized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. Some common stereotypes according to research: –Women who keep their last name are seen as more assertive. –Research has shown that Europeans have definite ideas about other Europeans. They see Germans as hardworking, the French as pleasure-loving, the British as cool and unexcitable, Italians as amorous, and the Dutch as reliable. –Can you think of any other stereotypes? – –

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice –While prejudice in a negative attitude, discrimination is negative behavior. –Discrimination: unjustified negative behavior Racism: prejudicial attitudes/discrimination on the basis of race Sexism: prejudicial attitudes/discrimination on the basis of sex Have you ever felt that you were discriminated?

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice –Prejudice: Subtle and overt We may have explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) attitudes which cause us to be prejudiced. You may essentially not know you are behaving in a prejudiced way.

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice Racial Prejudice –To a molecular biologist skin color is simply one miniscule genetic difference. It seems to be a bigger issue to people. It is people, not nature, who labels Tiger Woods as African-American, despite the fact that he is 25% African American, 25% Thai, 25% Chinese, 1/8 th Native American, and 1/8 th Dutch. –44% of Americans think their peers are prejudiced, but only 14% admitted to being prejudiced. –Is racial prejudice disappearing? –Subtle forms of prejudice Prejudice and discrimination sometimes surface when people can hide behind the screen of some other motive Behavior can also be biased. In a study, it was noted that when negotiating a price for a new car, men where offered lower prices than women. Individuals with white names (Greg, Emily) received one call back for every 10 resumes sent, whereas individuals with “black’ names (Jamal, Lakisha) received 1 call for every 15 resumes sent. Minorities are sometimes over praised or over criticized. When given a poorly written essay and told it was written by a black student, college students rated it higher than when told it was written by a White student. –Automatic prejudice: We at times have automatic reactions to certain groups.

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Nature and Power of Prejudice Gender Prejudice –Gender stereotypes: Appear to be stronger than racial stereotypes –Sexism: Benevolent and hostile In 1937 only 1/3 stated they would vote for a qualified woman for president. In 2006, 86% said they would. –Gender discrimination 2/3 rds of the world’s unschooled children are girls In 2003, in the US, expecting parents were surveyed revealing that 38% of parents preferred raising a boy.

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Sources of Prejudice Social inequalities –Unequal status breeds prejudice In the US, Asians, Jews, Germans, non traditional women, gay men, and assertive African Americans tend to be respected, but not liked so well. Traditionally subordinate Hispanics and African Americans, traditional women, less masculine gay men, and people with disabilities tend to be seen as less competent, but liked for their emotional, spiritual, artistic, or athletic abilities. –Social dominance orientation: a motivation to have one’s group dominate other social groups.

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Sources of Prejudice Socialization: children have racial attitudes that reflect those of their parents. –Authoritarian personality: more likely to be prejudiced –Religion and prejudice: prejudice towards non members or specific groups –Conformity: if prejudice is socially accepted, many will follow the path of least resistance and conform. Institutional supports: social institutions may bolster prejudice through certain overt policies –In the 1970’s many banks denied loans to unmarried women and minorities. –In stories read at school, girls are usually portrayed as the weaker sex.

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Motivational Sources of Prejudice Frustration and aggression: The scapegoat theory –Frustration can lead to displaced aggression or blaming a particular group. Social identity theory: Feeling superior to others –Humans cheer for their group, kill for their group, and die for their group. –Our self concept contains what group we are part of. –We associate our self with certain groups and gain self-esteem by doing this and we compare our group with other groups. –Ingroup bias: you are biased towards your group. –Need for status, self-regard, and belonging Motivation to avoid prejudice

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Motivational Sources of Prejudice

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Sources of Prejudice Categorization: Classifying people into groups –Ethnicity and sex are powerful ways of categorizing people into groups. –We see people in groups as similar to each other For example, Latinos are sometimes lumped together, forgetting important differences

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Sources of Prejudice Distinctiveness: Perceiving people who stand out –Distinctive people: When you are the only one of your particular ethnicity you may stand out and get more attention. People tend to pay more attention when something is out of the ordinary. Distinctiveness may make you feel self conscious Has this ever happened to you? –Stigma consciousness: a person’s expectation of being victimized by prejudice or discrimination How people think other’s will stereotype them

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Sources of Prejudice Attribution: Is it a just world? –Group-serving bias: When explaining acts committed by a member of another group, we are usually biased. If someone in our group refuses to make a donation, we may say they are going through a rough time. If someone from another group refuses to donate we say they are cheap. –The just-world phenomenon: the tendency for people to think the world is just and people get what they deserve. We see someone being victimized and say they deserve it/ –Example: battered women

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Consequences of Prejudice Self-perpetuating stereotypes: –We all make judgments –Whenever a member of a group behaves as expected we note it as confirmation. –Perhaps you remember a time when you could not change someone’s opinion of you. When no matter what you did, you were misinterpreted. Misinterpretations are likely when someone expects an unpleasant encounter with you. Discrimination’s impact: The self-fulfilling prophecy Stereotype threat: –When you feel people expect you to perform poorly, you may become anxious and do worse Do stereotypes bias judgments of individuals?

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The Consequences of Prejudice

Prejudice: Disliking Others Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Prejudice & Discrimination What are some of your prejudices? How did they come about? jfQUghttp:// jfQUg