1. Stereotypes and Prejudice Chapter 5

2. Stereotypes and Prejudice Chapter 5

3. Stereotypes Definition: beliefs that people have about individuals based on their membership in a social group

4. Prejudice Definition: negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group

5. Discrimination Definition: any negative behaviour directed at a person because of their membership in a particular group

6. Distinguishing Between Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination Stereotypes: beliefs about members of a specific group Prejudice: negative feelings towards members of a specific group Discrimination: negative behaviours directed at members of a specific group

7. How Do Stereotypes Form? Social categorization: we tend to sort people into groups on the basis of common attributes (e.g., race, gender); this is a cognitive process

8. How Do Stereotypes Form? Social categorization: we tend to sort people into groups on the basis of common attributes (e.g., race, gender) –Drawbacks: leads us to overestimate the differences between groups and underestimate the differences within groups

9. How Do Stereotypes Form? Ingroups versus Outgroups (cognitive process) Ingroup - group you belong to or identify with Outgroup - groups you don’t belong to or identify with “Us” versus “them”

10. Outgroup Homogeneity Effect Definition: tendency for social perceivers to assume there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups Study: White, African-American and Mexican-American store clerks were asked to identify a White customer, an African- American customer and a Mexican- American customer

11. Cross-Race Identification Effect

12. Outgroup Homogeneity Effect Why does it occur?

13. How Do Stereotypes Form? “If we have come to think that the nursery and kitchen are the natural spheres of a woman, we have done so exactly as English children have come to think that a cage is the natural sphere of a parrot - because they have never seen one anywhere else” –George Bernard Shaw

14. Why Do Stereotypes Persist?

15. Confirmation bias –People look for confirming evidence to support the stereotype they hold

16. Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Confirmation bias –People look for confirming evidence to support the stereotype they hold

17. Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Self-fulfilling prophecies –our expectations about others can lead us to act in ways that cause other people to behave consistently with our expectations

18. Why Do Stereotypes Persist? Self-fulfilling prophecies –our expectations about others can lead us to act in ways that cause other people to behave consistently with our expectations

19. Why do Stereotypes Persist? Portrayal in the media –E.g., gender stereotypic portrayals of men and women –Face-ism

20. Telephone Game Get into groups of 6-8 First person reads the information on the sheet, then puts the sheet away Whisper the info to the person next to you The last person in the group writes down what they heard

21. Telephone Game Did you hear the news about Paula? Final grades just came out last week Paula failed Professor Chen’s history class, passed Prof. Johnson’s math class, failed Prof. Liu’s anthropology class and passed electrical engineering. When the parents found out they were so angry. They stopped giving money for University and now who knows if Paula will be back at University next year

22. Telephone Game Did you hear the news about Donna and Aaron? They got into a huge argument last week. Donna got totally drunk and then they started talking about an affair one of them had. Aaron started to cry and then Donna got so angry. Aaron got punched in the face. There was a bruise for 3 days. Now they’re getting a divorce and who knows what will happen to the kids.

23. Prejudice Definition: negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group

24. Ingroup Favouritism Study Participants looked quickly at a series of dots on a slide

26. Ingroup Favouritism Study Participants guessed how many dots there were and were split into 2 groups: –Overestimators –Underestimators Participants allocated money to other participants (both ingroup and outgroup members)

27. Ingroup Favouritism Study Results Participants allocated more money to their ingroup than to members of the outgroup

28. Social Identity Theory People favour ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance their self-esteem Our self-esteem has 2 components: 1) personal identity 2) social identities (based on the groups we belong to) People belittle “them” in order to feel secure about “us”

29. Eye of the Storm Video Blue-eyed versus brown-eyed kids

30. Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants wrote a test and were given positive or negative feedback –Participants given negative feedback temporarily had lower self-esteem than participants given positive feedback

31. Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants wrote a test and were given positive or negative feedback –Participants given negative feedback temporarily had lower self-esteem than participants given positive feedback

32. Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice? Participants then participated in a second study in which they evaluated a job applicant –Half of the participants evaluated Maria D’Agostino (Italian) –Half of the participants evaluated Julie Goldberg (Jewish)

33. Does a Threat to One’s Self-Esteem Lead to an Increase in Prejudice?

34. Does the Expression of Prejudice Restore One’s Self-Esteem?

35. Summary of Study A threat to one’s self-esteem can lead to the expression of prejudice The expression of prejudice can, in turn, lead to an increase in self-esteem

36. Why are People Prejudiced Towards Others? To restore/maintain self-esteem To maintain the status quo

37. Why are People Prejudiced Towards Others? To restore/maintain self-esteem To maintain the status quo Because of competition for limited resources

38. Racism Definition: prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s racial background Levels of Racism –Individual level: a given individual is racist towards another person –Institutional/cultural level: factors that unfairly give privilege to some people in society while causing discrimination against others

39. Racism Definition: prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s racial background Levels of Racism –Individual level: a given individual is racist towards another person –Institutional/cultural level: factors that unfairly give privilege to some people in society while causing discrimination against others

40. Modern Racism Definition: a form of prejudice that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, socially acceptable and easy to rationalize

41. Helping Study White participants worked in a group with either an African-American or a white confederate Confederate asks for help on the task Half of the participants were told that the confederate had tried really hard, the other half were told that the confederate had not tried very hard on the task Who do they help?

42. Helping Study Results White participants helped both the African- American and White confederate when they believed that they tried hard When they believe the confederate did not try hard, white participants helped the White confederate, but not the African- American confederate

43. Methods to Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination

44. Contact hypothesis: the theory that direct contact between hostile groups will reduce prejudice Reasoning behind the desegregation of schools in the 1950s

45. Conditions for the Contact Hypothesis to Succeed 1) Equal status contact

46. Conditions for the Contact Hypothesis to Succeed 1) Equal status contact 2) Personal interaction

47. Conditions for the Contact Hypothesis to Succeed 1) Equal status contact 2) Personal interaction 3) Cooperative activities

48. Conditions for the Contact Hypothesis to Succeed 1) Equal status contact 2) Personal interaction 3) Cooperative activities

49. Conditions for the Contact Hypothesis to Succeed 1) Equal status contact 2) Personal interaction 3) Cooperative activities 4) Social norms

50. Robber’s Cave Study Summer camp for boys Boys were split into two groups: the Eagles and the Rattlers The groups competed against one another in a series of games The winner of the competition was rewarded with big prizes Eagles and Rattlers hated each other

51. Robber’s Cave Study How could peace be restored?

52. Robber’s Cave Study How could peace be restored?