1. Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behavior.
Two parts to the question:
What are stereotypes (formation & research)
How does it impact behavior? (attitude, prejudice, discrimination)

2. Attitude Definition Three Main elements
Predisposition to respond in particular ways toward specific things
Three Main elements
Belief or opinion about something
Feelings about that thing
A tendency to act toward that thing in certain ways

3. Where do attitudes come from?
Conditioning
Cognitive evaluation
Heuristic: Mental shortcut (no personal evidence)
Evaluate the topics (evidence)
Other Sources
Culture
Parents
Peers

4. Cognitive Evaluation

5. Why do we have attitudes?
evaluate our own beliefs and values to define ourselves.
Develop a self-concept, personal identity
interpret the objects and events we encounter.
determine how to act in given situations.

8. Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Belief, prediction, or expectation that operates to bring about its own fulfillment
Examples
Belief that people are friendly  you are friendly and open  people are friendly back (confirmation)

9. Cognitive Dissonance Definition:
Uncomfortable clash between self-image, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes or perceptions and one’s behavior
Cognitions  thoughts
Dissonance  “clashing”
RJ: Festinger & Carlsmith
Compliance & cognitive dissonance

10. How does it impact behavior?
Cognitive dissonance makes us uncomfortable
Way to diminish negative feeling…
Reject new information that contradicts beliefs
Convincing others adds proof
We convince ourselves
Adjust attitudes

11. Stereotypes
Definition: oversimplified images of people who belong to a particular social group
Top three categories:
Gender
Age
Race
Stereotypes can be positive or negative
Stereotypes are decreasing
Turned into symbolic prejudice
Prejudice that is expressed in a disguised fashion

12. FOUR Theories of Stereotypes
Social Cognitive theories
Social Identity Theory
Systems-Justification Theory
Social-Representations Theory

13. Social Cognitive Theories
We live in a complex world that has too much information
We need to simplify our social world
Social categorization
Categories  stereotypes
Stereotypes are schemas
Energy saving devices
Automatically activated
Stable and resistant to change
Affect behavior

14. Research Theory: Social-Cognitive Theory (memory and stereotypes)
Researcher: Cohen, 1981
Method: Experiment
Hypothesis: We are more likely to remember information that is consistent with stereotypes
Procedure:
Video of husband and wife at dinner
Librarian or waitress
Results:
Librarian: remember she wore glasses
Waitress: she was drinking beer

15. SIT (Social Identity Theory)
Category accentuation
Emphasize in-group similarities and out-group differences
Compare SIT with Social-cognition theory
SIT enriches social perception
SIT does not support that viewing a human as an individual is more accurate
SIT believes stereotypes are flexible

16. Research Theory: SIT on Stereotypes (flexible)
Researchers: Haslam and Turner, 1992
Method: Experiment
Hypothesis: stereotypes are flexible
Groups (Australians)
Compare Soviet Union and US
Compare Iraqis and US
Results
SU and US  US more aggressive
Iraq and US  Iraq more aggressive

17. System Justification Theory (SJT)
Jost and Banaji’s 1994 theory
Stereotypes are used to justify social and power relations in society
Rich and the poor
Powerful and the powerless
Negative Self-Stereotyping
Phenomenon of disadvantaged groups tending to internalize negative stereotypes of themselves held by others
Social-cognitive and SIT does not explain this

18. Social-Representations Theory (SRT)
Moscovici, 1984
Social representations are the shared beliefs of the society
Determined by social and cultural life
Not ineffective thinking
Reflect dominant preconceptions shared by the dominant group

19. Prejudice and Discrimination
SJT and SRT emphasize group stereotypes and their negative consequences
Prejudice
Preconceived attitude toward a person or group
Discrimination
Unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a group
NOT an individual basis

20. Prejudice & Discrimination
Preconceived attitude toward a person or group
Formed without sufficient evidence
Not easily changed
Can lead to discrimination
Discrimination
Unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a group
NOT an individual basis

21. Stereotype Threat Effect
Negative stereotypes impact performance
Individuals are asked to carry out a task and are made aware of negative stereotypes about their groups’ ability to perform
Research
Spencer et al, 1999
Telling women that males usually do better (before the test) led to a decrease in performance scores
Steel & Aronson, 1995
African Americans scored less on a difficult verbal task if they were asked to state their race before the test

22. Ethnocentrism
Belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or religion is superior to others
“us-them” thinking
Universal
Leads people to feel more attached to a group

23. Durban, South Africa 1989

24. How do prejudices develop?
1. Scapegoating
Type of displaced aggression
Blaming a person for the actions of others or conditions not of their making

25. 2. Prejudiced Personality
Authoritarian Personalities
Rigidity, inhibition, prejudice, oversimplication
Ethnocentric
Placing one’s own group at the center
Dogmatism
Unwarranted positiveness or certainty in matters of belief or opinion

26. 3. Intergroup conflict Social Stereotypes Us vs. Them
Oversimplified images of people who belong to a particular social group
Positive or Negative
Us vs. Them

27. Stereotypes in Film
Does film reflect the stereotypes in society OR does film create stereotypes

28. Experiments in Prejudice
Jane Elliot
Method: Unstructured experiment
Brown eyed, blue eyed experiment
How did she create prejudice?
Status inequalities
Differences in power, prestige, privileges

30. FOUR Theories of Stereotypes
Social Cognitive theories
Social Identity Theory
Systems-Justification Theory
Social-Representations Theory

31. Empirical Research Princenton Trilogy
Katz and Braley
Gilbert
Karlins et al
How do stereotypes impact behavior?
Darley and Gross
Steele and Aronson

32. Katz and Braley, 1933
AIM: whether traditional stereotypes had a cultural basis
Participants: 100 male Princeton students
Little contact with other ethnic groups
Procedure: choose five habits that characterized different ethnic groups
Results
Positive traits applied to own group (ingroup bias)
Majority agreement in negative traits
Implications
Stereotypes are learned through the media  cultural products

33. Gilbert, 1951 Method: survey AIM: replicate Katz and Braley, 1933
Procedure  same
Results
Less agreement about negative traits
Except Japanese (bombing of Pearl Harbor)
Unhappy about being asked to express stereotypes
Less accepted to express negative stereotypes
Still had ingroup bias
Implications: stereotypes are cultural products

34. Karlins et al, 1969 AIM: replicate other studies Results
Many objected to the task
But, greater agreement on stereotypes
Re-emergence of social stereotyping
Criticisms for Princeton Trilogy
Difference between knowledge of a stereotype and accepting it
Research doesn’t consider this

35. Darely and Gross, 1983 Method: Experiment
Hypothesis: by giving a few details, people apply stereotypes to an individual
Procedure
Videos:
Playing in a poor and rich environment (same girl)
Taking an intelligence test
Asked to predict future success
Results
Rich girl would do well, poor girl would do less well
Implications: use stereotypes to predict future success (treatment of people)

36. Steele and Aronson, 1995 Method: Experiment
AIM: to see if belief in a stereotype impacts behavior
Participants: African-Americans & European Americans (White).
Procedure: verbal performance test
Told it was…
Verbal ability
To see how problems were solved
Results
African Americans scored lower on the “verbal ability” test
Implications
If an individual believes in a stereotype, it impacts their behavior