Social Psychology David Myers 11 e Chapter 9

Social Psychology David Myers 11 e Chapter 9 Prejudice 1

Racism / Racist (definition) 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others. 2. a policy, system of government, etc. , based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. 2

Discrimination (defined) 1. an act or instance of discriminating, or of making a distinction. 2. treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: racial and religious intolerance and discrimination. 3. the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment: She chose the colors with great discrimination. 4. Archaic. something that serves to differentiate. 3

Chapter Nine Prejudice: Disliking Others Defined: 1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. 3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding an ethnic, racial, social, or religious group 4

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Defining Prejudice Discrimination Unjustified negative behavior toward a group or its members Racism (definition changes over time) Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given race Sexism Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given sex 5

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? (an attitude) Defining Prejudice Preconceived negative judgment of a group and its individual members Supported by stereotypes Beliefs about the personal attributes of a group of people Could a stereotype be accurate? What are some? Give examples Some examples of groups that may experience prejudice: Gender, racial, religion/atheists, overweight, sexual orientation, elderly, immigrants, Occupations? 6

Attitude components (3) Prejudice – affect positive or negative Stereotype – belief (is there some truth)? Jussim et al. , (2015) Current Directions in Psychological Science Attributing characteristics of an individual based on their group membership Positive or negative / accurate or inaccurate What are some positive stereotypes? Asians are smart/ well educated? Blacks are naturally better at learning to play jazz? We need them to negotiate a complex world Why? “accuracy dominates bias” (90 % correct) Discrimination – behavior –acting on a belief/affect 7

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Prejudice: Implicit and Explicit Dual attitude system Explicit Conscious (central channel) Implicit Automatic (peripheral channel) Implicit Associations Test (IAT) Try it out – (click here) See also Moskovitch, M. (2016) Human Neuropsychology & Cognitive Science Lab Psychology’s favorite too is not up to the job 8

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Racial Prejudice Is racial prejudice disappearing? 9

Racial prejudice Is there a difference between? A preference for Will always vote for A preference not for Will always vote against What percent of Blacks voted for Obama in 2012? 95% - report most exit polls What percent of women will vote for Hillary? 10

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Racial Prejudice and discrimination Subtle forms of prejudice Labor market discrimination Patronization Avoiding criticisms Overpraising accomplishments 11

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Racial Prejudice Automatic prejudice Involves primitive regions of the brain associated with fear (amygdala) Critics note that unconscious associations may only indicate cultural assumptions, perhaps without prejudice 12

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Gender Prejudice Gender stereotypes Strong gender stereotypes exist Members of the stereotyped group accept the stereotypes Most believe that men and women are different yet equal Over time prejudice toward women has decreased as much as with blacks A favorable stereotype (most people like women more) Women’s work is not devalued 13

What Is the Nature and Power of Prejudice? Gender Prejudice Sexism: Benevolent and hostile Attitudes toward women have changed rapidly Most see women as understanding, kind, and helpful Gender discrimination Disappearing in democratic Western countries Non-Western countries gender bias is still strong 14

What Are the Social Sources of Prejudice? Social Inequalities: Unequal Status and Prejudice Social dominance orientation Motivation to have one’s group dominate other social groups Being in a dominant high-status position tends to promote this orientation and justification 15

What Are the Social Sources of Prejudice? Socialization Authoritarian personality Personality that is disposed to favor obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status Ethnocentricity Believing in the superiority of one’s own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups Dogmatic authoritarianism – on the left See “Vision of the Anointed” – by T. Sowell 16

What Are the Social Sources of Prejudice? Socialization Religion and prejudice In almost every country, leaders invoke religion to sanctify the present order Use of religion to support injustice helps explain a pair of findings concerning North American Christianity White church members express more racial prejudice than nonmembers Those professing traditional or fundamentalist Christian beliefs express more prejudice than those professing more progressive beliefs 17

What Are the Social Sources of Prejudice? Socialization Conformity If prejudice is socially accepted, many people will follow the path of least resistance and conform to the fashion If prejudice is not deeply ingrained in personality, then as fashions change and new norms evolve, prejudice can diminish 18

What Are the Social Sources of Prejudice? Institutional Supports Government Schools Magazines and newspapers Face-ism v. bodyism? Films and television 19

What Are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice? Frustration and Aggression: The Scapegoat Theory Displaced aggression Hate crimes Realistic group conflict theory Prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources 20

What Are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice? Social Identity Theory (Tajfel): Feeling Superior to Others The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I? ” that comes from our group memberships We categorize We identify We compare 21

What Are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice? Social Identity Theory: Feeling Superior to Others Ingroup bias Tendency to favor one’s own group Because of our social identifications, we conform to our group norms When our group succeeds, we feel better by identifying strongly with it More ingroup bias if part of a small group What does this say about school integration Racial mix levels? 22

What Are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice? Social Identity Theory: Feeling Superior to Others Need for status, self-regard, and belonging Terror management People’s self-protective emotional and cognitive responses when confronted with reminders of their mortality 23

What Are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice? Motivation to Avoid Prejudice Motivation to avoid prejudice can lead people to modify their thoughts an actions Self-conscious people will feel guilt and try to inhibit their prejudicial response 24

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Categorization: Classifying People into Groups Spontaneous categorization Social identity theory implies that those who feel their social identity keenly will concern themselves with correctly categorizing people as us or them Necessary for prejudice 25

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Categorization: Classifying People into Groups Perceived similarities and differences Outgroup homogeneity effect Perception of outgroup members as more similar to one another than are ingroup members Own-race bias Tendency for people to more accurately recognize faces of their own race 26

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Distinctiveness: Perceiving People Who Stand Out Distinctive people Feeds on self-consciousness Dartmouth women with “disfigured faces” - (Kleck & Strenta, ‘ 80) What did the “disfigured women” they believe about others reactions? How may this be related to “micro-aggressions”? Majority beliefs about what minorities stereotypes of them are “meta stereotypes” Stigma consciousness Person’s expectation of being victimized by prejudice or discrimination Double edged sword Live with the stress but use it as a buffer (don’t take it 27

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Distinctiveness: Perceiving People Who Stand Out Vivid cases Given limited experience with a particular social group, we recall examples of it and generalize What % of Americans are Muslim? 1%; 10%; 15%; 20% What % of people are exclusively homosexual? 1 -3%; 4 -6%; 7 -12%; 13 -25% Can prime the stereotype 28

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Distinctiveness: Perceiving People Who Stand Out Distinctive events foster illusory correlations Stereotypes assume a correlation between group membership and individuals’ presumed characteristics Attentiveness to unusual occurrences can create illusory correlations 29

What Are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice? Attribution: Is It a Just World? Group-serving bias Explaining away outgroup members’ positive behaviors; also attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions Just-world phenomenon Tendency of people to believe that the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get 30

What Are the Consequences of Prejudice? Self-Perpetuating Prejudgments Whenever a member of a group behaves as expected, we duly note the fact; our prior belief is confirmed When a member of a group behaves inconsistently with our expectation, we may interpret or explain away the behavior as due to special circumstances 31

What Are the Consequences of Prejudice? Self-Perpetuating Prejudgments Subtyping Accommodating individuals who deviate from one’s stereotype by thinking of them as “exceptions to the rule” Subgrouping Accommodating individuals who deviate from one's stereotype by forming a new stereotype about this subset of the group 32

What Are the Consequences of Prejudice? Discrimination’s Impact: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Social beliefs can be self-confirming Prejudice affects its targets 33

What Are the Consequences of Prejudice? Stereotype Threat Disruptive concern, when facing a negative stereotype, that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype 34

What Are the Consequences of Prejudice? Do Stereotypes Bias Judgments of Individuals? Yes, but people often evaluate individuals more positively than the groups they compose Strong Stereotypes Matter Stereotypes Bias Interpretations Affect how events are interpreted We evaluate people more extremely when their behavior violates our stereotypes 35