Chapter 11: Stereotyping,

Prejudice, and Discrimination

Social Psychology by Tom Giliovich, Dacher Keltner, and Richard Nisbett

Characterizing Intergroup Bias

Stereotypes - beliefs about attributes that are thought to be characteristic of members of particular groups

Prejudice - a negative attitude or affective response toward a certain group and its individual members
Discrimination - unfair treatment of members of a particular group based on their membership in that group

Sources of Prejudice

Social Sources

Unequal Status Social Identity Stereotypes Perceived Similarities and Differences Illusory Correlation

Cognitive Sources

Social Sources of Prejudice

Unequal Status

realistic conflict theory - direct competition between groups over valued resources (jobs, schools)

Robbers Cave Experiment Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Racial Violence and Economic Conditions

250
210 201

Number of Lynchings

200 150
114 127 100 64 64 38 11 21

100 50 0

1882 1884 1890 1893 1906 1908 1917 1921 1927 1930 Years

Frustration During Exercise

7 6
Frustration
Mammal Bird Fish

4.75

5 3.33 4 3 1.33 2 1

Back

Social Sources of Prejudice

Social Identity

social categorization- divide world into in-group (us) and out-group (them)

in-group bias- view own group more favorably

Bele: You're finished Lokai. Oh, we got your kind penned in on Cheron in a little district. And it's not going to change. You half-white. Lokai: You half-black.

In-Group Bias from Exercise

5 4
Positivity
3.65 3.33

Mammals

Birds
3.87

Fish

3.75

3 2 1

2.90 2.4 1.77 2.4 1.6

Mammals

Birds
Raters

Fish

Cognitive Sources of Prejudice

prejudice is by-product of our thinking processes stereotypes- sweeping generalizations of social groups influence social thought by:

process information consistent with stereotype quicker focus on information consistent with stereotype use tacit inferences to make inconsistent information appear consistent

Cognitive Sources of Prejudice

out-group homogeneity

out-group members seen as more alike

in-group differentiation

in-group members seen as more diverse (heterogeneous)

overestimating rates of negative behavior in minority groups

illusory correlations

Out-Group Homogeneity
Mammal Bird Fish

Variation if Positivity Ratings of Mammals

1.5 1 0.5 0

1.3 0.94 0.99

Discrimination
Discrimination- negative behaviors directed toward members of some social group subtle forms

tokenism- perform trivial actions for minorities reverse discrimination- leaning over backwards to treat targets of prejudice favorably modern racism

Characterizing Intergroup Bias

1. Modern Racism and Sexism
Modern racism - prejudice directed at other racial groups that exists alongside a rejection of explicitly racist beliefs a. Benevolent Racism and Sexism

Characterizing Intergroup Bias

2. Measures to Assess True Attitudes a. Implicit Association Test (IAT)
technique for revealing unconscious prejudices toward particular groups b. Priming and Implicit Prejudice

Priming - procedure used to increase the accessibility of a concept or schema (for example, a stereotype)

Implicit Attitudes

Are automatically activated evaluations outside of a persons awareness (unconscious)

Formed slowly through experience Very resistant to extinction

Changing implicit attitudes

Can be changed without subjects conscious awareness

Prime subjects with counterstereotypes

Being a Member of a Stigmatized Group

1. Attributional Ambiguity 2. Stereotype Threat - fear that one will confirm the stereotypes that others have regarding some salient group of which one is a member

Reducing Prejudice

Social Learning

teach parents to socialize children to be tolerant contact must involve cooperation and interdependence norms favoring group equality must exist focus on individual-based (vs. category) processing knowing that members of in-group have formed friendships with out-group members may reduce prejudice

Increase intergroup contact

Extended Contact Hypothesis

Reducing Prejudice (cont)

Have groups work on superordinate goals Focus on similarities between in-group and nonthreatening out-group Recategorization

reset boundaries between us and them, so former out-group is now included in in-group

Focus on others specific traits and outcomes (attribute-driven processing) rather than on group stereotypes (category-driven processing)

Study Smarter: Student Website

http://www.wwnorton.com/socialpsych

Chapter Reviews Diagnostic Quizzes Vocabulary Flashcards Apply It! Exercises