Prejudice & Discrimination



Prejudice & Discrimination

I. Definitions

A. Stereotypes: Knowledge structures about a group. Little accepted variation. (Cognitive).

1. People often subtype a person if they don’t meet the stereotype.

B. Prejudice: Pre-judged attitudes about members of a group (Emotion/Affect).

C. Discrimination: Usually negative behavior toward someone, because of their membership in a group.

II. Causes of Prejudice

A. Cognitive Underpinnings

1. Categorization: There is evidence that children as young as 5 to 6 months recognize differences in age & gender/sex, but not race or ethnicity.

2. Illusory Correlation: The association of two things that are both rare.

a) But, why the particular associations.

i. For example, being black & being gay are both relatively rare, but we don’t associate those things.

ii. And, why usually negative things: For example, being black & being a genius are both rare. Why don’t we associate those things?

3. Out Group Homogeneity: We tend to see our in-group as heterogeneous, and our out group as homogeneous.

4. Need for Closure/Intolerance of Ambiguity: Some people are less likely to tolerate uncertainty, ambiguity, or change. These people tend to be more likely to be prejudiced.

a) The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno et al., 1950).

i. People who are prejudiced also show a generalized dislike of outgroups and minorities, as well as an excessive and uncritical patriotism. There is also a relationship to political and economic conservatism. Authoritarians show a rigid strict way of thinking, especially on moral issues. They are overdeferential to anyone who symbolizes their parents.

ii. Authoritarian personality is proposed to come from parents who use excessively harsh and sometimes arbitrary discipline to enforce moral codes. Underlying this is a feeling of repressed hostility. This is often scapegoated onto others (minority group members).

B. Socialization

1. Direct vs Indirect (Prejudice “taught” versus Prejudice “caught”).

2. Direct

a) Blacks are Bad

b) If you play with Johnny, you’ll get a spanking.

c) I would bet that very little prejudice is learned this way nowadays – at least in our society.

3. Indirect Socialization of Prejudice

a) Modeling: Observing someone’s behavior and copying it.

b) Identification: the process where we come to take on the values of our parents.

4. Who do we get our values from?

a) The research shows that there is only a mild correlation between prejudice in kids and prejudice in parents.

5. Other sources of socialization

a) Peers

i. It may be that kids – especially as they reach adolescence – are more influenced by their peer group than by their parents.

i) Kids and parents’ attitudes are more highly correlated when they are younger.

ii) The correlation between the attitudes of adolescents and their peers is very high.

1. But, remember: Correlation does not equal causation. We don’t know if this correlation comes from the fact that kids are influenced by their peers, or that kids choose (or are led to … by the neighborhoods they live in, by the people their parents associate with or let them associate with) to hang out with others who have similar values.

b) School can be another socialization source.

i. Materials in school can contain stereotypes, etc

c) The Media

i. It is a common assumption that the way different groups are shown on TV, the movies, etc is stereotyped, and leads people to accept those stereotypes as true.

i) Omission

ii) Stereotyped presentation

iii) Focus on negative aspects of the group

ii. Most of the research on this has looked at how different groups are shown in the media, and has stressed that these problems occur a lot. However, content is not the same thing as acceptance.

i) We shouldn’t automatically assume that just because the media depicts a group a certain way, that people will accept that view & become prejudiced.

iii. However, there is some evidence that the type of TV people watch correlates with prejudiced attitudes.

i) However, we have to worry about correlation & causality. Maybe people choose to watch types of TV that reflect their attitudes.

6. In general, we have to keep in mind that people are not passive recipients of their attitudes/socialization. People (kids) play an active role in what information they are exposed to, and in how they fit that information into their knowledge structures.

C. Social & Intergroup Processes

1. Realistic Group Conflict Theory (Muzafer & Carolyn Sherif)

a) When groups compete with one another, they are often in a zero-sum game (if one wins, the other loses).

b) This means that people in groups have real conflicts, that can lead to the frustration of their goals.

c) When this happens, unfavorable stereotypes develop within the group, and through social learning, they spread throughout the group. Eventually, prejudice arises.

d) The Robbers Cave Experiments

i. Creation of coherent groups.

ii. Intergroup Contact & Competition

iii. Interdependent Goals & the Reduction of Prejudice

2. Social Identity Theory and In Group Favoritism

a) We want our group to do well.

b) We make efforts to promote our group when it does well, and to associate ourselves more closely to groups and people who are doing well.

i. Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG-ing; Cialdini et al, 1976)).

ii. Minimal Groups Studies (Tajfel & Turner, 1986)

III. Is Prejudice Declining? (Types of Prejudice/Stereotyping)

A. Explict Prejudice

B. Modern/Symbolic Prejudice

C. Implicit Racism & Aversive Racism

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