Baron Chapter6

Chapter 6Chapter 6

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Prejudice: Its Causes, Effects, and Cures

Copyright 2006, Allyn and Bacon


Prejudice: Its Causes, Effects, and CuresPrejudice: Its Causes, Effects, and Cures

• The Nature and Origins of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

• Prejudice and Discrimination: Feelings and Actions Toward Social Groups

• Why Prejudice Is Not Inevitable: Techniques for Countering Its Effects


Nature and Origins of Stereotyping, etc.Nature and Origins of Stereotyping, etc.

• Stereotyping: Beliefs About Social Groups

– Stereotypes—beliefs about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics that they are believed to share

• These mental categories affect the processing of social information.

– Gender Stereotypes—the traits possessed by females and males, and that distinguish the two genders from each other

• Contain both positive and negative traits and convey status



1. Stereotypes and the “glass ceiling,” the barriers that prevent qualified females from advancing to top-level positions

– Female leaders tend to receive lower evaluations from their subordinates compared to male leaders.

» Women who violate expectancies based on stereotypes are likely to be rejected in male occupations.

» Women face greater obstacles than men do to achieve similar levels of success.

– Men in traditionally female occupations do not face the glass ceiling.

GENDER STEREOTYPE



2. Consequences of token women in high places

– Tokenism can be an effective strategy for deterring protest by disadvantaged groups.

» Tokens serve purpose of maintaining status quo

» It can be used as evidence that employers are not really prejudiced and maintains perceptions that system is fair

– Being a token employee can be upsetting and damaging to self-esteem

» Tokens are perceived negatively by their coworkers



3. Do targets agree with stereotypes of their group?

– Benevolent Sexism—suggests that women are superior to men in various ways (e.g., they have better taste) and are necessary for men’s happiness

» Women are more likely than men are to agree with these ideas.

» Indicates tendency for low status groups to engage in social creativity responses in the attempt to link positive qualities to their group

» May serve to keep women in low-status positions



– Hostile Sexism—suggests that women are a threat to men’s position (e.g., they are trying to seize power from men which they are perceived as not deserving)

» Men report higher levels than do women

» Predicts negative stereotyping of women

– Countries with greater gender inequality are likely to have more of both forms of sexism



• Gender stereotypes and differential respect

– People may think that men deserve more respect due to the higher positions they hold compared to women.

» This has consequences for discrimination against women in the workplace.

• Are gender stereotypes accurate?

– Although some behavioral differences between males and females exist, the degree of these differences is much smaller than gender stereotypes suggest.

» Despite this, stereotypes continue to influence ratings people give of men and women



• Why do People Form and Use Stereotypes?

I. Stereotypes often act as schemas

• Their use saves cognitive effort and they serve motivational purposes.

– How stereotypes operate

• They are easily accessible.

• They strongly affect how social information is processed.

– Information related to an activated stereotype is remembered better

– Stereotype-consistent information is more likely to be noticed



– Stereotype-inconsistent information, if noticed, often is refuted or changed to make it appear consistent with the stereotype.

» People who do not fit their group’s stereotype are put in a subtype and the stereotype is not changed.

II. Stereotypes contribute to the formation of illusory correlations, the perception of a stronger association between two variables than actually exists.

– For example, white Americans overestimate the crime rates of some minority groups.

» One explanation is that infrequent events stand out and are easily noticed, especially when they confirm existing stereotypes.



– Another result of stereotype use

III. Out-group homogeneity—members of an out-group appear to be “all alike” or more similar to each other than are members of the in-group

– In-group differentiation—members of own group are more heterogeneous

– May be due to greater experience within one’s in-group and less experience with members of other groups

– Its converse is the in-group homogeneity effect, which tends to occur most commonly among minority group members who are uniting to respond to perceived inequalities.



– Do stereotypes ever change?

• Change may result when the relationships between groups and corresponding behaviors change

• Change may result if in-group favoritism becomes socially unacceptable

• Change may result when social values and group memberships change since stereotypes justify unequal social conditions

– For example, people with power are more likely to attend to negative stereotypic information about members of subordinate groups.



• What are your thoughts?What are your thoughts?

– What are examples of traits that comprise gender stereotypes (for women and for men)?

– Why don’t men typically face the same glass ceilings that women do?

– What are the consequences of stereotyping for accurate social perception?

• Would you like to be judged on the basis of a stereotype about your group membership?

– Why or why not?


Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice—negative attitudes toward members of specific social groups– People high in prejudice toward a certain group

tend to process information about that group differently compared to information about other groups.

• Information consistent with prejudiced attitudes is given more attention and is remembered better



– When anger is the emotion underlying prejudice toward a group, prejudiced people quickly evaluate that group negatively when they are angry.

• Incidental feelings (irrelevant to group) of anger can generate automatic prejudiced responses toward out-groups.


Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination– Implicit prejudice can be automatically activated

and can affect overt behavior even though people are unaware that they hold such views.



• Origins of Prejudice– Generally, perceptions of threat are involved.

• Threat to self-esteem or group interests

• Competition for scarce resources

• Self-categorization as a member of a group and others as members of a different group


Prejudice and DiscriminationPrejudice and Discrimination– Threat to self-esteem

• Holding prejudiced attitudes toward an out-group allows people to increase their self-esteem when they are feeling threatened.

– This tendency is strongest among those who think their group’s interests are being threatened.



– Competition for resources as a source of prejudice• Realistic Conflict Theory (Bobo, 1983)—view that

prejudice stems from direct competition between various social groups over scarce and valued resources

– As competition increases, prejudice increases

– Can be reduced if cooperation is necessary (superordinate goals are introduced)



– Role of social categorization: The us-versus-them effect

• People easily divide the social world into us (the in-group) versus them (the out-group).

– People considered part of the ‘us’ category are thought of more favorably than those in the ‘them’ category.

– This process affects the attributions people make.

» Ultimate Attribution Error—tendency to make more favorable and flattering attributions about members of one’s own group than about members of other groups, which is the self-serving attribution bias at the group level



• How does social categorization result in prejudice?– Social Identity Theory—concerned with the consequences of

perceiving the self as a member of a social group and identifying with it

» One consequence is that self-esteem is involved with this identification.

» A need to increase self-esteem can result in seeing other groups as inferior to one’s own.

» When group members feel that their identity is being threatened (perhaps because their identity is being combined with another group’s), they tend to exhibit increased levels of prejudice toward the other group.



• Discrimination—differential (usually negative) behaviors directed toward members of different social groups – While blatant discrimination has decreased, but still

does occur, subtle forms are common. • Modern racism—more subtle beliefs than blatant feelings of

superiority, which consist primarily of thinking minorities are seeking and receiving more benefits than they deserve and a denial that discrimination affects their outcomes

– Involves concealing prejudice until it is safe to express it



– Measuring implicit racial attitudes• “Bogus Pipeline” procedure involves deceiving participants

by telling them that any lies they tell will be detected. – Only useful for measuring explicit (not implicit) attitudes

• Most methods that measure implicit attitudes are based on priming—using a stimulus to make accessible related information in memory

– Bona fide pipeline—a technique that uses priming to measure implicit racial attitudes

» People have implicit racial attitudes that are activated automatically by members of ethnic groups and these attitudes can influence behaviors expressed toward them.



• Consequences of Exposure to Others’ Prejudice– Exposure to prejudiced comments can make people

yield to conformity pressures and express prejudice– Exposure can cue negative stereotypes

• People who hold prejudiced attitudes are more likely to respond to being primed by others’ prejudice by expressing prejudice themselves compared to people who do not hold racist attitudes and people who hold ambivalent racial attitudes.



– Exposure to harmful actions of members of own national group can raise collective guilt and subsequent strategies to reduce it

• Argue that it is not the group as a whole that is responsible (it is only a “few bad apples”)

• Minimize the magnitude of the harm done• Legitimize the harm that was done

– Deny the possibility of collective responsibility– Blame the victims by suggesting that they deserved being

harmed

• Perceive the abuse as serving the nation’s higher aspirations



• What are your thoughts?What are your thoughts?– What are possible motivations behind prejudice?

• How does it originate in people?

– Can modern racism result in serious negative consequences for groups toward which it is expressed?

• If so, what are examples? If not, why not?

– What are examples of how the people of a nation reduce their collective guilt in response to information that members of their national group engaged in harmful, prejudicial acts?


Why Prejudice is Not InevitableWhy Prejudice is Not Inevitable

• On Learning Not To Hate– Social Learning View—prejudice is acquired through

direct and vicarious experiences in much the same manner as other attitudes

• Children learn negative attitudes by hearing parents and other significant others express them and then being rewarded for adopting them.

– To combat, call parents’ attention to the illegitimacy of their prejudiced views

– Remind parents of the high costs of holding prejudiced attitudes» People high in prejudice enjoy everyday life less than others do.

• Direct experience with people of other groups also influences attitudes.



• The Potential Benefits of Contact– Contact Hypothesis—view that increased contact

between members of various social groups can be effective in reducing prejudice between them

• Increased contact can decrease prejudice by increasing familiarity and reducing anxiety.

• Positive contact that involves cooperation and interdependence between groups can result in the adoption of egalitarian social norms and the reduction of prejudice.

– In fact, simply learning that members of one’s in-group have formed friendships with out-group members can decrease prejudice.



• Recategorization—shifts in the boundaries between an in-group and some out-group – People in a former out-group now belong to the

in-group and are viewed more favorably. – Common In-group Identity Model—suggests

that to the extent individuals in different groups view themselves as members of a single social entity, intergroup bias will be reduced

• This can happen when groups work together to accomplish shared goals.


Why Prejudice is Not InevitableWhy Prejudice is Not Inevitable• The Benefits of Guilt for Prejudice Reduction

– Collective guilt—can be experienced when people are confronted with the harmful actions done by their in-group against an out-group, and is more likely when actions are seen as illegitimate


Why Prejudice is Not InevitableWhy Prejudice is Not Inevitable• Can People Learn to Say “No” to Stereotypes?

– People can learn to rely less on stereotypes by repeatedly negating them.



• Social Influence as a Way to Reduce Prejudice– People’s racial attitudes are affected by social

influence.• Lowering the in-group’s endorsement of prejudice can

reduce prejudice in bigoted people.



• What are your thoughts?What are your thoughts?– How can parents who are not prejudiced make sure

that their children do not learn to be prejudiced through their interactions with people who are bigoted?

– What are ways to increase contact between groups?• What characteristics should this increased contact have?

– Which strategies to reduce prejudice seem plausible and which seem difficult to implement?

• Why?

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