1. Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Chapter 5
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

2. What Is a Group?
Two or more people perceived as having at least one of the following characteristics:
Direct interactions with each other over a period of time
Joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes
A shared, common fate, identity, or set of goals
We see people in fundamentally different ways if we see them as a group rather than individuals.

3. Defining Important Terms
Stereotypes: Beliefs that associate a whole group of people with certain traits.
Prejudice: Negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group.
Discrimination: Negative behaviors directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group.

4. Figure 5.1: Perceiving Groups: Three Reactions

5. Stereotypes

6. How Stereotypes Form: Social Categorization
The classification of persons into groups on the basis of common attributes.
Helps us form impressions quickly and use past experiences to guide new interactions.
Serious drawback: By categorizing people, we often:
Overestimate the differences between groups
Underestimate the differences within groups

7. How Stereotypes Form: Ingroups vs. Outgroups
Strong tendency to divide people into ingroups and outgroups.
Consequences
Exaggerate differences between ingroups and other outgroups
Outgroup homogeneity effect

8. Why Are Outgroups Seen As Homogeneous?
Often do not notice subtle differences among outgroups because have little personal contact with them.
Often do not encounter a representative sample of outgroup members.

9. Sociocultural and Motivational Factors
Why are some categorizations more likely to dominate our perceptions than others?
Sociocultural factors influence what types of categorizations dominate perceptions of others.
Motivational factors can also affect how people categorize others.

10. Implicit Personal Theories About Groups
Entity Theorists: See groups in terms of traits.
Expect more similarity and consistency within groups
Process information about groups similarly to how process information about a single person
Incremental Theorists: Less likely to see a group in trait terms.

11. Are Stereotypes Ever Accurate?
What is meant by “accurate”?
Even when based on reality, tend to exaggerate differences and understate similarities between groups.
Stereotyping is a dynamic process.

12. How Stereotypes Survive: Illusory Correlations
The tendency for people to overestimate the link between variables that are only slightly or not at all correlated.
Tend to overestimate the association between variables when:
The variables are distinctive
The variables are already expected to go together

13. Table 5.1: The Illusory Correlation

14. How Stereotypes Survive: Attributions
Attributional biases can perpetuate stereotypes.
Fundamental attribution error revisited
If expectations are violated, more likely to consider situational factors.

15. How Stereotypes Survive: Subtyping and Contrast Effects
Stereotypes stubbornly survive disconfirmation through “subtyping.”
If behavior varies considerably from expectations, the perceived difference may be magnified.
Contrast effect

16. How Stereotypes Survive: Confirmation Biases
Stereotypes are often maintained and strengthened through confirmation biases.
Stereotypes can cause a perceiver to act in such a way that the stereotyped group member really does behave in a stereotype-confirming way.
The stereotype creates a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

17. Figure 5.2: “White Men Can’t Jump”?
Stone et al., 1997.

18. Putting Common Sense to the Test…
True or False?
Very brief exposure to a member of a stereotyped group does not lead to biased judgments or responses, but longer exposure typically does.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!

19. Stereotypes as (Sometimes) Automatic
Devine (1989): We become highly aware of the contents of many stereotypes through sociocultural mechanisms.
Awareness can lead to its automatic activation when exposed to a member of stereotyped group.
Can influence behavior even when we do not consciously endorse the stereotype.

20. What Factors Can Influence Stereotype Activation?
Amount of exposure to the stereotype
The kind and amount of information the perceiver encounters
The perceiver’s motivational goals
e.g., protecting one’s self-esteem or self-image

21. Figure 5.3: Motivated Stereotype Inhibition and Activation
From L. Sinclair and Z. Kunda "Reactions to a Black Professional: Motivated Inhibition and Activation of Conflicting Stereotypes," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, Copyright (c) by the American Psychological Association. Adapted with permission..

22. Table 5.2: Automatic Stereotype Activation: Important Factors

23. Overcoming Stereotypes
How much personal information do we have about someone?
What is our cognitive ability to focus on an individual member of a stereotyped group?
What is our motivation level to form an accurate impression of someone?
How motivated are we to avoid applying negative stereotypes?

24. Amadou Diallo
“41 Shots” Revisited

25. Prejudice

26. Intergroup Conflict Sherif et al.’s (1961) Robbers Cave Study
Competition between the two groups of boys led to hostility and conflict.
Only through superordinate goals was peace restored between the two groups.
Simplest explanation for many intergroup conflicts is competition.

27. Realistic Conflict Theory
The theory that hostility between groups is caused by direct competition for limited resources.
The competition for resources may be more imagined than real.
People may become resentful of other groups because of a sense of relative deprivation.
Even if one doesn’t feel personally threatened, perceptions of threat to one’s own group can trigger prejudice.

28. Putting Common Sense to the Test…
True or False?
Members of low-status, stereotyped groups have lower self-esteem than members of high-status groups.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!

29. Figure 5.5: Social Identity Theory

30. Basic Predictions of Social Identity Theory
Threats to one’s self-esteem heighten the need for ingroup favoritism.
Expressions of ingroup favoritism enhance one’s self-esteem.

31. Figure 5.6: Self-Esteem and Social Identity
Fein & Spencer, 1997.

32. What Situational Factors Influence Social Identity Motives?
Degree of ingroup identification
The relative size and distinctiveness of one’s ingroup
The person’s status relative to others in the ingroup
Most motivated to derogate outsiders when ingroup status is marginal.

33. Cultural Differences and Social Identity Motives
Collectivists less likely to show biases favoring their ingroups in order to boost their self-esteem.
But collectivists may draw sharper distinctions between ingroup and outgroup members.

34. Reactions to Low Status
How do people cope with ingroups of low status or with weak ingroup members?
To preserve the integrity of the ingroup, may treat less able people more harshly.
May de-emphasize the importance of domains in which the ingroup is relatively low in status.

35. Implicit Theories and Ideologies
People vary in their ideologies about intergroup relations in society.
Social Dominance Orientation: Desire to see one’s ingroups as dominant over other groups.
Willingness to adopt cultural values that facilitate oppression over other groups

36. Prejudice and Discrimination Based on a Person’s Gender
Sexism
Prejudice and Discrimination Based on a Person’s Gender

37. Gender Stereotypes: Blue for Boys and Pink for Girls
How would you describe the the typical man and woman?
Males: More adventurous, aggressive, independent, and task oriented?
Females: More sensitive, gentle, dependent, emotional, and people oriented?
Gender images appear to be universal and salient to even very young children.

38. Table 5.3: What Mothers Would Say
Adapted from Morrangiello & Dawber, 2000.

39. Culture and Popular Media
The same mechanisms that let stereotypes in general endure apply to perceptions of gender.
e.g., illusory correlations, biased attributions, confirmation biases, and self-fulfilling prophecies
But, gender stereotypes are distinctive in that they are prescriptive rather than merely descriptive.

40. Putting Common Sense to the Test…
True or False?
Even brief exposure to sexist television commercials can significantly influence the behaviors of men and women.
Answer: True… Let’s see why!

41. Media Images and Popular Culture
Sociocultural factors foster male-female distinctions in many ways.
Media depictions can influence viewers, even without their realizing it.

42. Figure 5.7: Eagly’s Social Role Theory of Gender Stereotypes

43. Ambivalent Sexism Consists of two elements:
Hostile sexism, characterized by negative, resentful feelings about women’s abilities, values and ability to challenge men’s power
Benevolent sexism, characterized by affectionate, chivalrous, but potentially patronizing feelings of women needing and deserving protection

44. Figure 5.8: Hostile Sexism Across Countries
Data from Glick, based on author correspondence.

45. Table 5.4: Hostile Sexism Across Countries

46. Table 5.5: Gender Differences in Specific Occupations in the United States

47. Prejudice and Discrimination Based on a Person’s Racial Background
Racism
Prejudice and Discrimination Based on a Person’s Racial Background

48. Where Racism Exists At the individual level
Any one can be racist toward anyone else.
At the institutional and cultural levels
Some people are privileged while others are discriminated against.

49. Table 5.6: Changes in Overt Racism

50. Modern Racism
A subtle form of prejudice that surfaces in direct ways whenever it is safe, socially acceptable, or easy to rationalize
Based on idea that many people are racially ambivalent
Can lead to subtle, often unconscious forms of prejudice and discrimination

51. How Can Implicit Racism Be Detected and Measured?
Fazio et al.’s (1995) bona fide pipeline measure
Greenwald et al.’s (1998) Implicit Association Test (IAT)
Nosek & Banaji’s (2001) Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT)

52. Interracial Perceptions and Interactions
Particularly challenging and fraught with tension because:
Less contact
Stronger negative emotions
Anxiety about appearing racist
Emotional reactions can be influenced by racial labels and implicit racism.
Differential responses found in the amygdala

53. Figure 5.10, Colorblind?

54. Effects on Targets of Stereotypes and Prejudice
A Threat in the Air
Effects on Targets of Stereotypes and Prejudice

55. Perceiving Discrimination
What if you were a target of a stigmatizing stereotype?
Such suspicions can be deeply frustrating over time.
But they can have both positive and negative consequences in particular situations.

56. Costs of Attributions of Negative Feedback to Discrimination
The attribution may be inaccurate.
One misses an opportunity to learn information relevant for self-improvement.
Although it can protect one’s overall self-esteem, it can also make people feel as if they have less control over their lives.
This can make the person feel worse, not better.

57. Putting Common Sense to the Test…
True or False?
An African-American student is likely to perform worse on an athletic task if the task is described as one reflecting sports intelligence than if it described as reflecting natural athletic ability.
Answer: True… Let’s see why!

58. Stereotype Threat and Academic Achievement
Stereotype threat is the fear that one will be reduced to a stereotype in the eyes of others.
How can stereotype threat hamper academic achievement?
The reactions to the threat can directly interfere with performance.
The threat can cause individuals to dismiss the domain as no longer relevant to their self-esteem and identity.

59. Figure 5.11: Stereotype Threat and Academic Performance
From Claude Steele (1995) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, Copyright (c) 1995 by the American Psychological Association. Adapted with permission.

60. Figure 5.12: The Swimsuit Becomes You
From B.L. Fredrickson, T.A. Roberts, S.M. Noll, D.A. Quinn and J.M. Twenge (1998) "That Swimsuit Becomes You: Sex differences in Self-Objectification, Restrained Eating, and Math Performance," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, Copyright (c) 1998 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

61. Diversity of Stereotype Threats
Can affect any group for which strong, well-known negative stereotypes are relevant in particular settings.
Whether one feels threatened or emboldened by a stereotype depends on which social identity has been activated.
One does not need to believe in a negative stereotype for it to have an effect.

62. Reducing Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

63. Putting Common Sense to the Test…
True or False?
Groups with a history of prejudice towards each other tend to become much less prejudiced soon after they are made to interact with each other in a desegregated setting.
Answer: False… Let’s see why!

64. Intergroup Contact Allport’s contact hypothesis
Under certain conditions, direct contact between hostile groups will reduce prejudice.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
What would be the effect of this large-scale social experiment?

65. Review of Studies Conducted During and After Desegregation

66. Table 5.7: The Contact Hypothesis: Conditions

67. The Jigsaw Classroom
A cooperative learning method used to reduce racial prejudice through interaction in group efforts.
Model of how to use interpersonal contact to promote greater tolerance of diversity.

68. Common Ingroup Identity Model
Through decategorization, people pay less attention to categories and intergroup boundaries.
Through recategorization, individuals may change their conceptions of the group so that they have a more inclusive, diverse sense of their own ingroup.