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Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination: A Social Psychological Perspective
Keith Maddox Department of Psychology Tufts University University of Texas at Austin November 3, 2011
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Overview Definitions: Who is Biased? Explicit & Implicit Associations
Social Psychology / Social Cognition Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination Who is Biased? Explicit & Implicit Associations Demonstration How Bias Affects Us Perceiver and Target Perspectives Conclusion
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DEFINING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Definitions DEFINING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
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Definitions Social Psychology Social Cognition
The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context. It’s all in the Method , (A)ffect, (B)ehavior, and (C)ognition Real or imagined presence of other people Social Cognition The study of how people make sense of themselves and others Focus on process in addition to content Informed from research in cognitive psychology
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Tenets of Social Psychology
The Social Construction of Reality The way a person construes a person situation dictates our thoughts, feelings, and behavior The Determinants of Behavior Person × Situation = Behavior The Power of the Situation Situations often have a large, underappreciated influence on our thoughts, feelings, and behavior Personality is often overemphasized
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Pick a number... Pick a number between 1 and 9 Subtract 5
Multiply by 3 Square the number Add the digits If number is less than 5, add 5 to it. If the number is greater than 5, subtract 4 Take the absolute value Multiply by 2 Subtract 6 Availability Heuristic
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Pick a number... Map your number to its corresponding letter in the alphabet (A=1, B=2, C=3…) Pick the name of a country that begins with that letter Take the second letter of that country and pick a mammal that begins with it. Think of a common color of that animal
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Grey Elephant from Denmark
Brown Orangutan from the Dominican Republic Yellow or Orange Jaguar from Djbouti
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WTF?!? The Availability Heuristic Countries: Mammals: Colors
Making judgments based on the ease with which information comes to mind. Countries: Denmark, Dominican Republic, Djbouti Mammals: Elephant, Orangutan , Jaguar Colors Grey, Brown, Orange
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The ABCs of SP&D Stereotypes (C) Prejudice (A) Discrimination (B)
Endorsed or unendorsed knowledge about the attributes associated with a group of people. Prejudice (A) An positive or negative attitude toward others based on group membership. Discrimination (B) Unjustifiable negative behavior toward others based on group membership.
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EXPLICIT & IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS
Who Is Biased? EXPLICIT & IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS
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Two “Modes” of (Social) Cognition
AUTOMATIC PROCESSING CONTROLLED PROCESSING Fast Unconscious Mandatory Efficient Slow Conscious Optional Effortful
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MEASURING IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS
An Example MEASURING IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS
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caress freedom health love peace cheer heaven pleasure diamond gentle honest lucky rainbow miracle sunrise family happy laughter paradise vacation
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abuse filth sickness accident death grief poison stink disaster hatred pollute tragedy divorce jail ugly cancer evil kill rotten vomit
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AIESHA LASHELLE SHEREEN TEMEKA EBONY LATISHA SHANIQUA TAMEISHA LATONYA TANISHA LAKISHA SHARISE LATOYA TASIKA YOLANDA LASHANDRA MALIKA NIKISHA TAWANDA YVETTE
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AMANDA COURTNEY HEATHER MELANIE SARA AMBER KATIE MEREDITH BETSY KIRSTIN NANCY STEPHANIE BOBBIE-SUE ELLEN LAUREN PEGGY EMILY MEGAN RACHEL WENDY
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LEFT side if UNPLEASANT RIGHT side if PLEASANT
cancer health corpse diamond truth devil assault triumph glory brutal talent agony kindness family divorce stink pleasure torture bomb peace LEFT side if UNPLEASANT RIGHT side if PLEASANT
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LEFT side if BLACK name RIGHT side if WHITE name
SARA AIESHA MEREDITH KATIE SHEREEN BOBBIE-SUE TAWANDA NIKISHA AMANDA MEGAN MALIKA LATOYA WENDY TEMEKA RACHEL LASHANDA COLLEEN KIRSTIN TAMEISHA EBONY LEFT side if BLACK name RIGHT side if WHITE name
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LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or BLACK name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or
WENDY health LAUREN diamond AIESHA devil SHARISE triumph LINDA brutal LATOYA agony SHANEKA family KATIE stink HEATHER torture LASHELLE peace LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or BLACK name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or WHITE name
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LEFT side if UNPLEASANT RIGHT side if PLEASANT
truth ugly assault cheer glory cancer health corpse diamond filth talent divorce stink pleasure torture pollute peace agony diploma rainbow LEFT side if UNPLEASANT RIGHT side if PLEASANT
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LEFT side if WHITE name RIGHT side if BLACK name
AIESHA LASHELLE AMANDA HEATHER TEMEKA BETSY SHEREEN LAKISHA ELLEN SARA MALIKA YOLANDA LAUREN TANISHA DONNA EBONY STEPHANIE EMILY NICHELLE TAWANDA LEFT side if WHITE name RIGHT side if BLACK name
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LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or WHITE name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or
AMBER health COURTNEY diamond TEMEKA devil SHANIQUA triumph ELLEN brutal LATOYA agony PEGGY family COLLEEN stink NANCY torture EBONY peace LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or WHITE name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or BLACK name
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Implicit Associations Test
LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or BLACK name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or WHITE name Implicit Associations Test LEFT side if UNPLEASANT or WHITE name RIGHT side if PLEASANT or BLACK name
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Implicit Associations
Associations like these are everywhere Age, Race, Gender, Political Affiliation, etc… They are pervasive We are usually unaware but they can influence judgment and behavior Can we stop them? START: What do we learn from this demo? * Even in this day and age; even for those of us in this room and on this campus, the vast majority of whom I assume would say that they’re motivated to be fairminded and to avoid stereotypes and prejudice. * Simply being motivated not to be influenced by these not enough to ensure you’re now * More than just knee slapping, even if they don’t influence us all the time in all contexts. KEITH’S TURN
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PERCEIVER & TARGET PERSEPCTIVES
How Bias Affects Us PERCEIVER & TARGET PERSEPCTIVES
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Why are stereotypes pervasive?
Stereotypes guide: What we see What we remember What we believe Conclusions: Stereotypes are so pervasive because they are a byproduct of how our brains are designed. While categories simplify our world, they also create inaccuracies in our perceptions. Nonetheless, we use these exaggerated perceptions to guide our interactions. Stereotypes reinforce themselves in many ways. How we act towards others How we explain behavior
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Perceiver Perspective
Confirmation Bias We tend to see what we already believe (stereotypes) Particularly when behavior is ambiguous Attribution Bias We ignore the role that the situation plays in shaping a person’s behavior, and instead blame their disposition (traits) Female athletes and Title IX Cross-Race Recognition Deficit We more easily confuse people who belong to racial outgroups Contributes to wrongful conviction/incarceration rates for minorities.
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Cross Race Recognition Deficit
Keith Maddox Chip Gidney Reg Adams Sam Sommers Jenni Sarah K-Madd T-Pain
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The Target’s Perspective
Attributional Ambiguity Uncertainty about whether treatment (feedback) is based on group or personal attributes Implications for self-knowledge Uncertainty about aptitude and abilities Stereotype Threat Debilitating concern over confirming a negative group stereotype through one’s own behavior. Implications for performance Leads to impaired performance on stereotype-relevant tasks.
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Conclusions WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
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What can you do about it? Potential strategies Colorblindness?
Suppression? Consciousness raising? Well, Sam has already suggested that colorblindness may not be a useful strategy. Suppression works in the very short term, but tends to have negative consequences in the long term. Affirmative action is another method – by acknowledging the pervasive impact of prejudice and infusing our hiring and selection practices with strategies to find those normally disadvantaged. The final strategy, consciousness raising, is the one that you’re currently engaged in.
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A Caveat Racism, Sexism, Heterosexism, Classism, Anti-Semitism, etc. “isms” 1. An individual’s prejudicial attitudes, beliefs, and discrimination toward people of a given group. 2. Institutional practices (even if not seemingly motivated by prejudice) that subordinate people of a given group. Lack of wheelchair access to buildings? English exam for LPGA Tour? Night clubs with dress codes?
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Conclusion Making Implicit Processes Explicit
Acknowledge that people are different, but; Recognize that stereotypes can cloud and exaggerate those differences, and; Strategize to minimize their impact on personal and institutional levels. I like to think of stereotypes as lenses through which we look at the world. But most of us don’t know that we’re looking through lenses. Once you know about them, you have a choice. Difference is not a bad thing, don’t be afraid to acknowledge it, however; Know that stereotypes can distort your view of differences, making them seem bigger than they are; Lift the lenses away from your eyes so that you can make more accurate judgments about others. What we’ve hope to accomplish with our presentation today is to lift the veil on the mental processes that allow stereotypes to influence our judgments, and begin to give you the power to lessen their impacts. Thank you.
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Thank You!
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What are the effects of stereotypes?
START: Explain original Steele & Aronson set up. END: This isn’t just about African-Americans (example of White men with math). It isn’t just about academic performance and race either. All sorts of performance types and other groups too (women and math; White men and sports; gay men and interacting with children). Give malleability example of Naliini’s work with Asian women. TRANSITION: So stereotypes affect our climate just by being out there. They also impact how we interact with others… Steele & Aronson (1995)
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