1. Session No
Communications Skills for Business Administrators

2. Review of Last Session

3. Prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination
Causes and Cures

4. Chapter Outline
I. Prejudice: The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon

5. Prejudice: The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon
Prejudice is extremely powerful and ubiquitous; it affects all of us—majority group members as well as minority. Prejudice is dangerous, fostering negative consequences from lowered self-esteem to torture, murder, and genocide. Although over the past 50 years blatant discrimination has been reduced, it still exists in subtle—and sometimes not-so-subtle—forms.

6. Chapter Outline
II. Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination Defined

7. Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination Defined
Prejudice is an attitude. It has the three components of attitudes: i) affective, ii) cognitive, and iii) behavioural.
Prejudice is a hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group of people, based solely on their membership in that group.

8. Prejudice, Stereotyping & Discrimination Defined
Prejudice: The Affective Component
The affective component is the emotion (e.g., anger, warmth) associated with the attitude object.
Although prejudice refers to either positive or negative affect, people usually reserve the word ‘prejudice’ for use only when it refers to negative attitudes about others.

9. Prejudice, Stereotyping & Discrimination Defined
Stereotyping: The Cognitive Component
The cognitive component is our beliefs and thoughts (cognitions) about the target of prejudice. It involves stereotyping.
A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members.

10. Prejudice, Stereotyping & Discrimination Defined
Discrimination: The behavioural Component
The behavioural component of prejudice refers to the actions, or behaviour, associated with the prejudiced object, such as discrimination.
Discrimination is an unjustified, negative, or harmful action towards a member of a group, simply because of his or her membership in that group.
Stereotypic beliefs (prejudice) can result in unfair treatment (see Bond et al, 1988, mental hospital study; Fig. 13.1; also Page, 1998, 1999).

11. Chapter Outline
III. What Causes Prejudice?

12. What Causes Prejudice?
What makes people prejudiced? Is it inherited, or is it learned? Possibly both. Prejudice could be an essential part of our biological survival mechanism inducing us to favour our own family, tribe, or race and to express hostility toward outsiders. Or, our culture (parents, community, media) might intentionally, or unintentionally, instruct us to assign negative qualities and attributes to people who are different from us. No one knows. What is known is that the specifics of prejudice must be learned. How does this happen?

13. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Think: Social Cognition
One way prejudice is learned is as a byproduct of the way we process and organize information—all of the negative aspects of social cognition can lead us to form negative stereotypes and to apply them in a discriminatory fashion.
In other words, prejudice is the inevitable byproduct of categorization, schemas, heuristics, and faulty memory processes in processing information.

14. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Think: Social Cognition
Schemas (stereotypes) we hold about certain groups influence the way we process information about them.
-eg, information consistent with our schemas will be given more attention, will be recalled more often, and will be remembered better than inconsistent information.
-eg, we also tend to fill in the blanks with schema-consistent information__to the anti-Negro person, negroes are musical, athletic, lazy, dumb, regardless of the obvious characteristics of the target person.

15. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Think: Social Cognition
Schemas (stereotypes) are highly resistant to change__even in the face of contradictory evidence.
-eg, we explain away disconfirming evidence and thereby maintain our stereotypes, ‘Oh he’s an exception.’
-eg, or we dismiss evidence that might disconfirm our stereotypes. ‘Oh he’s a phony.’

16. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Think: Social Cognition
Sometimes the person we encounter may be so contrary to our stereotype that it is impossible to interpret the person’s behaviour in stereotype-consistent terms. What do we do then?
We create a new subcategory of exceptions to the rule (eg, homosexuals who are accountants are not promiscuous),
so that the original stereotype remains intact (eg, in general, homosexuals are promiscuous).

17. Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
What Causes Prejudice?
Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
Another way prejudice is encouraged is through the in-group bias (the us-vs.-them).
An in-group is a group with which a person identifies and feels he/she is a member of; an out-group is a group with which a person does not identify.
In-group bias is the especially positive feelings and special treatment we reserve for people we have defined as part of our in-group.

18. Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
What Causes Prejudice?
Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
Out-group members are seen as possessing negative traits and are often disliked.
This tendency to favour the in-group while denigrating the out-group is so pervasive that people show this bias even under the most minimal conditions (see Tajfel and colleagues, 1982).

19. Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
What Causes Prejudice?
Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
Tajfel and colleagues found that randomly formed groups showed this in-group favouritism bias.
And Canadian researchers have shown that the tendency to discriminate against the out-group is even stronger when people have chosen their group rather than have been randomly assigned to it (Perreault & Bourhis, 1999).
Research at the University of Alberta shows that an in-group can be created simply by photographing people together (Burgess et al, 2000).

20. Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
What Causes Prejudice?
Social Categorization: Us vs. Them
As predicted from in-group bias theory, research shows that:
i) the greater the identification with one’s own group, the greater the discrimination against an out-group.
ii) when people’s self-esteem is threatened, they are especially likely to denigrate the out-group.

21. What we Believe: Stereotypes
What Causes Prejudice?
What we Believe: Stereotypes
The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice is a complex one.
One of the complexities is that stereotypes are not activated in every situation.
Another is that our attitudes toward members of another group are determined not only by our stereotype of the group, but also by our perception of that group’s stereotype of us.

22. Activation of Stereotypes
What Causes Prejudice?
Activation of Stereotypes
Research shows that derogatory comments can activate other negative, stereotypical beliefs about the target person (see Henderson-King & Nisbett, 1996).
How does this activation process work?
Devine and colleagues have developed a theory about how stereotypical beliefs affect cognitive processing.
It is a 2-stage process (see Fig. 13.3).

23. Activation of Stereotypes
What Causes Prejudice?
Activation of Stereotypes
Not all research results have been consistent with this theory (see kawakami et al, 1998)
It is now generally accepted that there is considerable variability in people’s automatic processing of negative stereotypes.

24. What Causes Prejudice? Meta-Stereotypes
For example, studies show that white students at the University of Manitoba believed that Native Canadians perceive white Canadians as prejudiced, unfair, selfish, arrogant, wealthy, materialistic, phony, etc__a meta-stereotype.
Moreover, when white students were asked about their reaction to an anticipated interaction with Native students at U of M, the white students felt that they would experience negative emotions and would not enjoy the interaction very much.

25. The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
What Causes Prejudice?
The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
Esses et al (1993) point out that there is more to prejudice than merely the attribution of stereotypes to groups.
Their research suggest that the emotions elicited by a particular group are important in determining our level of prejudice.
When we are in a good mood, we are likely to evaluate members of out-groups more favourably than when we are in a bad mood.

26. The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
What Causes Prejudice?
The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
And, of all of the predictors of prejudice (emotion, stereotypes, symbolic beliefs, and behaviour), emotion is the strongest (Haddock et al, 1993).
Recent research by Corenblum and Stephan (2001) suggests that emotion is also a strong predictor of prejudice that minority groups feel toward majority groups.

27. The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
What Causes Prejudice?
The Way We Feel: Affect and Mood
Although studies show that emotion is related to prejudice, it is not clear that there is a causal relationship.
Esses and Zanna (1995) set up experiments to test this possibility. They manipulated mood and measured the effect on people’s attitudes.
They found that indeed, there is a causal relationship. Participants in a bad mood described various ethnic groups in more negative terms than did those who were in a good mood, or a neutral mood.

28. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Assign Meaning: Attributional Biases
The typical gender stereotype of women being inferior to men is maintained by attributional biases.
-e.g., if a man fails on a given task, observers attributed his failure either to bad luck, or to lower effort; if a women failed at the same task, observers felt the task was too hard for her ability level.
These effects apply to racial stereotypes as well (see Corenblum et al, 1996 Native children study).

29. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Assign Meaning: Attributional Biases
Moreover, if a stereotype is strong enough, even members of the stereotyped group buy into it.
-eg, Nichols (1975) found that grade 4 boys attributed their own successful outcome on a difficult IQ task to their ability and blamed their failures on bad luck; whereas
-girls tended to derogate their own successful performance and blamed themselves for failures.

30. What Causes Prejudice? The Way We Assign Meaning: Attributional Biases
Thus, we tend to explain the behaviour of out-group members in a way that perpetuates our stereotype of them, thereby fostering prejudice.

31. Chapter Outline
IV. Individual Differences in Prejudice

32. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Research confirms that certain kinds of people are especially likely to hold negative attitudes toward members of out-groups.
Those who subscribe to just world beliefs, and who are high in right-wing authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, and social dominance are more likely to be prejudiced against out-groups than those who score low on these dimensions.

33. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Just World Beliefs
Just world belief: the view that the world is a fair and just place where people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
Negative attitudes toward the poor and homeless__including blaming them for their own plight__are more prevalent among individuals with strong just world beliefs (Farnham & Gunter, 1984)

34. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Right-wing authoritarianism is defined in terms of three clusters of attitudes:
authoritarian submission (a high degree of submission to authority figures)
authoritarian aggression (aggression directed toward groups that are seen as legitimate targets by authority figures)
conventionalism (a high degree of conformity to the rules and conventions that are established by authority figures)

35. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Those who score high on right-wing authoritarianism compared to lows,
-hold traditional, nonegalitarian attitudes toward women
-express more negative attitudes toward French Canadians, Natives, and Pakistanis, and
-show especially high levels of prejudice against homosexuals.

36. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Can the attitudes of right-wing authoritarians be changed? Yes.
One strategy that has proven effective is to create awareness that their attitudes toward the target group (eg, homosexuals) are much more negative than other people’s, and they tend to change their attitudes because conforming to social norms is important to them.

37. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Another way is to encourage interaction with members of the out-group.
Altemeyer (2001) found that right-wing authoritarians became more positive in their attitudes toward homosexuals following interaction.

38. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Religious Fundamentalism
Religious fundamentalism: a belief in the absolute and literal truth of one’s religious beliefs.
Research has shown that people who scored high in religious fundamentalism blamed homosexuals and single mothers (groups who behaviour is seen as immoral by religious fundamentalists) for unfortunate situations (eg, unemployment), whereas
groups who were not seen as threatening basic religious values (eg, students) were not blamed to the same extent.

39. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Social Dominance
Social dominance orientation: the belief that groups of people are inherently unequal and that it is acceptable for some groups in society to be benefited more than others.
Research conducted in Canada, China, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the US has shown that social dominance is associated with racial prejudice, sexism, and negative attitudes toward homosexuals.

40. Individual Differences in Prejudice
Social Dominance
Can the attitudes of people high in social dominance be changed? Yes
Esses and colleagues (2001) have used an indirect approach (ie, creating a sense of shared identity between the high dominant people and the target of prejudice) to reduce prejudice

41. Chapter Outline
V. Effects of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

42. Effects of Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination can have devastating effects on their victims.
Research on self-fulfilling prophecies suggests that we may unknowingly create stereotypical behaviour in out-group members through our treatment of them.

43. Effects of Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
When a member of a majority group mistreats a member of a disadvantaged group, the disadvantaged person is unlikely to perform well, thereby confirming the majority group member’s negative stereotype and perpetuating the discrimination (see Word et al, 1974 interview study; Fig. 13.6).
This is referred to as the self-fulfilling prophecy.

44. Effects of Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Stereotypic Threat
Members of an out-group also may experience stereotypic threat.
Stereotype threat is the apprehension experienced by members of a minority group that they might behave in a manner that confirms an existing cultural stereotype about their group.

45. Effects of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Self-Blaming Attributions for Discrimination
Finally, there is evidence that victims of discrimination may blame themselves for their poor performance__choosing to forfeit a sense of competence in favour of preserving social acceptance and the perception of control (see Ruggiero & Taylor, 1995 McGill study; Fig. 13.7).
This pattern may set up a vicious cycle. If minority group members blame themselves for negative outcomes, majority group members are able to justify their ongoing discrimination.

46. Chapter Outline
VI. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?

47. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
‘It’s never too late to give up our prejudices.’ (Henry David Thoreau)
There are a number of ways prejudice can be reduced. Some have been mentioned:
i) Getting people to focus on positive aspects of themselves (self-affirmation) reduces the need to denigrate others in order to get a self-esteem boost.
ii) Blurring the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ can improve attitudes toward out-groups.

48. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Other strategies include:
iii) learning not to hate;
Iv) revising stereotypical beliefs;
v) The contact hypothesis;
vi) Cooperation and independence: the jigsaw classroom;
vii) The extended contact hypothesis

49. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Learning Not to Hate
Prejudice can also be reduced by having people experience what it is like to be the victim of discrimination (see Jane Elliot, 1977 example).
Children may also be effective in teaching one another not to be prejudiced (see Aboud & Doyle, 1996 Quebec study of 3rd & 4th grade children).

50. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Revising Stereotypical Beliefs
People tend to process information in ways that confirm their stereotypes__even if that information completely contradicts the stereotype.
The question arises, What sort of information would actually refute a stereotype?
It seems that it depends partly on how the disconfirming information is presented. Weber and Crocker (1983) present 3 possible models.

51. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
The Contact Hypothesis
An especially effective way of reducing prejudice is through contact—bringing in-group and out-group members together, known as the contact hypothesis.
Contact must take place, however, only under certain prescribed conditions, otherwise it can exacerbate the existing negative attitudes. There are six such conditions.

52. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
When Contact Reduces Prejudice: Six Conditions
Allport suggested that six conditions are necessary for inter-group contact to reduce prejudice:
i) Mutual interdependence: a situation in which two or more groups need each other and must depend on each other in order to accomplish a goal that is important to each group.
Mutual interdependence is essential for contact to lead to a reduction in prejudice (see Sherif et al, 1961 summer camp study; Fig. 13.8).

53. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
When Contact Reduces Prejudice: Six Conditions
ii) A common goal
iii) Equal status of group members
iv) Informal interpersonal contact
v) Multiple contacts with several members of the out-group
vi) Social norms in place that promote equality

54. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
The jigsaw classroom has been found to be a powerful way to reduce stereotyping and prejudice among children of different ethnicities.
A jigsaw classroom is a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice and raise the self-esteem of children by placing them in small desegregated groups and making each child dependent on the other children in his or her group to learn the course material and do well in the class.

55. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
Aronson and colleagues gathered data from the jigsaw experiments. Results were:
Compared to students in traditional classrooms, students in the jigsaw groups showed a decrease in prejudice and stereotyping, as well as an increase in their liking for their groupmates, both within and across ethnic boundaries.

56. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
In addition, children in the jigsaw classrooms performed better on objective exams, liked school more, and showed a significantly greater increase in self-esteem than did children in traditional classrooms.

57. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
Moreover, children in schools where the jigsaw technique was practiced developed a greater ability to empathize with others and showed substantial evidence of true integration.

58. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
The jigsaw classroom was first tested in Since then several cooperative techniques have been developed.
The extremely positive results have been replicated in thousands of classrooms in the US and in other countries.

59. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
Cooperation and Interdependence: The Jigsaw Classroom
And, cooperative learning has become a major force within the field of public education and generally accepted as one of the most effective ways of improving race relations in schools.

60. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
The Extended Contact Hypothesis
Under the right conditions, contact between groups can be highly effective in reducing prejudice.
But it is not always possible to have members of different groups interact, particularly under the right conditions.
Thus, the extended contact hypothesis comes into play

61. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
The Extended Contact Hypothesis
Extended contact hypothesis is the mere knowledge that a member of one’s own group has a close relationship with a member of another group can reduce prejudice toward that group.

62. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
The Extended Contact Hypothesis
Wright et al (1997) found support for this extended contact hypothesis They showed that when one of the group members became friends with the ‘enemy,’ then the remaining group members adopted a more positive attitude toward the out-group, and
they became more generous to the out-group when allocating monetary rewards.

63. How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced?
The Extended Contact Hypothesis
Such results are highly encouraging. They suggest that we, alone, can make a difference simply by becoming friends with a member of an out-group.
And as members of our group learn about this friendship, they will become less prejudiced toward that group.
The End

64. ACTIVITY Who is Topper of the Class?

66. NO EXCUSE IN CASE OF NOT APPEARING IN THE QUIZ
QUIZ IN NEXT CLASS
10 %
NO EXCUSE IN CASE OF NOT APPEARING IN THE QUIZ

67. THANK YOU