Chapter 7Prejudice: Foundations, Causes,

Effects & Remedies

Prejudice: Unavoidable Factors

• Group Formation

• Ethnocentrism

• Stereotyping

Group Formation

• Fosters survival, social identity– “we” part of the self-concept

• Social Identity theory – We like our own groups better to lift our own self-esteem.– Taijfel (1971) “over- and

underestimators”

• In-group bias – give own group most rewards – Bias stronger when in minority and strongly

identify with group.

Group Formation

• Outgroup bias– Downgrading others not in your group– Also applies to norms and customs,

see behavior or ways of other groups as strange or even wrong

• People with diverse group memberships exhibit less outgroup bias.

Ethnocentrism

• By-product of social/cultural upbringing

• Rules define culture & expected behavior

• Need to honor them in order to successfully adapt and to preserve culture

• Contributes to the successful function of a society

Inflexible Ethnocentrism

• Judging others as wrong, simply because they are different

• Flexible ethnocentrism is less judgmental.

Becoming More Flexibly Ethnocentric

• Key lies in the awareness of our own ethnocentrism.– 1. Become consciously aware of own

rules & how they affect perceptions & judgments of others.

– 2. Recognize that other cultures have their own norms.

– 3. Try to understand other cultures’ norms.

– 4. Use all this to develop empathy.

Stereotypes

• A generalization about a group of people that assumes members share common characteristics.

• Mental shortcuts that prepare us to interact

• Often based on a “grain of truth”• Often exaggerated caricatures• May become self-fulfilling

prophicies

Social Contributors to Stereotypes

• Confirmation bias

• Fundamental attribution error

• Outgroup homogeneity effect

The Tendency to Stereotype

• Personal variables– Need for structure & predictability– Powerful position

• Cognitive efficiency?• Less to lose?

• Situational variables– Good mood– Emotionally aroused– Mentally distracted

Prejudice & Discrimination

• Prejudice is pre-judgment– It may be positive or negative– It is usually considered to be negative– It is often based on stereotypes

• Factors it is often based on include;– Age, sex, race, ethnic identity, weight,

religion, disability, sexual orientation

Prejudice

• It often becomes more pronounced when the dominant group begins to feel threatened by an influx of immigrants.

• Public racial prejudice has declined in the United States.

• Has prejudice gone “underground”?

Prejudice

• Realistic group conflict theory.– People become prejudiced against

those with whom they must compete for scarce resources such as jobs.

Prejudice

• Robbers’ Cave Experiment (Sherif, 1966)– 22 white, middle-class, 11-year old

boys– 2-week summer camp– Eagles vs. Rattlers– Mutual competition, vandalism, food

fights, name-calling, etc.– Sherif brought the group together

through a common goal

Factors in Developing Prejudice

• Social learning from family & friends

• Relative deprivation – perceiving that others are better off than we are

• Emotions (threat)• Discrimination (unfair treatment)

Effects of Prejudice & Discrimination

• Lowered self-esteem– Crocker et al. (1991)

• Targets of discrimination feel less personal control

• Stereotype threat (Steele, 1997)– Anxiety from the threat inteferes with

performance– May begin to avoid situation(s)

Overcoming Prejudice

• Superordinate Goal– Robbers’ Cave

• Jigsaw Classroom (Aronson, 1978-2000)

• Mindfulness