The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination

The Psychology of Prejudice The Psychology of Prejudice and Discriminationand Discrimination

From Prejudice to Discrimination

Chapter 10

What is Discrimination?

• Discrimination consist of behaving differently towards people based solely or primarily on their membership in a social group

• Prejudice is an attitude—deals with how people think and feel about members of other groups.

Nov 2006 Prepared by S.Saterfield for Whitly & Kite, 2006

What is Discrimination?

• Discrimination –– Can manifest itself in may ways and in

many settings

• Verbally• Behaviorally


Socially Approved and Disapproved Prejudices

Approved % Disapproved %

• Rapists 98• Child abusers 98• Child molesters 97• Wife beaters 97• Terrorists 95• Racists 92• Members: Ku Klux Klan 91• Drunk Drivers 91• Members of the American Nazi Party 90• Pregnant women who drink alcohol 89• Men who refuse to pay Child support 89• Negligent parents 86• People who cheat on their spouses 82

• Mentally retarded people 3• Native Americans 6• Black Americans 6• Jews 6• Catholics 6• Whites 7• Hispanics 7• Asian Americans 7• Canadians 7• Ugly people 10• Interracial couples 11• People with AIDS 11• Fat people 11

Groups for which prejudice and discrimination had the highest and lowest approval ratings


Forms of Discrimination

Denokraitis and Feagin (1995) developed system to classify forms of discrimination and to show how they related to one another.

Three forms of discrimination—– Blatant– Subtle– Covert



Blatant Discrimination– Unequal and harmful treatment– Typically intentional– Quite visible– Easily documented

Also occurs in everyday contexts

Some forms against groups are illegal and generally condomned



Subtle Discrimination– Unequal and harmful treatment– Typically less visible and obvious than blatant

discrimination– Often not noticed because people have

internalized subtle discriminatory behaviors as “NORMAL”, “NATURAL”, or “CUSTOMARY”

– Harder to document– Often unintentional– Can be manifested in everyday speech



The Language of Prejudice

Some of the most common examples of subtle prejudice can be found in everyday speech.

– Hostile humor– Patronizing– Vanishing– Abnormalization– Linguistic devices



Covert Discrimination

Consist of unequal and harmful treatment that is

• Hidden• Purposeful • Often maliciously motivated

Behavior that consciously attempts to ensure failure

Very difficult to document



Covert Discrimination

Employment context—

Tokenism—hiring one or a few members of group as evident that organization does not discriminate

Containment—restricting members of group to limited number of job categories

Sabotage—arranging for members of a group to fail; assigning them low volume territories but setting sales quotas very high


Levels of Discrimination

Interpersonal discrimination—behaviors individuals direct at other individuals

– Passive behavior

ignoring behavior– Active

Hostile stares

demeaning remarks and commands



Institutional discrimination— norms, policies, and practices associated with a social institution such as the family, religious institution, the educational system, and the criminal justice system, result in different outcomes for members of difference groups.



Organizational discrimination— is the manifestation of institutional discrimination in the context of a particular organization.

• Work organizations• SES neighborhoods


Levels of DiscriminationCultural discrimination— consist of

“discrimination and inequality, built into our • literature, • art, • music, • language, • morals, • customs, • beliefs, • practices, and • ideology...

Define a generally agreed-upon way of life


Interpersonal Discrimination

Relation between Prejudice and Discrimination

• Personal stereotypes• Attitudes-Behavior correspondence• Perceived social support



Motivation to Control Prejudice

• Motivation to control prejudice reaction

– Concern with Acting Prejudiced– Restraint to Avoid Dispute– Internal Motivation– External Motivation



Motivation to Control Prejudice

• Motivation to respond without prejudice

– Social Norms– The development of motivation to conrol

prejudice– The Normative Context and Motivation to

Control Prejudice



Regressive Prejudice– Regressive racism– Control over behavior– Cognitive demands– Disinhibitors– Priming as a releaser of regressive

prejudice



Reactions to having acted in a Prejudice Manner

– Differences between people– High and low implicit prejudice– Guilt– Those who point out behavior that is

prejudice


From Prejudice to DiscriminationStudy Questions

• Which of the following is not an example of blatant prejudice?

– threatening Muslims outside their mosque– refusing service to a Jewish person– denying housing to a lesbian– using baby talk when speaking to an older

person



• Which of the following is not an example of blatant prejudice?

– threatening Muslims outside their mosque– refusing service to a Jewish person– denying housing to a lesbian– using baby talk when speaking to an

older person (p. 398)



• Sukja tells her friends that gay men’s behavior is out of step with what men should be like. Which linguistic device describes her action?

– abnormalization– vanishing– patronizing speech– hostile humor



• Sukja tells her friends that gay men’s behavior is out of step with what men should be like. Which linguistic device describes her action?

– Abnormalization (p. 399)– vanishing– patronizing speech– hostile humor



• If a person who is high in external but low in internal motivation to control prejudice acts in a prejudiced manner, he or she is likely to

– feel guilty.– experience lower blood pressure.– criticize others.– feel threatened.



• If a person who is high in external but low in internal motivation to control prejudice acts in a prejudiced manner, he or she is likely to

– feel guilty.– experience lower blood pressure.– criticize others.– feel threatened. (p. 407

The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination

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