CONSEQUENCES OF PREJUDICE
 Prejudicial attitudes can lead to discriminatory behaviours
 Two forms of discrimination: racial discrimination and gender-based discrimination
PREJUDICES BASED ON RACE AND GENDER
PREJUDICE BASED ON RACE
Is racial prejudice disappearing?
 Explicit prejudicial attitudes can change very quickly
 Minority groups compare the present with their ideal world, and perceive somewhat less
progress toward racial equality
Subtle forms of prejudice
 Shocks, phone, test marks – shows prejudice
Discrimination without awareness
 We use different parts of our frontal lobes when thinking about ourselves or groups we
identify with, versus when thinking about people that perceive as dissimilar to us
PREJUDICE BASED ON GENDER
Gender stereotypes
 Strong gender stereotypes exist
 Members of the stereotyped group accept the stereotypes
Gender-based discrimination: Benevolent and hostile
 Complementary ambivalent sexist views of men and women may serve to justify the status
quo in gender relations
Gender-based discrimination: Good news?
 Experiments have not demonstrated any overall tendency to devalue women’s work
CONSEQUENCES OF PREJUDICE FOR THOSE WHO FACE IT
SELF-PERPETUATING STEREOTYPES
 Prejudgments are self-perpetuating
 When a member of a group behaves as expected, we duly note the fact; our prior belief is
confirmed
 When a member of a group behaves inconsistently with our expectation, we may explain
away the behaviour due to special circumstances
 Misinterpretations are likely when someone expects an unpleasant encounter with you
 Subtypes are exceptions to the group; subgroups are acknowledged as a part of the overall
group
IMPACT OF DISCRIMINATION: THE SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
 Social beliefs can be self-confirming
Distinctiveness and self-consciousness
 One such effect of prejudice is that feeling distinctive leads people to feel self-conscious
 Sometimes we misperceive others as reacting to our distinctiveness
 Self-conscious interactions between a majority and a minority person can feel tense even
when both are well intentioned
Stigma consciousness
 People vary in stigma consciousness – in how likely they are to expect that others will
stereotype them
STEREOTYPE THREAT
 Feeling self-conscious about being stereotyped can siphon off our mental energy and
attention, the result can be diminished mental and physical stamina
 Three distinct ways that stereotype threat interferes with performance
Emotional: stereotype threat causes stress, and this stress interferes with
functioning in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which plays an important role in
complex problem-solving
o Cognitive: Stereotype threat is distracting, causing people to actively monitor their
performance – increases mental demands and decreases memory
o Motivational: people try to suppress negative thoughts and feelings that they may be
fulfilling the stereotype; energy this requires impairs performance
Negative stereotypes disrupt performance; and positive stereotypes facilitate performance
o
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STEREOTYPE AND PERSONAL JUDGMENT
 People often evaluate individuals more positively than the groups they compose
 Given general information about a group and trivial but vivid information about a particular
group member, the vivid information usually overwhelms the effect of the general
information
Impact of strong stereotypes
 Even when a strong gender stereotype is known to be irrelevant, it has an irresistible force
Bias in interpretations and memories
 Stereotypes also colour how we interpret events
 The “cognitive prison” of our stereotypes guides and constrains our impressions
REACTIONS TO PREJUDICE AND STEREOTYPING
 The more that people believe they experience discriminations, the more anxious and
depressed they are
 Believing that you experience discrimination can also protect yourself-esteem by attributing
the negative evaluations they face in specific situations to prejudice
 Those who perceive chronic prejudice in their lives suffer; in response to a specific negative
event; however believing that the event was due to prejudice can protect one’s self-esteem
PERCEPTION OF DISCRIMINATION
 Personal/group discrimination discrepancy enables individuals to maintain a perception of
control over their performance and relationships