Group Influence and Prejudice
Agenda
•
•
•
•
1. Review Asch and Obedience (15)
2. Prejudice (20)
3. Discuss the Jane Elliot Study (15)
4. America in 1968, Police footage (CSPAN)
(15)
• 5. Stereotypes and Prejudice, toys! (15)
• 6. Target article. (10)
Reasons for Conforming with the group:
Normative Social Influence: Influence
resulting from a person’s desire to gain
approval or avoid rejection.
– A person may respect normal behavior
because there may be a severe price to pay if
not respected. (ex. Clothing)
Informational Social Influence: The group
may provide valuable information about how
to act.
•
You’re new to school and just go with the flow at a
pep rally
3
Our behavior can change in the presence of
others
Michelle Agnis/ NYT Pictures
Social facilitation: Refers to
improved performance on
tasks in the presence of
others.
Social loafing: The
tendency of an individual
in a group to exert less
effort toward attaining a
common goal because the
attention is not on them.
Example: Group
work. Some people
do the work others
don’t but still get the
good grade
4
Deindividuation: Mob mentality
The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in
group situations makes you act like you
wouldn’t normally act because you think you
can’t be held accountable.
Mob behavior
5
Effects of Group Interaction
• Group Polarization
enhances a group’s
prevailing attitudes
through a
discussion.
• If a group is likeminded, discussion
strengthens its
prevailing opinions
and attitudes.
6
Groupthink
•Disastrous consequence of group
polarization
• It is mode of thinking that occurs
when the desire for harmony in a
decision-making group overrides the
realistic alternatives or viewpoints.
•Example: leads to poor decisions that can effect many people
7
Power of Individuals
• Non-violent fasts and
appeals by Gandhi
led to the
independence of
India from the
British.
Margaret Bourke-White/ Life Magazine. © 1946 Time Warner, Inc.
• The power of social
influence is
enormous, but so is
the power of the
individual.
Gandhi
8
Prejudice and Racism
Prejudice
• Simply called “prejudgment,” a
prejudice is an unjustifiable
(usually negative) attitude toward
a group and its members.
• Prejudice is often directed towards
different cultural, ethnic, or gender
groups.
10
Sources of Prejudice
Psychological
Low self-esteem
Social
Groupthink
Anxiety
Conformity
Insecurity
Parental
messages
Societal
messages (ads,
etc.)
Economic
Cultural
Majority’s desire Ethnocentrism
to preserve its
status
Desire for group
identity
Competition for
jobs, power,
The justification
resources
of war
How Prejudiced are People?
Over the duration of time many prejudices
against interracial marriage, gender,
homosexuality, and minorities have decreased.
12
Racial & Gender Prejudice
Americans today express much less racial and
gender prejudice, but prejudices still exist.
13
Us vs. Them
Ingroup: People with whom
one shares a common
identity.
Outgroup: Those perceived
as different from one’s
ingroup.
Ingroup Bias: The tendency
to favor one’s own group.
• Leads to the JustWorld – Effect
• The tendency of
people to believe
the world is just,
because “bad”
people get what
they deserve
14
Toys!!!