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LTZ-Social Psychology and Understanding Diversity

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Social Psychology and
Understanding Diversity
Dr. Lucy Laltlanzovi
Diversity
• If we look around, we certainly understand
that we exist in a ‘diverse’ social world.
• People around us belong to various
nationalities, ethnic identities, cultural
backgrounds, socioeconomic status, religious
beliefs etc.
• Diversity refers to differences in how people
look, how they think, and how they behave.
Diversity
• Diversity is a wide array of people that come
from different backgrounds, lifestyles, social
experiences, races, and religions. the
coexistence of various perspectives (political,
religious), backgrounds (racial/ethnic, sexual
orientation, nationality, gender).
• We still continue to live alongside this
diversity as individuals with a strong sense of
belonging to our particular community or
group.
• The world is diverse; people have diverse
values, diverse behaviours, and diverse
customs, and they wear diverse clothing.
• The meaning of the term diversity within
psychology extends beyond simply
acknowledging that differences exist to
understanding that diversity can arise from
many different sources.
• Some of the more common sources include
ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, physical ability, and social class.
• Differences across these categories reflect the
layers that make us who we are, and it is these
differences that coexist in each of us.
• Some aspects of diversity are the result of
learned ways of doing things.
• For example, in some cultures individuals learn
that the best way to eat is with a knife and fork,
in other cultures chopsticks are favoured, and in
still other cultures fingers are the utensils of
choice.
• Other aspects of diversity are the result of birth;
for example, sex and ethnicity.
• Three major domains of demographic diversity:
– Ethnicity/shared cultural characteristics
– Sex, and
– Social class.
Some other common types of diversity are:
• Religion: People belong to various religious
backgrounds and faith around us.
• Age: In any given place, people of different ages
and more importantly, generations co-exist
together. Sex/ Gender: Gender has numerous
aspects to it which makes it diverse. Agender (not
having a gender), gender conformity, gender
dysphoria, sexual orientation are just a few ways
of looking at the concept.
• Disability: The diversity in the experiences of
people having disabilities (both physical and
psychological) requires the world around to
adjust and help in adaptation by making it an
inclusive environment.
• Besides these, there exist some intangible
characteristics like education, personality, life
experiences etc. that contribute towards
human diversity.
• The presence of diversity often leads to
experiences of bias and discrimination.
• These biases lead to the way perceptions are
formed of each other.
• Two important ideas follow from the fact that
we, as individuals, are perpetually embedded in
diversity.
• First, because individuals are literally part of the
social contexts in which they behave, those
situations cannot be understood independently
of the people in them.
• Example: Have you ever been amazed that you
perceived a situation, such as a job interview,
much differently than a friend? Perhaps you
approached the interview with optimism and
confidence, regarding it a potentially positive step
in your career goals. Your friend, however, may
have viewed the same scenario as threatening
and bemoaning how it would never work out.
• This illustrates how social situations are, in
vital part, constructed and maintained by
people.
• We project our own attitudes, feelings,
expectations, and fears onto the situations we
encounter.
• Applied to our social contexts, this principle
says that the differentness we perceive
between ourselves and other people, or
among other people, may be inaccurate.
• There are times when we project too much
social difference onto our contexts and the
people in them.
• At other times, however, we underestimate
the diversity around us. So, the diversity of
our lives is partly a function of us—our
individual ways of thinking and emotional
needs.
• Second, because people live and behave in
diverse social contexts, then individuals cannot
be understood independently of the situations in
which they act and interact.
• Are you sometimes a different person, or do you
show a different side of yourself, as your social
setting changes?
• For example, do you display different table
manners when eating with your friends at the
café than during a holiday meal with the family?
• Do you think of yourself differently in those
situations?
• If so, then you realize how we are, in vital part,
social beings.
• Our behaviour and identity are constructed
and maintained by the situations in which we
act and live. Likewise, our thoughts and
actions flex with the situational norms we
encounter.
• If we are interested in explaining who we are
and why we behave the way we do, we must
look to the social context for insight.
• The diversity of our social contexts is laden
with informative clues to help us demystify
our own behaviour and confront our attitudes
and beliefs.
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A social psychological study of diversity must:
Examine how diversity shapes our own identities
and behaviour.
Examine how we shape the diversity of our social
worlds.
Confront a wide range of diversity dimensions,
not just those that are associated with historical
disadvantage.
Recognize the social injustice that attends many
dimensions of diversity, and use our scientific
knowledge to respond to injustice.
Recognize not just social differences, but also the
diversity within, and similarities between, groups
of people.
The Social Psychology of Diversity: A Conceptual
Framework
I. Diversity Is Socially Constructed
a) The Individual is a Social Perceiver: As individuals
living in a social world, we confront and process
volumes of social information each day. From others’
skin colour to facial characteristics, from their clothing
preferences to political attitudes, we sift through,
organize, and make sense of countless pieces of social
information.
• Although we can be very fast and efficient in the way
we process these data, psychological researchers have
demonstrated that we commonly make mistakes and
exhibit inaccuracies in our thinking about other
people and our social world.
• These tendencies and errors have
consequences for our conclusions and
judgments about our social world and the
people who comprise it.
• We tend to rely on information that is most
available in our memory banks to help us
make judgments about other people, and
this information leads us to make mistakes in
judging the diversity of our social
environments.
b) The Individual is a Social Actor: Not only are
we social perceivers, we also act within our
social contexts in ways that have implications
for diversity.
• We typically bring into our interactions with
other people a set of beliefs and expectations
about them. These expectations can function
in two ways: guiding the way we act toward
other people and influencing the way others
react to us.
• Our behaviour often sends signals to other
people about their differentness and how
they are expected to act, leading them to live
up to (or, more commonly, down to) those
expectations.
• In this way, our behaviour toward others
actually alters the extent of difference in our
social environment.
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Our actions toward socially different others are also
driven by our feelings about ourselves.
These social identities are value-laden; we are proud
of being, for example, Jewish, Latino, or female.
Because we are emotionally invested in our social
categories and memberships, we want them to
compare favourably with other social groups.
The desire to have our social group look good
compared to others invariably guides us to behave in
ways that create or enhance differences between us.
In short, the diversity we perceive in our schools or
communities may result in part from our needs to feel
good about our own social groups.
II. Diversity Is a Social Influence
• To study how the individual and the social
context are interdependent, we must recognize
that our behaviour is influenced by a variety of
social forces, one of which is our differentness
from others. Therefore, we not only perceive
social difference in our environments, many of
us experience diversity too.
• We are aware that we are different from other
people in many ways, such as in our skin colour,
family background, and religious beliefs. This
experience is psychologically important because
being different from others influences the way
we think and feel about ourselves and interact
with other people.
a) Influence on Identity: Social psychologists
have learned that our identities—whom we
regard ourselves as— incorporate the
impressions and beliefs others hold regarding
us.
• The experience of diversity acknowledges
that we live among people who, themselves,
are constructors of their social world.
• In other words, other people categorize you
based on dimensions of social difference (just
as you tend to do to them).
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Other people may not know you personally, but
as a member of some (often visibly apparent)
social group about which they have prior
knowledge, you are known to them to some
degree.
The ‘you’ that is known to other people, and
based largely on your social group affiliation,
may differ sharply from how you view yourself.
The discrepancy between our identities and the
way other people identify us has profound
implications for our psychological well-being and
social adjustment.
• One’s social identities, beliefs and
assumptions that other people associate with
those identities have important implications
for one’s psychological identity and wellbeing.
• In sum, a psychological appreciation of
diversity must include an understanding of
the experience of being different from
others.
b) Influence on Behavior: The experience of
diversity extends beyond how we identify
ourselves and includes how we behave.
• Just as our actions toward others that are
guided by category-based expectations have
implications for the perception of diversity,
others’ behaviour toward us follows their beliefs
and expectations about us and influences how
we experience a diverse world.
• Others’ beliefs and expectations about the traits
and behaviours of the members of a social
group comprise a role—a script for conducting
oneself in the ongoing drama of life.
• However, social roles are a double-edged
sword.
• On one hand they are comfortable contexts
in which to live, because playing the
expected role brings the approval of others.
• On the other hand, social roles are limiting;
they constrain what a member of a social
group should be or do.
• For example, there is still a strong collective
belief in this society that women are best
suited for roles that involve nurturing,
supportive, and helpful behaviour.
• Not surprisingly, women greatly outnumber
men in such occupations as elementary
school teacher, nurse, and secretary.
• Adopting this female role in one’s behaviour
is associated with opportunities in those
vocational areas, as well as a cultural stamp
of approval at playing the woman role
appropriately, but also place women at an
economic disadvantage.
• You can see, then, how our behaviour is not
ours alone, but is shaped by cultural forces
that stem directly from social differences.
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Societies: Cultural Diversity
Culture can be described as the shared values
that guides to live.
The term was first used by Taylor in 1871.
Taylor defined culture as “that complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
laws, customs and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
Broadly speaking, the term culture refers to
factors, such as race and ethnicity, which exert
differential influence over the lives of individuals
in different groups.
• More specifically, culture may be defined as a
dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit,
established by groups in order to ensure their
survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs,
norms, and behaviours shared by a group, but
harboured differently by each specific unit
within the group, communicated across
generations, relatively stable with the
potential to change across time. (Matsumoto
& Juang, 2004, p. 10)
• Cultural diversity is increasingly a part of all of
our lives.
• Urban, suburban, and even rural areas are
becoming more culturally diverse, and with
increased globalization this diversification will
continue both in the interactions in our daily
lives (e.g., schools, workplaces), and in the
broader social structure (e.g., social functions,
media).
• Culture has a pervasive influence on the lives of
individuals within it.
• Its reach extends from the more obvious factors,
such as values and beliefs, to the less obvious
ones, such as nonverbal behaviour and
communication styles.
• There are many aspects to culture, and these
aspects can result in many differences across
groups of people.
• For example, people from different countries may
sometimes be identified by the type of clothing
they wear.
• Similarly, an individual’s religion can sometimes
be identified by how the person dresses, such as
with some members of the Amish and Islamic
communities.
• Behavioral differences can also result from
culture.
• Although shaking hands when meeting someone
is the norm now in many parts of the world, the
traditional greeting in Japan is a bow while
placing one’s hands together in front of the face,
whereas nodding is the appropriate greeting in
India.
• However, not all of culture’s effects on behaviour
are as immediately visible as greetings.
• Culture is socially transmitted through
enculturation and socialisation.
• Thus, most of the behaviours that can be
perceived in a context and culture is a
prominent context.
• As individuals belonging to various cultures
come together due to various reasons like
migration for work and education, due to
globalisation and so on, the result is cultural
diversity.
• There are various dimensions of culture as
stated by Hofstede, that leads to individual
differences in the values and preferences that
are learned. These are discussed as follows:
1. Individualism and collectivism: An idiocentric
(denoting interest in or focus on one's self
rather than on other objects or people)
individual, that is an individual with
individualism orientation will follow his/her
own goals without taking in to consideration
the views of his/ her family members.
• On the other hand, an allocentric ( having
one's interest and attention centred on other
persons) individual, that is an individual with
collectivistic orientation will behave in manner
that is seen as beneficial for the group and for
that he/she may even give on his/her personal
goals.
• America and Canada can be seen as
allocentric examples of individualistic
societies. Whereas, India can be seen as an
example of collectivistic allocentric society
(Kwantes et al. 2012).
2. Power distance: This is yet another dimension
of culture and can be explained as the extent
of acceptance of inequality (that is based on
status in society, power, physical
characteristics and so on) by the individuals in
society.
• Thus, there can be cultures that have high
power density (for example, Malaysia and
Philippines) and cultures that have low power
density (Germany and New Zealand).
3. Masculinity and femininity: This dimension mainly
focuses on work related goals.
• Cultures that have high masculinity focus in
encouragement of recognition at work place,
competitions and advancement at workplace.
Whereas, cultures that have high femininity focus on
relationships and provide significance to harmony.
• Examples of masculinity culture are Japan and Italy
and examples of femininity culture are Sweden and
the Netherlands (Kwantes et al. 2012).
• Gender differences may exist in values endorsed in
masculinity cultures, whereas such a gender
difference is not found amongst femininity cultures.
4. Uncertainty avoidance: This dimension mainly
has to do with coping process when uncertainties
are faced.
• High levels of uncertainties can lead to
generation of stress and anxiety amongst the
individuals. And this is relevant in this context
because every society will teach its individuals
ways of coping with uncertainties.
• Societies with low uncertainty avoidance believe
that uncertainties cannot be avoided and they
need to be firm.
• Example of such a society is Singapore.
• Societies with high uncertainty experience threat,
when faced with uncertainty, example of such a
society is Germany.
5. Long or short term orientation: In cultures
with long orientation, the future rewards are
valued and thus patience, harmony and
persistence are given more importance; for
example, Taiwan and South Korea.
• Whereas, in cultures with short term
orientation, the focus is on immediate
rewards and quick gratification; for example,
Canada.
Demographics: Personal Diversity
• People differ on core characteristics that are key
determinants of life experiences. These
characteristics and experiences affect how we see
ourselves and create different pieces of identity
that are like links on a chain; one never exists
without the others.
• A man from an upper-class background cannot
necessarily differentiate the parts of his
experience that are related to being upper-class
from the parts that are related to being male.
• Similarly, our own experiences are intertwined
with our own characteristics.
• People respond to us because of a
combination of these factors and rarely to any
one factor alone.
• Our life experiences are affected by these
largely socially constructed factors stemming
from both visible aspects (e.g., race, gender,
social class) and in/non-visible aspects (e.g.,
sexual identity, religion) (Bierema, 2010;
Mannix & Neale, 2005; Wilton, MossRacusin,
Good, & Sanchez, 2015).
• A closer look at gender, race, and social class,
each of which continues to influence one’s
experiences and opportunities are discussed as
follows:
1. Gender: Although many people use the terms
sex and gender to mean the same thing, there is
actually a difference between them.
• The term sex refers to the biological distinction of
being male or female, whereas the term gender
refers to the social or learned characteristics that
are associated with being male or female.
• Boys are moulded to become what society
considers to be masculine (e.g., independent,
assertive), whereas girls are moulded to
become what society considers to be feminine
(e.g., caring, dependable).
• Behaviors that match these expectations are
often associated with rewards (Robinson &
HowardHamilton, 2000) while behaviours that
violate these expectations are often
associated with costs (Good & Sanchez, 2010).
• Men, for example, were more frequently
associated with descriptors such as aggressive,
capable, and rational, whereas, women were
more frequently associated with descriptors such
as affectionate, dependent, and emotional.
• Although things have changed from the time
when women were thought to be too
intellectually inferior or too weak and frail to
participate in many aspects of society, a belief in
the fundamental difference between the sexes is
still evident in modern cultures (Benokraitis &
Feagin, 1995).
• The focus on differences and the ignoring of
similarities have been the basis of much of the
feminist critiques of research on gender
(Hyde, 1991).
• One of the responses to gender diversity or
the differences between the sexes (whether
real or perceived) is sexism, that is,
differential and often detrimental treatment
of a person based on that person’s sex.
• The term sexism likely brings to mind thoughts
of negative or demeaning attitudes toward
women.
2. Ethnic Background: Another domain of
diversity is ethnic (nation/tradition) diversity.
Like gender, ethnicity is often used as a way in
which to group people together.
• Unfortunately, a common response to ethnic
diversity is racism.
• Racism can be defined as bias against an
individual or a group of individuals based on
the individual’s or group members’
race/ethnicity.
• In most (but not all) situations, it is no longer
considered acceptable to make directly racist
comments, and so racism tends to reveal itself
in indirect ways.
• In other cases, perceived social norms against
racism inhibit the likelihood that someone will
admit to racist attitudes or beliefs.
• As such, these forms of prejudice
(preconception) may be more subtle and
indirect.
• An example of a form of modern racism is
aversive racism (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986).
• Despite holding racist beliefs, aversive racists
believe that they are not prejudiced against
people from races other than their own. They
do not acknowledge their racial biases
because this perspective is inconsistent with
their view of themselves as
egalitarian/democratic.
• Therefore, although racism is present, the
racist attitudes are not conscious (Nelson,
2002).
• Similarly, symbolic racism (Sears, 1988) also
does not manifest itself in obvious ways.
• In instances of this type of racism, a negative
attitude is associated with something other
than the target.
• For example, an individual may insist that he
or she is not racist and has “nothing against
Blacks.” However, the individual may also say
that there is a problem with affirmative
action, something that he or she believes give
an unfair advantage to Blacks over Whites in
hiring practices.
• Ambivalent racism (Hass, Katz, Rizzo, Bailey, &
Eisenstadt, 1991), like ambivalent sexism,
contends that people can simultaneously hold
two attitudes that are inconsistent with each
other.
• With this type of racism, people are not overtly
prejudiced and do recognize the unfair treatment
of minorities and racial disparities, but at the
same time they believe that the system is based
on meritocracy, that is, the principle that hard
work will pays off—the “American Dream” (Hilton
& von Hipple, 1996).
• As a result of holding this attitude, these
individuals are more willing to accept different
outcomes for people of different
races/ethnicities in the belief that everyone
has had the same opportunities, but that
individuals from some groups have not taken
full advantage of the opportunities available
to them.
• 3. Social Class: Issues relating to social class
constitute another example of how the ideal
of equal opportunity, and the belief that
individual effort always pays off pervades
many Western societies, allowing people to
avoid acknowledging structural and systemic
inequalities.
• Those who are economically disadvantaged
have historically been described as belonging
to a culture of poverty (Mincy, 2000).
• This culture has been assumed to be the result
of values and attitudes held by impoverished
individuals and is viewed as part of what
separates those in the lower socioeconomic
strata from those in other strata.
• Research suggests that social class is indeed a
determinant of how we “size people up.”
• For example, Kirby (1999) found that class bias
was involved in people’s impressions of new
neighbours. She found that people were more
likely to object to their new neighbours if they
believed that the neighbours were receiving
public assistance, and that this bias was one
that participants expressed candidly.
• Younge (2003) suggested that the notion of
equal opportunity is often used to excuse the
huge disparity in economic realities.
• The concepts of the deserving poor and the
undeserving poor are rooted in people’s
perceptions of those who comprise the lowest
socioeconomic classes (Mincy, 2000).
• The undeserving poor are those whose
economic conditions are assumed to be
through no fault of their own.
• For example, individuals who are
handicapped, are mentally ill, have some
other life circumstances that have clearly
affected their ability to earn a living are often
given sympathy, and we are less likely to hold
their economic circumstances against them.
• However, most individuals are assumed to
have equal opportunity and equal access to
earning a living.
• Those who fall into the deserving poor
category are those whom others think should
have taken advantage of the supposed
opportunities, but have not done so due to
their own lack of initiative.
• This artificial and frequently erroneous
pattern of assumptions allow others,
especially those who are more privileged, to
justify the existence of social class
inequalities.
• Unfortunately, these assumptions about equal
opportunity are so deep-seated that they are
difficult to overcome, even for the people who
are the most disadvantaged by societal
inequalities.
• Gender, ethnicity, and social class constitute
majority of the many ways in which we are
demographically diverse.
• Each of these differences does not operate in
isolation; we are complex individuals with
many different aspects to our identities.
• Different identities in race and culture shape
individuals' worldviews, and in turn, their
psychology. It's also beneficial for individuals
within the field of psychology to be
representative of the population as a whole.
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