Theories and research

 Stereotypes
Specific traits attributed to people based on group membership (stereotypes are protypes!)
 Prejudice (opposite of allophilia)
Negative attitudes toward the members of a specific group
 Discrimination
Negative behaviors directed toward members of a specific group

 Discrimination can be institutional or interpersonal, but prejudice is always interpersonal
 Prejudice has two components
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Emotional (how you feel about a group)
Cognitive (what you think about a group) especially the group’s intent and competence to pursue it
 Prejudice has many targets
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Racism
Linguicism
Ageism
Religious intolerance
Heterosexism
Political intolerance
Classism
Ableism
Sexism

As viewed by society, how _________ are members of this group?
Competent
Confident
Independent
Competetive
Intelligent
As viewed by society, how __________ are members of this group?
Tolerant
Warm
Good natured
Sincere
Fiske et al., 2002, JPSP, 82, 878-902

Student sample
Paternalistic prejudice
Allophilia
Contemptuous prejudice
Envious prejudice
Fiske et al., 2002, JPSP, 82, 878-902

Student sample
Fiske et al., 2002, JPSP, 82, 878-902
Community sample in Amherst, MA

Perceptions of outgroups

Allport’s Scale of Prejudice intensity
 Antilocution (1) Antilocution (or hate speech) means a majority group freely makes jokes and refers to a minority group in terms of negative stereotypes and negative images. Harmful or not?
 Avoidance (2) People in a minority group are actively avoided by members of the majority group. Harmful how?
 Discrimination (3) Minority group is discriminated against through the denial of opportunities and services (prejudice in action).
 Physical Attack (4) The majority group vandalizes minority property and carries out violent attacks on individuals or groups.
 Extermination (5) The majority group seeks extermination of the minority group.

 Who/what do we blame for prejudice?
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A few “bad apples”?
 Morally neutral cognitive wiring (information processing)?
 A morally corrupt society?

 Psychodynamic theory
 Realistic Conflict theory
 Social Identity theory
 Social Learning theory
 Cognitive theory
 Classical conditioning theory

 The prejudiced personality
 Process: Growing up in authoritarian families
 Evidence
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Some support (high submissiveness, high conformity)
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Many limitations
 Ignores situational factors (1952 Virginia mine study)
 Ignores sociocultural influences (Princeton study)
 Fails to explain uniformity (were all Nazis authoritarian?)
 Fails to explain why specific targets are chosen
 Fails to explain why most people are capable of out-group prejudice given the right conditions

 Realistic Conflict Theory (Sherif, 1961)
 Process
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We compete over scarce resources
During competition, the “other” is considered an enemy to justify trying to “win”
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Enemy is then dehumanized and scapegoated
 Evidence
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1958 Southern State lynching study
Sherif’s Robber’s Cave study (next 3 slides)
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Some limitations
 Doesn’t explain why there is no inter-occupation conflict
 Doesn’t explain why prejudice occurs when there is little competition

Robbers
Cave
Experiment

Robbers Cave Study
Stage 1:
In-group formation

Robbers Cave Study
Stage 2:
Group competition

Robbers Cave Study
Stage 3:
In-group formation

Theories of prejudice formation/change
 Social Identity Theory
 Identity derived from group affiliation
 People tend to attribute positive characteristics to own group and view the other group more critically
(ultimate attribution error)
 But why does this happen?
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Self worth (self-esteem) derived from group achievement and favorable comparisons with other groups
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Result: People automatically favor in-group members
 Evidence
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Minimum group experiments show in-group favoritism
But they don’t show out-group derogation

Theories of prejudice formation/change
 Social Learning Theory
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Allport’s notion of lack of information coupled with hostility
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Lack of information makes people rely on stereotypes
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Hostility makes them look for a group to scapegoat
Stereotypes lead to prejudice
 Social modeling of prejudice
(parents/friends/teachers/media)
 Few models of anti-racism

Theories of prejudice formation/change
 Classical conditioning theory
 Process: Fear conditioned through secondary conditioning (e.g., walking down street with mom)

Even the Well-Intentioned Have Bias
 Fiske (2002) - in Western cultures:
 about 10% of individuals show blatant racism
 about 80% show subtle racial biases
 Subtle racial biases:
 avoidance of interactions
 awkwardness
 slips of the tongue
 stereotypic assumptions and judgments

 Modern or symbolic racism
(Kinder & Sears, 1981)
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Blaming the victim
Support of policies that all happen to disadvantage racial minorities
 Ambivalent racism
(Katz & Hass, 1988)
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High scores on pro-Black attitudes (pity for the disadvantaged)
High scores on anti-Black attitudes (hostility toward the deviant)
 Aversive racism
(Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986)
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A desire to be egalitarian and non-racist
Unconscious racist cognitions that are manifested during stress or ambiguity

 Character development
 Racism or not racism

 Contact theory (antidote to realistic group conflict)
 Equal status contact
 Contact should have high acquaintance potential
 Out-group members must not conform to stereotypes
 Contact situation must encourage cooperation
 Group contact must be supported by authority

 Work on yourself
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Become aware of personal (and societal) stereotypes
Get to know people as individuals who are part of groups
Avoid just-world beliefs
Be aware of self-fulfilling prophecies
Avoid blaming the victim
 Work on others
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Do not tolerate prejudicial remarks, including jokes
Share what you think and believe, without attacking
 Promote multiculturalism
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Change the metaphor
Educate yourself
Learn a foreign language
Diversify circle of friends