Chapter 9
David G. Myers
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Nature and Power of Prejudice
Social Sources of Prejudice
Motivational Sources of Prejudice
Cognitive Sources of Prejudice
Consequences of Prejudice
Reducing Prejudice
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Prejudice – a negative prejudgment of a group and its
individual members
◦ Stereotype – beliefs about the personal attributes of a
group of people
 Typically overgeneralized and inaccurate
◦ Discrimination – unjustifiable negative behavior towards
a group or its members
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Racism
Sexism
Heterosexism
Ageism
Weight Bias
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Changing Prejudice – racial and gender attitudes
have become more positive in the last 30 years
◦ 90% say people should be treated fairly w/out
discrimination
◦ Only 14% say they are highly prejudiced
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Publicly people may not admit to prejudice, but
studies show it still exists
◦ Color Blind vs Color Aware?
◦ 53% of African-Americans feel excluded on college
campuses
◦ Name Discrimination vs Reverse Racism
◦ Profiling
◦ Drug War
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Gender Stereotypes – typically are stronger than
racial stereotypes (Feminism?)
◦ Ambivalent Sexism – mix of hostile and benevolent
attitudes
 Sexism is even more severe in other countries
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Dual Attitudes and Prejudice - automatic reactions
(implicit) still occur regardless of one’s conscious
(explicit) level of prejudice
◦ Automatic reactions are affected by stereotype activation (priming)
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Modern Prejudice – subtle and unconscious forms of
discrimination, revealed through preferences and
associations, and judgments
◦ Biased judgments, Less Positive Facial expressions,
vocal tones, eye contact, body posture
◦ Modern Sexism & Racism - discrimination that occurs
when it’s able to hide behind other motives
◦ Prentice-Dunn “Shocking Study”
◦ Teacher Discipline
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Hart et al (2000). Impression Study
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Black children are 80% less likely to receive pain
medication in ER (appendicitis)
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Shooter Bias Studies
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How do you know if you have negative
implicit/automatic associations?
Implicit Association Test (IAT) – measures
conscious and unconscious associations
◦ Predicts hiring decisions, medical decisions, interpersonal
interactions, biased judgments
◦ https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Round One
◦ Left Hand
African American Name
Right Hand
Caucasian Name
Round Two
◦ Left Hand
Positive Adjective
Right Hand
Negative Adjective
Round Three
◦ Left Hand
African American name
Negative Adjective
Right Hand
Caucasian name
Positive Adjective
Round Four
◦ Left Hand
African American name
Positive Adjective
Right Hand
Caucasian name
Negative Adjective
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Social Inequalities – stereotypes are used to
rationalize unequal status
Social Dominance/Authoritarian Orientation –
motivation to have your group be dominant over
others
Religion and Prejudice – religion is used an excuse
for social injustice
◦ Religion does not cause prejudice
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Conformity - prejudice is often maintained by
public apathy and inertia
Institutional Supports – political leaders,
organizations, and education reflect and reinforce
attitudes
◦ Face-ism – male ads focus more on faces and females
focus more on the body
◦ Comparing how Blacks and White women are portrayed in the top
movies of 1996.
◦ White female movie characters shown using vulgar profanity: 17%
◦ Black female movie characters shown using vulgar profanity: 89%
◦ White female movie characters shown being physically violent:
11%
◦ Black female movie characters shown being physically violent:
56%
◦ A mug shot of a Black accused perpetrator will appear in a local TV news
four times more often than when the accused White: 4X
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Frustration and Aggression Hypothesis –
frustrations can lead to displaced aggressions
◦ Realistic Group Conflict Theory – prejudice arises when
groups are competing for scarce resources
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Social Inequality can lead to prejudice
Certain personality traits lead to higher levels of
prejudice
◦ Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)
◦ Authoritarian
◦ Religious
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Social Identity Theory – our self-esteem is influenced by
our membership in groups
Categorization – we simplify and organize our world by
categorizing people into groups
◦ Rely on stereotypes when pressed for time, preoccupied,
tired, emotionally aroused, and lacking experience
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Attributions
◦ Group-Serving Bias – we are lenient with
ingroup members compared to outgroups
◦ Just-World Phenomenon – false belief that the
world is fair and people get what they deserve
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Stereotypes can bias attention, interpretation
and memory
 We notice and remember more distinct people and
events (Illusory Correlations)
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Behavioral Confirmation– negative expectations
and behaviors cause others to confirm OUR
stereotypes
Emotional Consequences – feelings of anger, fear,
mistrust, disenfranchisement
Stereotype Threat – fear that one’s behavior will
verify a negative stereotype leads to poor
performance
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Knowledge and Awareness
Internal Motivation to Avoid prejudice
Seeking out diverse experiences
Monitoring and Controlling the prejudice habit