Social Psychology Professor Spikes TOPIC Stereotypes Prejudice and Discrimination I Us and Them 1 Ingroups and Outgroups Ingroup is the group you identify with outgroup is the other people 2 Three Reactions to Perceiving Groups Stereotypes Beliefs beliefs about groups of people with certain traits Prejudice Feelings feelings based on one s membership a group s membership Discrimination Behavior behavior directed at a person b c of their group membership II Stereotypes 1 How Are They Formed Social Categorization the process whereby people sort each other into groups on the basis of gender race and other common attributes Sort people based on a certain context Explain why this can be bad b c we overestimate the differences between groups and we underestimate the differences within groups Explain how this can be effective o When we need to form impressions quickly o When we need to use past experiences to guide new interactions o BUT you have to be skilled to do this without discriminating 2 Outgroup Homogeneity Effect a it is the belief that there is greater similarity among the members of the outgroup than there is they are all alike b c usually used in a negative manner Two reasons for the tendency to perceive outgroups as homogenous o We have very little personal contact with the outgroup Might not have a friend coworker etc that they associate with on a regular basis from the outgroup o We often times do not encounter a representative sample of members from the outgroups Do not interact with enough people to represent the group effectively might have 2 friends from the outgroup but that s not enough to effectively represent it 3 How Stereotypes Distort Perceptions of Individuals Perceivers are likely to see members of stereotyped groups as more similar to the stereotype than they really are When a target of a stereotype behaves in an ambiguous way how do perceivers deduce the ambiguity o They interpret the behavior as consistent with the stereotype o See someone of race x standing outside of a closed warehouse stereotype that race x are thieves so you assume he s casing the place and getting ready to rob it when he could be waiting for his friend the owner of it to come out after getting something from inside We often remember stereotype consistent information about others better than stereotype inconsistent information Contrast Effect When a stimulus varies considerably from expectations the perceived difference is magnified as a result of a contrast effect Contrast effects can affect social perception o in the US women have come a long way but still have a ways to go in the business world males o the majority of higher positions in the business world are held by white o if there were 2 people who worked at a fortune 500 company one a white male and the other a white female most people would swear that the woman was so much better than the man would assume she was so assertive and so driven and so much smarter than him b c men outnumber women to a grand extent when it comes to higher up positions o ex compared to Clinton people think Obama is sooo much smarter than him magnified perception b c he s black and in a position of such power as the President of the US III Prejudice 1 Robbers Cave Study Muzafer Sherif 1954 Revolves around state park in Oklahoma Robbers Cave depicts how situational factors can give rise to breed prejudices Subjects 11 year old white boys without behavioral problems from middle class families Set up o say there were 20 boys split into 2 groups of ten though they didn t know they were split only the researcher did o The groups went to the state park and each group did not know the other group was there o The researchers wanted them to bond they didn t know each other o Wanted them to form friendships with each other within their group o This went on for roughly a week or so o By the end of the week the boys were best buddies Design Results a Conflict Competition a Only at this point were they told there was another group of boys at the park and that they d be competing to earn prizes rewards b The competition started they originally wanted to study competition but the prejudice happened by accident c The researchers realized that the boys were taking competition to a trifling level showing signs of violence serious dislike of each other d Distinguished themselves from each other groups gave themselves names e After the competitions they d get into fights swear at each other trash the sleeping quarters of the other team have food fights and just clearly separate themselves This was when the researchers got really nervous about what they did to these boys f b Attempts to make peace a Told the boys they needed to make peace with each other b They made them into one group c The two groups didn t exist anymore just the one where they all needed to work together d Had activities where they tried to get the kids to say nice things to each other e DID NOT WORK f The boys could not make peace with each other c Superordinate Goals a Let s try engaging them in activities that revolve around superordinate goals i An activity like this requires everyone involved to work together in order to accomplish the goal b This got the boys to finally work together c got the boys on a bus brought them somewhere to do a lot of work on a hot day but rigged the bus to make it like it broke down on the way back i this forced the boys to work together to find a way back to campus where they could get food and air conditioning 2 Realistic Conflict Theory Direct competition for valuable but limited resources breeds hostility between groups How do the winners and losers feel o The losers are going to feel frustrated and will feel resentment o The winners are going to feel threatened and will feel the need to be very protective of their earnings winnings o Breeding ground for conflict which can lead to dynamics of prejudice Imagined Competition o This is when a person perceives that someone is in competition with them o But their perception is so totally off the competition doesn t even exist Relative Deprivation when a person feels that they fare poorly compared to others o One professional baseball player makes 40 million a year o A new player comes in and is getting paid 30 million a year o The older player gets all riled up even though he s still earning 10 million more than the new player o Probably acting like this b c he probably didn t make as much when he first started off