Chapter 13: Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

prejudice

a negative feeling toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group

sexism

gender prejudice

racism

prejudiced attitudes toward a particular race

aversive racism

simultaneously holding egalitarian values and negative feelings toward people of other races

discrimination

unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong

stereotypes

beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits

subtype

categories that people use for individuals who do not fit a general stereotype

categorization

the natural tendency of humans to sort objects into groups

social categorization

the process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in common (e.g., race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation)

outgroup members

people who belong to a different group or category than we do

ingroup members

people who belong to the same group or category as we do

outgroup homogeneity bias

the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another

stigma by association

rejection of those who associate with stigmatized others

homophobia

an excessive fear of homosexuals or homosexual behavior

stigmas

characteristics of individuals that are considered socially unacceptable (e.g., being overweight, mentally ill, sick, poor, or physically scarred)

ingroup favoritism

preferential treatment of, or more favorable attitudes toward, people in one’s own group

minimal group effect

the finding that people show favoritism toward ingroup members even when group membership is randomly determined

realistic conflict theory

the idea that competition over scarce resources leads to intergroup hostility and conflict

competition

situation in which people can attain their goals only if others do not

cooperation

situation in which people work together with others to help all of them achieve their goals

discontinuity effect

the finding that groups are more extreme, and often more hostile, than individuals

contact hypothesis

the idea that regular interaction between members of different groups reduces prejudice, providing that it occurs under favorable conditions

salience

being obvious or standing out

scapegoat theory

the idea that blaming problems and misfortunes on outgroups contributes to negative attitudes toward these outgroups

jigsaw classroom

a cooperative learning technique for reducing feelings of prejudice by having students interact and cooperate to learn material

self-fulfilling prophecy

a prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will come true

self-defeating prophecies

a prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will not come true

stereotype threat

the fear that one might confirm the stereotypes that others hold