Unit III - Stereotypes, Discrimination and Power

What is the definition of stereotypes?

- shared mental associations linking specific traits, qualities, and tendencies with a given social group

- serve as cognitive shortcuts about a group

- imply and reinforce group comparisons

- can lead to misperceptions

- learned early, difficult to change

What is an inferential prison?

- stereotypes are known as this as they hijack how people process social information, constrain perceptions and inferences about who people are they way they are

What are gender stereotypes?

shared beliefs about the traits, qualities, and tendencies associated with different sex/gender categories

What do gender stereotypes lead to?

Generlization which are the tendency to assume that a new member of a category has the same qualities as other category members

What are a few domains across which gender stereotypes exist?

personality traits, cognitive abilities, social roles and occupations, hobbies and interests, sexual behaviour, physical appearance, mental health, emotional tendencies, etc.

Communion

A dimension reflecting traits such as warmth, connectedness and kindness

Agency

A dimension reflecting traits such as competence, assertiveness, and competitiveness

Stereotype Content Model

theory proposing that stereotypes about social groups fall along communion and agency dimensions and that groups may be seen as high or low on both dimensions

▪ not opposing dimensions but separate dimensions

▪ mixed beliefs predict prejudices and discrimination

What is the gender stereotype trade-off?

As you increase in agency, you decrease communal

Women-are wonderful effect

Tendency for people to view stereotypes about women more favourably than they view stereotypes about men. And accordingly, to view (traditional, gender conforming) women very positively

Think Manger - think male effect

an effect in which stereotypes of men and managers overlap more strongly than stereotypes of women and managers

Heternormative

the assumption that "normal" sexuality is heterosexual

Social role Theory

The theory that gender stereotypes stem from people's observations of the social and occupational roles that women and men typically perform

Gender Prescriptions

traits that people believe women and men should have

Gender Proscriptions

traits that people believe women and men should not have

Status incongruity Hypothesis

The assumption that gender role - violating women are viewed negatively because they are seen as too dominant, while role - violating men are view negativlty because they are seen as too low in status. These perceptions violate the gender status hierarchy and make people uncomfortable

Stereotype Threat

anxiety individuals feel when concerned that their behaviour or performance might confirm a negative group stereotype

Self - Fufilling prophecy

The interpersonal process in which a perceiver's expectation about a target influences that target's behaviour in such a manner that the target's behaviour fulfills the preceivers expecations

Direction Accuracy

accuracy regarding the direction of a sex difference

Discrepancy Accuracy

Accuracy regarding the specific size (and direction) of a sex difference.

Rank - Order accuracy

accuracy regarding the relative sizes of sex differences across different domains

Individualistic Cultures

Cultures (often found in Western Europe and North America) that value independence and self-reliance and prioritize individual goals and needs over group goals and needs.

Collectivistic Cultures

Cultures (often found in South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East) that value fitting in and group solidarity and prioritize group goals and needs over individual goals and needs.

Matrilineal society

A society that traces descent through the mother's kinship line and passes inheritance down from mothers to their offspring.

Patrilineal Society

a society that traces descent through the father's kinship line and passes inheritance down from fathers to their offspring

Matriarchal Society

A society in which husbands typically live near their wive's familites

Patriarchal Society

A society in which wives typically live near their husbands' families

Power

The capacity to determine one's own and other people's outcomes

Structural Power

the power to shape societies and social systems

Dyadic Power

The power to choose intimate partners and relationships, and to control the interactions and decisions that occur within those relationships

Resource Control

Controlling the creation or distribution of essential and desirable goods such as money, land, food, and other valued commodities.

Cultural Ideologies

Overarching sets of beliefs and assumptions about groups that justify unequal social hierarchies.

Androcentrism

A cultural ideology that defines men and their experiences as universal, and treats women and their experiences as deviations from the male norm.

Privilege

automatic, unearned advantages associated with belonging to a dominant group

Double Jeopardy Hypothesis

Hypothesis that individuals who belong to two or more subordinate groups face more discrimination than individuals who belong to only one subordinate group.

Intersectional Invisibility Hypothesis

the prediction that people with multiple subordinate identities are noticed less than those with one subordinate identity

Sexism

negative attitudes towards individuals based solely on their sex, combined with institutional and cultural practices that support the unequal status of different sex categories

Ambivalent Sexism

A theory proposing that gender relations are characterized by both negative attitudes toward women (hostile sexism) and seemingly toward women (benevolent sexism)

Hostile Sexism

Negative, antagonistic attitudes toward women who violate traditional gender role norms.

Benevolent Sexism (BS)

subjectively positive but patronizing attitudes toward women who conform to traditional gender role norms

Gender discrimination

unjust treatment based solely on one's sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity

Microagressions

common, everyday insults and indignities directed toward members of subordinate social groups

Collective action

Behaviour enacted on behalf of a group with the goal of improving conditions for the entire group