chapter 5-prejudice, discrimination, & racism

racism

prejudice and discrimination based on a person’s racial background, or institutional or cultural practices that promote domination of one racial group over another

prejudice (affect)

negative [or positive] feelings or attitudes toward people based on their membership in certain groups

discrimination (behavior)

behavior directed at people because of their membership in a certain group

evidence of decline in racial prejudice

1958 Mildred and Richard Loving married in Washington, DC following the 1967 Loving vs. Virginia, landmark Supreme Court Case

evidence of ongoing racial prejudice

names and booking hotels/airbnbs

old fashioned racism

• blatant, explicit, unmistakable racism

modern racism

• racism that surfaces in subtle ways when it is safe, socially acceptable, and easy to rationalize

implicit racism

• racism that operates unconsciously and unintentionally

  • technically it’s colorism, which has deep roots in implicit racism

implicit v controlled racism

2 separate paths (Dovidio et al., 1999)

stereotype threat

• defined by Claude Steele as “vulnerability experienced by a person from a stereotyped group when their behavior could potentially confirm the stereotype about their group”

  • “experienced as anxiety or distracting thoughts which has a negative impact on performance”

    
    

experiment: steele & aronson (1995)

• participation: black & white students with equal prior test scores

• manipulation:

  • group a: instructions say: “test diagnostic of intellectual ability”

  • group b: instructions say: “test nondiagnostic of intellectual ability”

• dv: performance on a difficult standardized test

differences between interracial group interactions

• each group approaches the other differently, because they have conflicting goals in terms of how they want to perceive and how they want to be perceived

  • the white person does not want to be perceived as racist, so they refuse to acknowledge the concept of race

  • the black person does not want to be belittled and wants to be respected as a black individual so they code-switch to a vernacular more suitable for the white person

social identity theory

1. self esteem= personal identity + social identity

2. group identities are used to maximize self-esteem

how do group identities improve self esteem?

• social comparison: ingroup favoritism, outgroup derogation

• shifting to better group, or increasing own group status

realistic conflict theory

• competition for limited resources (ie jobs, housing, etc) breeds hostility & results in prejudice & discrimination

  • competition can be real OR perceived

• predicts: prejudice & discrimination tend to increase when economic & political arenas are uncertain or “under threat”

• higher unemployment rates associated with more discrimination against ethnic minorities in the Netherlands (Coenders et al., 2008)

contact hypothesis

direct contact between groups reduces prejudice (Alport, 1954)

• works best when certain criteria are met:

  • mutual interdependence of groups

  • equal status

  • personalized interactions between individuals

  • intergroup contact sanctioned by social norms