Ch3: Social Categorization and Stereotypes - Prejudice & Discrimination

Categorization

The process of simplifying the environment by creating categories based on shared characteristics among a set of people.

• Individuals develop beliefs about the members of these categories.

• Such beliefs guide future interactions with members of social groups.

• In-group and out-group distinction is the most basic cognitive distinction.

Schemas

Serve as cognitive shortcuts to facilitate decision-making about objects or social groups. It stems from the need to maintain a meaningful, stable, and organized worldview.

• Influence what individuals pay attention to, how they organize information, and what they later remember.

• Two Aspects of Categorization:

  • Content

  • Process

Content

What characteristics are associated with specific groups?

Process

How do people form and use social categories?

Social Categories

Basic _____…

• Categories with a wealth of information that are usually easily observable. Used to draw conclusions about a person's traits, social roles, and physical characteristics, often in initial interactions.

  • Gender

  • Race

  • Age

Other Social Categories…

• Decisions about interactions may also be influenced by:

  • Sexual orientation

  • Religion

  • Aspects of physical appearance

• Judgments can stem from nonverbal cues, including:

  • Facial expressions

  • Posture

  • Gait

Level of Specificity

The degree of detail, precision, or exactness in information

• People typically first notice basic category information.

• Recognition that individuals can belong to multiple categories simultaneously.

  • Subtype

Subtype

A combination of two or more basic category memberships or basic category memberships combined with role/trait information (e.g., an old black man, a gay Asian woman).

Minimal Group Paradigm

An experimental method showing that arbitrary, trivial, and novel categorizations—such as preferring a painter or flipping a coin—are sufficient to trigger in-group favoritism and discrimination against an out-group

• TLDR: In-groups and out-groups can be formed under minimal conditions (reference: Sherif, 1954, Rattlers vs. Eagles).

Ingroup Favoritism

The tendency to perceive one's own group as more deserving than the outgroup. 

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

The tendency to see outgroup members as similar to one another while perceiving ingroup members as diverse.

Reasons for the _____

• Interactions: Greater interaction with ingroup members leads to more information about their unique qualities.

• Familiarity with ingroup interactions is often less affected by social norms.

• Individuals are motivated to see themselves as unique, seeking distinction from their group.

• Group-level comparisons dominate ingroup vs. outgroup assessments.

Social Role Theory

Individuals observe the social roles held by others and associate those roles with characteristics of the individuals occupying them.

• Ex: Is the perception of women in roles reflective of the actual women or stereotypes of the roles?

Sources of Stereotypic Beliefs

• Key sources include…

  • Parents

  • Peers

  • Media

    • Media is saturated with stereotypes.

    • Correlation between TV viewership in children and the holding of gender and racial stereotypes.

    • Adults' perceptions of stereotypes similarly correlate with media exposure.

Social Learning Theory

Individuals learn social behavior either directly (reward/punishment) or vicariously (observing consequences of others' behavior).

• Individuals retain beliefs/behaviors that are rewarded and discontinue those that result in punishment.

• A source of stereotypical beliefs.

Stereotype Accuracy

Question of Accuracy: Evaluating if stereotypes are accurate is complex; generally, they are not completely unfounded but linked to social reality (kernel of truth).

• Defining Accuracy

  • Methods of Measurement…

    • Percentage Estimates: Frequency of social group members possessing stereotypic characteristics.

    • Dispersion: Indicates the diversity within group members.

• Risks of Assuming Accuracy

  • What is an acceptable operational definition of the characteristic?

  • Choosing the appropriate comparison group poses challenges.

Functions of Stereotypes

Three Functions…

1. Cognitive Function

2. Ego-defensive Function

3. Social Adjustment Function

Cognitive Function

Individuals categorize others due to limited cognitive resources (hard to think outside the box). Stems from the need to maintain a meaningful, stable, and organized view of the world

• Ex: Schemas

Ego-Defensive Function

Stereotypes protect individuals' self-concept from internal and external threats.

• People may derogate/devalue outcomes to feel better about themselves.

• Often arises from projecting negative feelings onto outgroup members.

Social Adjustment Function

Humans have a need to conform to social groups.

• Norms of groups influence how stereotypes about others are adjusted based on group perceptions toward outgroup members.

• A function of stereotypes

Changing Stereotypical Beliefs

What Drives Change?

• Bookkeeping Model

• Conversion Model

• Subtyping Model

  • Allport's Concept (1954)

Bookkeeping Model

Individuals adjust their schema by adding and subtracting information, including confirming and disconfirming instances. Change occurs slowly and requires cognitive effort.

Conversion Model

Change occurs when faced with undeniably contradictory evidence (e.g., dramatic cases lead to significant shifts). “Seeing the light”.

• Less obvious instances of disconfirmation go unnoticed.

• A method of changing stereotypes.

Subtyping Model

When faced with someone who deviates from the stereotype (a discrepant case), a special category is created (e.g., Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods) and is viewed as an exception to the stereotypic “rule”, which preserves the general stereotype.

• This process allows their beliefs about a group, in general, to remain intact.

• Allport's Concept (1954): This process is termed re-fencing. It occurs when a person encounters a member of a stereotyped group who does not fit their prejudice, but instead of changing their stereotype, they classify that individual as a special exception ("an isolated exception") and "re-fence" the rest of the group as still holding the negative trait

Two Processes of Subtype Creation

• Concentrated Disconfirmation

• Dispersed Disconfirmation

Concentrated Disconfirmation

A pattern where evidence that contradicts a stereotype is limited to a very small number of extreme, atypical examples. Rather than changing the overall, deeply held stereotype, this pattern often leads individuals to dismiss the evidence by creating a subtyping model—treating the disconfirming case as a "special exception to the rule"

Dispersed Disconfirmation

Occurs when disconfirming information appears in multiple instances/ways, prompting a shift in the general stereotype. The exception is now becoming part of the rule, changing the group stereotype.

Changing Stereotypic Beliefs

Functional theorists argue that identifying the purpose of holding stereotypes is crucial for effecting change. Once the function of a stereotype is recognized, targeted strategies can be developed to encourage change in stereotype beliefs.

• Key Question: What is the main function of stereotypes?