PSY 342 Study Guide: Prejudice and Social Dynamics

Stereotype

A cognitive association between a group and a trait.

Prejudice

An affective (emotional) reaction — liking or disliking based on group membership.

Discrimination

Behavioral actions taken toward someone based on their group membership.

Naturalistic fallacy

Mistaking what is for what ought to be.

Bayes' Theorem

A way of updating beliefs by combining prior beliefs with new evidence.

Ingroup favoritism

Preferring members of your own group over outsiders.

Invariance Hypothesis

Men are more likely to support domination.

Outgroup Male Target Hypothesis

Males are main targets of prejudice.

Motive Differential Hypothesis

Men are motivated by dominance; women by fear of coercion.

Affirmative Action

Improve access for minorities but can cause mismatch, resentment, and academic/social struggles.

Implicit bias measures

Measures unconscious biases indirectly (e.g., IAT).

Explicit bias measures

Measures conscious attitudes through direct questions.

Parasite Avoidance Hypothesis

Higher disease threats increase prejudice against outgroups.

Small differences at the extremes

Even small ability or interest differences can cause large outcome gaps (e.g., top 1% in STEM).

Policies addressing disparities

Fixing root causes like skills, education, and opportunity — not just equalizing outcomes.

Racial gaps explanation

Pre-market factors like family structure, education, and community.

Race as a human category

No — race acts as a flexible cue for coalition-building, not a hardwired instinct.

Children's preference in friendship

Children prefer accent (language similarity) over race when choosing friends.

Fear conditioning research on race

Outgroup male faces trigger stronger and longer-lasting fear responses (Navarrete et al., 2009).

Weisberg et al. (2011), Zisman & Ganzach (2020), and Schmidt & Hunter (2004)

Small ability and interest differences explain large group outcome gaps.

Lejarraga & Hertwig (2021)

Between-subject designs overstate irrationality; within-subject designs show people are more rational.

Jussim et al. (2009)

Many stereotypes are more accurate than people think, but should not rigidly guide judgments.

Wolsko et al. (2009) - Multiculturalism

Increases recognition of stereotypes but reduces bias.

Wolsko et al. (2009) - Colorblindness

Reduces stereotype use but does not reduce bias.

Eberhardt et al. (2004)

Black faces prime faster detection of crime-related objects, showing a race-crime link in perception.

Lai et al. (2014)

Interventions can temporarily reduce bias, but effects are not long-lasting.

Oswald et al. (2014) - IAT

IAT has only a small ability to predict real-world discrimination.

Cesario (2022)

Lab studies overstate bias; real-world disparities are driven more by structural and economic factors.

Pietraszewski (2021)

Race is not a special cognitive category; it's used to track alliances.

Kinzler et al. (2009)

Children prioritize accent over race when choosing social partners.

Yamagishi et al. (1999)

Ingroup favoritism is due to expectations of future cooperation, not hatred of outsiders.

Brian O'Shea et al. (2020)

Areas with higher disease threats have higher racial bias.

Coalition Management Evolution

Managing alliances and ingroup loyalty increased reproductive success.

Sexual Selection

Males have more variance in reproductive success (Bateman's Principle), leading to riskier, aggressive behaviors.

Parasite Avoidance

Outsiders may carry unfamiliar diseases, leading to fear during disease outbreaks.

Contact Hypothesis

Positive interaction between groups reduces prejudice.

Decategorization

Emphasizing individual identity rather than group identity.

Recategorization

Focusing on shared higher-level identities (e.g., 'we are all Americans').

Crossed Categorization

Finding shared identities across different group memberships.

Cooperative Learning

Encourages teamwork across groups, fostering positive attitudes.