Understanding Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Empathy

What is victim blaming?

The tendency to focus on the victim's behavior in a crime rather than the perpetrator's actions.

What is the relationship between empathy and victim blaming?

Where there is more empathy, there is less victim blaming.

What are the ABC's of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination?

Affect (Prejudice), Behavior (Discrimination), Cognition (Stereotype).

What defines a stereotype?

A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people, often overgeneralized, inaccurate, and inflexible.

What are the varieties of stereotypes?

Gender, race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.

What is prejudice?

A hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group based solely on their group membership.

What is discrimination?

An unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group due to their group membership.

What are some reasons for the existence of stereotypes and prejudices?

Existing social structures, realistic conflict theory, frustration-aggression theory, social identity theory, and cognitive misers.

How can existing social structures contribute to stereotypes and prejudice?

They can stem from social inequalities and promote hierarchies that embrace prejudice.

What is realistic conflict theory?

A theory suggesting that conflict arises between groups when they compete for limited resources.

What was the outcome of Sherif's Robber's Cave study?

Conflict arose between groups due to competition, leading to name-calling and violence.

What is a superordinate goal?

A shared goal that requires cooperation between groups to achieve, which can reduce prejudice.

What is frustration-aggression theory?

The theory that frustration can lead to aggression, often displaced onto disliked or powerless groups.

What is social identity theory?

A theory that suggests part of our self-esteem is derived from our group identities, leading to ingroup bias.

What is ingroup bias?

The tendency to favor one's own group over others.

What is outgroup homogeneity?

The perception that outgroup members are more similar to each other than ingroup members are to one another.

What are cognitive misers?

Individuals who categorize people for efficiency and are less likely to correct these categorizations under cognitive load.

What is the contact hypothesis?

The idea that mere contact between groups is sufficient to reduce prejudice, which has been found to be insufficient.

What is scapegoating?

Displacing frustration onto a group that is disliked, visible, and relatively powerless.

What is the minimal groups paradigm?

A method used to study ingroup bias by creating arbitrary groups and measuring preferences.

What is the significance of the study by Rogers & Prentice Dunn (1982)?

It demonstrated that participants shocked others less when the confederate was friendly and more when the confederate was insulting, influenced by race.

How can stereotypes and prejudices be reversed?

By introducing common superordinate goals or common threats that require cooperation.

What is the impact of stereotypes on behavior?

Stereotypes can lead to overgeneralization and discrimination based on inaccurate beliefs about groups.

What is the role of social dominance orientation in prejudice?

Individuals with high social dominance orientation tend to support hierarchies and embrace prejudice.