Week 3 - Prejudice

Component of Prejudice - Tripartite model of group antagonism (Allport, 1954) 

• prejudice consists of cognitive (stereotypes), affective (feelings), and behavioural (discrimination/intention) components.

• e.g. believing immigrants are “lazy” (cognitive), feeling hostility (affective), refusing to hire them (behavioural).

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Cognitive component - Stereotype

beliefs about the attributes of a group (attitude object)

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Cognitive component - Social categorisation

• automatic mental process of sorting people into groups (“us” vs “them”), making group stereotypes more likely.
  Example: immediately classifying someone by gender/race.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Cognitive component - Katz & Braly (1933)

early classic research documenting strong racial stereotypes; showed widespread consensus around negative stereotypes.
Example: participants consistently associated particular negative traits with certain racial groups.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Cognitive component - Priest et al. (2018)

study showing white adults working with children held negative stereotypes about BAME young people.
Example: associating BAME youth with trouble or aggression.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Affective component

emotional reactions (like/dislike, fear, disgust) towards a group.
Example: fear of Muslims due to Islamophobia.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Behavioral component

actions taken toward a group, especially unequal or harmful behaviour.
Example: refusing service to minority customers.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Behavioral component - discrimination

Definition: unequal treatment based on group membership (not personal merit).
Example: racial profiling.

Tripartite model of group antagonism - Behavioral component - conation

behavioural intentions or motivation to act in a certain way toward a group.
Example: intending to avoid working with LGBTQ+ people.

Theories of Prejudice - Psychodynamic approaches

prejudice explained through unconscious motives, ego defence, and emotional conflict.
Example: using prejudice to manage anxiety or insecurity.

Psychodynamic approaches - Prejudice as ego defence / displaced aggression 

• people want a protective sense of superiority 

• when angry/frustrated but cannot attack the real source, aggression can be displaced onto a substitute (scapegoating) 

Example: 

• hardship and lynching patterns (Hovland & Sears, 1940)  

Intergroup competition theories

prejudice results from conflict over resources/status/power between social groups.
Example: hostility toward migrants seen as job competition.

Intergroup competition theories - Realistic Conflict Theory

competition over scarce resources leads to intergroup hostility and prejudice.
Example: resentment when two groups compete for housing.

Intergroup competition theories - Relative Deprivation Theory

prejudice stems from perceived unfair disadvantage compared to another group; believing “they get more benefits than we do.”

e.g. riots in 1960s Black ghettos (Sears & McConahay, 1973) - argue that 1960s urban riots were not random acts of lawlessness but a "political rebellion" by a new generation of Black Americans using violence as a functional tool to demand systemic change.

Intergroup competition theories - Sense of Group Position

prejudice arises from dominant group’s belief in entitlement to higher status; challenge to dominance provokes prejudice

Later work (Bobo & Hutchings, 1996) gives key features: 

• belief dominant group is superior 

• belief subordinate group is “different” 

• assumption dominant group has a legitimate claim to privilege 

• feeling threatened by subordinate group’s advancement  

Intergroup competition theories - Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999)

• societies form hierarchies; prejudice and discrimination maintain group-based inequality.

Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) - trimorphic hierarchy

SDT argues that hierarchies tend to form in 3 recurring systems:

1. Age system (adults dominate children)

2. Gender system (men dominate women)

3. Arbitrary-set system (socially constructed groups like race, class, religion, ethnicity)

Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) - Legitimising myths (Kluegel, 1990) 

Cultural beliefs/narratives that justify inequality as: 

• natural 

• deserved 

• beneficial 

• inevitable  

e.g. “poor people are lazy”, “men are natural leaders”