Comprehension Questions: Chapters 7-9
2. Internal and External Motivation in Terms of Prejudice
Internal Motivation in Prejudice: Rooted in ethical and moral principles that inhibit discriminatory tendencies.
External Motivation in Prejudice: Based on perceptions of social approval or acceptance; does not indicate a genuine desire to judge individuals fairly.
3. Implicit vs Explicit Awareness of Social Categories in Children
Implicit Awareness:
Age: 2-3 months.
Focus: Children recognize their own racial identities and show a preference for individuals who resemble them.
Explicit Awareness:
Age: 3 years: Focus shifts to gender as the main category for classification.
Age 4-5: Recognition of racial differences, specifically between white and black individuals.
Age 5-9: Awareness of multiple races.
Age 9-11: Ability to recognize and distinguish among different religious orientations.
5. Child Cognition and Organizing Information
Cognitive Limitations in Children: May lead to a strong need for simplification through categorization.
Application: Children raised in prejudiced environments may develop biased beliefs toward certain groups, as evidenced in the Clark and Clark study.
6. Children’s Inclusive vs Exclusionary Behaviors
Majority Group Children: Exclusionary behaviors are influenced by the frequency and nature of contact with minority groups.
Minority Group Children: Tend to develop more positive attitudes toward majority groups, although exposure to prejudice can lead to increased biases.
7. Children’s In-group Preferences in Different Contexts
Play Settings: Children show a marked preference for peers of similar race or background.
Classroom Settings: The preference for or against racial characteristics is less pronounced.
Demographic Variations: Mixed-race children typically follow familial backgrounds for preference; young girls display race preferences more frequently than boys, possibly due to social norms governing interactions.
8. Homosociality in Children
Definition: Preference for social interactions with children of the same gender.
Environmental Influence: More common in cultures with mixed-gender interactions.
Adolescence: Increased prejudice against queer individuals; hostility levels differ between boys and girls.
9. Social Learning Influence Perspective
Overview: Examines how various influences (media, peers, and parenting) shape children's learning about social interactions.
Authoritarian Parenting: Correlates with heightened levels of stereotyping and hostility toward outgroups; Tolerant parenting promotes lower prejudice levels.
Learning Mechanisms:
Direct Influence (Parent/Guardian): Rewards for adherence to parental ideals.
Observational Learning: Mimicking behaviors of parents, guardians, peers, or media figures.
Vicarious Learning: Acquiring understanding from the experiences of others, reinforced by witnessing outcomes.
10. Essentialism vs Category Constancy in Developmental Intergroup Theory
Essentialism: The belief that group characteristics are inherent and immutable.
Category Constancy: The notion that group membership remains unchanged over time.
11. Group Membership and Group Bias: Social Identity Theory
Overview: Beliefs about self become intertwined with group identity, impacting emotional responses based on group achievements.
Contributing Factors to Group Bias:
Outgroup Homogeneity Effect: Perception that members of an outgroup are similar, whereas the ingroup members display diverse traits.
Ingroup Favoritism Effect: Preference for one’s own group, rooted in competition and a desire to succeed.
Self-Esteem Hypothesis: Desire to maintain a positive self-image, which can be bolstered by ingroup advantages over outgroups.
12. Self-Esteem Hypothesis and Inter-group Bias
Effects of Intergroup Bias on Self-Esteem: Enhances acquisition, bolstering, and maintenance of self-esteem through relative group success & status.
13. Categorization-Competition Hypothesis and Biased Evaluations
Contributing Conditions:
Outgroup Homogeneity Effect: Misjudgment of outgroup members as lacking diversity.
In-group Favoritism: Preference for ingroup influenced by competitive contexts.
14. In-group Favoritism and Fundamental Attribution Error
Connection: In-group favoritism leads to a biased interpretation of behaviors, downplaying negative behaviors of the ingroup while harshly judging outgroup negative actions, aligning with the fundamental attribution error—overlooking external factors and exaggerating internal motives.
15. Ethnocentrism vs Group Narcissism
Ethnocentrism: Preference for one’s own group, often dismissing outgroups.
Group Narcissism: A stronger form of ethnocentrism that involves believing the ingroup is superior while ignoring its flaws.
Distinction: Ethnocentrism is not inherently narcissistic and can acknowledge group shortcomings.
16. Key Terms Influencing Social Identity
Self-Categorization: Identifying oneself with particular groups.
Theory: Individuals are more likely to categorize themselves with groups when differences with outgroups are salient. (Example: A lonely man may identify as an incel after repeated negative experiences with women.)
Need for Certainty: A psychological drive for validation and correctness leads to closed-mindedness.
Self-Stereotyping: Integration of ingroup perceptions with personal identity, affecting attitudes and behaviors toward conformity.
Optimal Distinctiveness: The desire for unique characteristics prompts individuals to seek groups reflecting their true self.
17. Relative Deprivation Theory
Circumstances Causing Dissatisfaction: Comparison to prior conditions or to the conditions of others can invoke feelings of deprivation.
Resulting Dynamics: Unmet expectations increase feelings of deprivation; even improved situations may prolong this due to heightened future expectations.
Comparison with Gratification and Satisfaction: Relative gratification refers to satisfaction based on comparisons with others, while satisfaction is the belief in one's ingroup superiority. Both can lead to prejudice due to competition.
18. Types of Discrimination
Subtle Discrimination: Unintentional actions stemming from internalized biases (Example: Microaggressions like the question "Where are you REALLY from?").
Blatant Discrimination: Intentionally harmful actions (Example: Hate crimes).
Covert Discrimination: Malicious and hidden forms of discrimination (Example: Housing discrimination).
19. Restraint Motivation vs Regressive Prejudice
Restraint Motivation: Involves avoidance of certain social situations to prevent conflict.
Regressive Prejudice: Occurs when cognitive resources dissipate, allowing underlying prejudiced behavior to re-emerge.
20. Forms of Negative Communication
Hostile Humor: Jokes that perpetuate negative stereotypes concerning a group.
Example: A man jokingly suggesting a woman should return to domestic roles.
Controlling Talk: Language used to demean less dominant groups.
Example: Disparaging remarks by political figures (e.g., statements attributed to Trump).
Vanishing: Language indicative of an outgroup’s invisibility.
Example: Referring to historical figures in active voice versus passive references to oppressed groups (e.g., slaves).
Abnormalization: Describing outgroups in sensationalized ways contrasting normativity.
Example: Characterization of Indigenous peoples as "savages."
21. Types of Microaggressions
Denial of Belongingness: Implicitly denying an individual's right to belong or fit in.
Example: Sidelining people of color in upscale environments.
Denial of Individuality: Assuming one individual represents their entire group.
Example: Asking an Asian person for general opinions as if they embody all Asian perspectives.
Assumptions of Criminality, Inferiority, and Stereotypes:
Avoiding proximity to a person of color due to preconceived notions of danger.
Dismissing a girl’s ability to engage in “real” sports.
Assuming an Asian student is good at math solely based on racial stereotypes.
22. Prejudice vs Action
Inconsistency: Not all prejudiced individuals act discriminately.
Factors Influencing Likely Discriminatory Behavior:
Normative group behaviors that endorse discrimination.
Personal anonymity.
Emotional states, particularly anger.
Alcohol consumption, leading to diminished self-control.
Moral credentials, which individuals perceive as justification for prejudiced behavior.
23. Moral Credentials and Correlation with Prejudiced Attitudes
Definition: Moral credentials refer to prior, socially acceptable behaviors used to justify current prejudiced attitudes.
Example: Someone expressing surprise at encountering a Black individual in a restaurant, then justifying their lack of prejudice by stating, "My doctor is Black; how could I be racist?"
24. Anonymity, Emotions, and Prejudice in Donnerstein & Donnerstein’s Studies
Impact of Anonymity: Increases levels of prejudiced responses; participants under anonymity administered higher shock levels to Black individuals in experimental scenarios.
Types of Aggression:
Overt Aggression: Measured by the intensity of shock applied.
Covert Aggression: Determined by the duration of spans in testing.
Emotional Influence: Elevated negative emotions, particularly anger, correlated with a rise in overt aggression during similar studies.