Propaganda and hate
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🧠 SCIENCE OF BIAS — ULTRA-DETAILED LECTURE NOTES
Topic: Propaganda, Hate Speech & Explicit Bias
1. 📌 Lecture Overview (from recording + slides)
Structure of the lecture
Part 1 (before break):
Blatant dehumanisation
Propaganda (especially social media)
Explicit bias (racism, sexism, ageism)
Part 2 (after break):
Institutional bias (case study: UCL)
👉 The lecturer explicitly frames this as:
Moving from individual-level bias (explicit attitudes)
→ to system-level bias (institutions)
2. 🚫 Blatant Dehumanisation
2.1 Core Definition
Dehumanisation = withholding social cognition from others
→ Not thinking about their:thoughts
emotions
intentions
From lecture explanation:
It means “not getting inside people’s minds”
You stop treating them as psychological agents
2.2 Why is dehumanisation important?
Theoretical link to extreme harm
Used to explain:
Genocide (e.g., Rwanda, Nazi Germany)
Torture (e.g., Abu Ghraib)
Slavery & human trafficking
BUT:
⚠ Key critical point from lecture:
We have NO causal experimental evidence
Because these behaviours are unethical to study directly
2.3 Functions of Dehumanisation
🧠 1. Facilitates harmful behaviour
Removes emotional barriers (e.g., guilt)
Allows actions you normally wouldn’t do
👉 Mechanism:
You don’t feel bad harming someone if you don’t see them as fully human
📌 Linked concept:
Moral disengagement (Bandura, 1999)
🧠 2. Emotion regulation (proactive)
From lecture:
Dehumanisation “short-circuits empathy”
Empathy requires:
Cognitive empathy → understanding others’ feelings
Affective empathy → feeling those emotions
➡ Dehumanisation blocks Step 1
→ therefore stops empathy entirely
🧠 3. Post-hoc justification
Happens after harm has already occurred
Example (from lecture):
When reminded of violence against Native Americans:
Participants dehumanised them more
→ reduces guilt about historical wrongdoing
👉 Function:
Maintains moral self-image
Justifies past violence
2.4 Role of Context (IMPORTANT)
Dehumanisation is NOT always causal
Study insight:
More influential when:
harm is indirect / unseen
Less relevant when:
harm is intentional and direct
👉 Key conclusion:
Dehumanisation may:
sustain violence
justify it
but not always cause it
2.5 Measuring Dehumanisation
“Ascent of Man” scale
Participants rate how “evolved” groups are
Uses evolutionary progression imagery
Key insight:
People are surprisingly willing to:
explicitly rate groups as less evolved
2.6 Dehumanisation & Threat
Increases after terror attacks
Example:
Americans showed spikes in dehumanisation of Muslims after attacks
👉 Interpretation:
Dehumanisation = response to threat
2.7 Real-World Impact (Legal Decision Study)
Study: Media language & death penalty
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (20 years of data)
Analysed:
788 articles
use of animalistic words (e.g., ape, gorilla)
Findings:
Black defendants:
more dehumanising language
more likely to be sentenced to death
👉 Important:
Correlational, BUT:
shows real-world consequences of bias
3. 📢 Propaganda
3.1 What is Propaganda?
Communication designed to:
influence attitudes
often using emotion + bias
Includes:
Hate speech
Political messaging
Media framing
3.2 Why propaganda spreads (KEY CONCEPT)
Social media business model (from lecture)
Social media companies:
Make money from attention
Process:
Content generates engagement (likes, shares)
Algorithms learn:
what gets engagement = emotion
Recommender systems:
promote emotional content
👉 Result:
Emotional + extreme content spreads faster
Propaganda becomes viral
🔥 Critical insight:
Not necessarily “evil actors”
Often system design → bias amplification
3.3 Structure of Propaganda
From lecture + experiment:
Most common themes:
Theme | Frequency |
|---|---|
Direct threat | Highest |
Past atrocities | High |
Victimisation | High |
Stereotypes | High |
Dehumanisation | LOWER |
👉 Key takeaway:
Threat is the dominant driver
Dehumanisation is only one component
3.4 Experimental Study (Yugoslavia propaganda)
Method:
Real speeches from Serbian propagandist
Converted into fictional groups
Participants rated:
violence justification
empathy
intent
3.5 Key Findings
🔥 Violence justification:
Driven by:
past atrocities
revenge
NOT dehumanisation
❤ Empathy for outgroup:
Strongly reduced by:
dehumanisation (BIGGEST effect)
threat
revenge
🧠 Mental state attribution:
Dehumanisation reduces:
perceived intent
perceived mind
😡 Emotion (EMG study):
Revenge → disgust response
Dehumanisation → NO strong disgust response
3.6 Overall conclusion on propaganda
👉 From lecture:
Dehumanisation is NOT the main driver
Propaganda works through:
threat
emotion
narratives
identity
4. ⚖ Explicit Bias
Definition
Bias that is:
conscious
reportable
intentional
👉 People are aware of their attitudes
👉 They can directly report them
5. 🧑🏿🤝🧑🏼 Racism (Explicit)
5.1 Symbolic Racism
Key idea:
Not overt hatred
Instead:
subtle endorsement of stereotypes
Example items:
“Black people no longer face discrimination”
“Failure is due to lack of effort”
“They demand too much too fast”
Mechanism:
Blames individuals
Ignores structural inequality
5.2 Individualism Scale
Measures belief that:
outcomes are due to personal responsibility
Findings:
Predicts:
policy attitudes
discrimination beliefs
Stronger predictor than:
political ideology
general prejudice
6. 👩 Sexism
6.1 Ambivalent Sexism Theory
Two components:
🔴 Hostile sexism
Overt negativity
Example:
“Women are too easily offended”
🟢 Benevolent sexism
Appears positive BUT is harmful
Example:
“Women should be protected”
“A good woman should be adored”
👉 Reinforces:
dependence
traditional roles
Key insight:
Bias can be:
negative OR “positive”
Both maintain inequality
7. 👵 Ageism
7.1 Core stereotypes
1. Succession
Older people blocking opportunities
2. Consumption
Using too many resources
3. Identity
Acting “too young”
7.2 Key insight from lecture
Ageism is context-dependent
Can go both directions:
young → old
old → young
👉 But research mainly focuses on:
young people’s bias toward older people
8. 🏛 Institutional Bias (Intro)
Key shift in lecture:
From individuals → systems
8.1 Key finding
Diversity initiatives often:
do NOT increase diversity
sometimes backfire
8.2 Why they persist
Serve as:
legal protection
signal of fairness
Judges:
treat presence of diversity policies as proof of non-discrimination
8.3 Core problem
👉 From lecture:
Systems (not just people) produce bias
9. 🎓 UCL Case Study — BME Awarding Gap
Causes identified:
👤 Person-level:
Lack of belonging
Isolation
Social mismatch
🏫 Situation-level:
Lack of diversity
Weak community
Physical separation
Racial bias (students + staff)
Key social psychology principle:
Behaviour = Person + Situation
🔥 FINAL SYNTHESIS (VERY IMPORTANT)
3 BIG IDEAS from the lecture:
1. Dehumanisation is NOT the whole story
Important for:
empathy reduction
BUT:
threat + narratives drive behaviour more
2. Propaganda is SYSTEM-DRIVEN
Social media amplifies:
emotion
outrage
Due to:
profit model
3. Bias exists at MULTIPLE LEVELS
Individual (explicit bias)
Cognitive (dehumanisation)
Systemic (institutions)
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Here are high-quality MCQs based directly on your lecture (captions + slides), designed to match exam style and test both knowledge + understanding + application.
🧠 MCQs — Propaganda, Hate Speech & Explicit Bias
🧩 SECTION 1: Dehumanisation
Q1. What is the best definition of dehumanisation?
A. Treating others as inferior based on group membership
B. Withholding social cognition from others
C. Expressing explicit dislike toward another group
D. Ignoring cultural differences
✅ Answer: B
➡ Dehumanisation = not attributing thoughts, feelings, or minds to others.
Q2. According to the lecture, why is there limited causal evidence linking dehumanisation to violence?
A. It is not strongly related to violence
B. It is difficult to measure
C. It is unethical to experimentally study extreme violence
D. People do not report it accurately
✅ Answer: C
➡ Ethical constraints prevent direct experimental testing.
Q3. Which of the following is a key function of dehumanisation?
A. Increasing empathy
B. Enhancing moral awareness
C. Facilitating harmful behaviour by reducing guilt
D. Improving intergroup understanding
✅ Answer: C
Q4. How does dehumanisation affect empathy?
A. It enhances emotional empathy
B. It blocks cognitive empathy, preventing emotional empathy
C. It only affects affective empathy
D. It has no effect on empathy
✅ Answer: B
➡ It stops mental state attribution → empathy cascade fails.
Q5. In which situation is dehumanisation MOST likely to have an effect?
A. When harm is intentional and direct
B. When harm is visible
C. When harm is indirect or victims are unseen
D. When people are highly empathetic
✅ Answer: C
Q6. What does the “Ascent of Man” scale measure?
A. Implicit bias
B. Emotional reactions to groups
C. Explicit beliefs about how “evolved” groups are
D. Cultural intelligence
✅ Answer: C
Q7. After a terrorist attack, what typically happens to dehumanisation levels?
A. They decrease
B. They remain stable
C. They increase toward the perceived threatening group
D. They only increase for ingroups
✅ Answer: C
Q8. In the legal decision-making study, what predicted harsher outcomes (e.g., death penalty)?
A. Political ideology
B. Media use of dehumanising language
C. Defendant age
D. Jury size
✅ Answer: B
📢 SECTION 2: Propaganda
Q9. What is the primary driver of engagement on social media platforms?
A. Accuracy of information
B. Logical reasoning
C. Emotional content
D. Length of content
✅ Answer: C
Q10. Why does propaganda spread easily on social media?
A. Governments promote it directly
B. Algorithms prioritise emotional, engaging content
C. Users prefer neutral information
D. It is always factually correct
✅ Answer: B
Q11. According to the lecture, what is the MAIN theme in effective propaganda?
A. Dehumanisation
B. Neutral reporting
C. Direct threat
D. Humor
✅ Answer: C
Q12. In the propaganda experiment, which factor BEST predicted justification of violence?
A. Dehumanisation
B. Past atrocities
C. Empathy
D. Political ideology
✅ Answer: B
Q13. What is the strongest effect of dehumanisation in propaganda?
A. Increasing disgust
B. Increasing nationalism
C. Reducing empathy for the outgroup
D. Increasing factual understanding
✅ Answer: C
Q14. What did the EMG (facial muscle) study show?
A. Dehumanisation increases disgust responses
B. Revenge increases disgust responses more than dehumanisation
C. No emotional responses were detected
D. Dehumanisation increases happiness
✅ Answer: B
Q15. What is a key conclusion about propaganda mechanisms?
A. Dehumanisation is the only important factor
B. Threat, emotion, and narratives are more central
C. Rational arguments are most effective
D. People ignore propaganda
✅ Answer: B
⚖ SECTION 3: Explicit Bias
Q16. What defines explicit bias?
A. Unconscious attitudes
B. Automatic associations
C. Conscious, reportable attitudes
D. Neural responses
✅ Answer: C
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏼 Racism
Q17. What is symbolic racism?
A. Open hostility toward minorities
B. Subtle endorsement of stereotypes and denial of discrimination
C. Biological racism
D. Implicit bias
✅ Answer: B
Q18. Which statement reflects symbolic racism?
A. “I dislike all outgroups”
B. “Discrimination no longer exists”
C. “Everyone is equal”
D. “Culture is important”
✅ Answer: B
Q19. What does the individualism scale measure?
A. Emotional prejudice
B. Belief that individuals are responsible for their outcomes
C. Group identity strength
D. Social dominance
✅ Answer: B
Q20. What does research show about individualism beliefs?
A. They are unrelated to policy attitudes
B. They strongly predict policy preferences
C. They only affect emotions
D. They reduce prejudice
✅ Answer: B
👩 SECTION 4: Sexism
Q21. What are the two components of ambivalent sexism?
A. Implicit and explicit
B. Cognitive and emotional
C. Hostile and benevolent
D. Individual and structural
✅ Answer: C
Q22. What is hostile sexism?
A. Protective attitudes toward women
B. Overtly negative attitudes toward women
C. Subtle bias
D. Gender neutrality
✅ Answer: B
Q23. What is benevolent sexism?
A. Equality-based attitudes
B. Positive attitudes that reinforce traditional gender roles
C. Lack of bias
D. Implicit bias
✅ Answer: B
Q24. Why is benevolent sexism problematic?
A. It is always negative
B. It reinforces inequality despite appearing positive
C. It has no impact
D. It only affects men
✅ Answer: B
👵 SECTION 5: Ageism
Q25. What does “succession” refer to in ageism?
A. Emotional decline
B. Older people blocking opportunities for younger people
C. Memory loss
D. Health issues
✅ Answer: B
Q26. What does “consumption” refer to?
A. Learning ability
B. Resource use by older people
C. Cultural differences
D. Emotional sensitivity
✅ Answer: B
Q27. What does “identity” refer to in ageism?
A. Political beliefs
B. Older people acting outside expected age roles
C. Personality traits
D. Economic status
✅ Answer: B
🏛 SECTION 6: Institutional Bias
Q28. What is a key finding about diversity initiatives?
A. They always improve diversity
B. They often have little or no effect
C. They eliminate bias completely
D. They reduce productivity
✅ Answer: B
Q29. Why do organisations still use diversity initiatives?
A. They are always effective
B. They increase profits directly
C. They signal fairness and reduce legal risk
D. Employees demand them
✅ Answer: C
Q30. What is the key principle explaining institutional bias?
A. Bias is purely individual
B. Systems and structures produce bias
C. Only attitudes matter
D. Bias is random
✅ Answer: B
🎓 SECTION 7: UCL Case Study
Q31. What factor contributed to the BME awarding gap?
A. Intelligence differences
B. Lack of belonging and isolation
C. Curriculum difficulty
D. Assessment format
✅ Answer: B
Q32. Which concept explains the case study findings?
A. Cognitive dissonance
B. Person–situation interaction
C. Classical conditioning
D. Social learning theory
✅ Answer: B
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