Prejudice and Discrimination
Overview
Prejudice and discrimination are pervasive issues in social life.
Key concepts include:
Prejudice
Stereotypes
Racism
Sexism
Understanding Prejudice
Prejudice involves negative attitudes and feelings towards members of a social group.
It often leads to prescriptive assumptions about people’s abilities based on age, race, ethnicity, religion.
Although undesirable, it can help individuals identify group affiliations and influence their feelings and actions towards others (Hogg & Vaughan, 2008).
Discrimination
Discrimination is the behavioral aspect of prejudice, characterized by unequal treatment of different individuals or groups.
It often occurs without sufficient knowledge about the person being judged.
ABC of Prejudice
Affect: Emotional response towards the attitude object.
Behavior: Overt actions taken toward the group or individual.
Cognition: Beliefs and thoughts about the attitude object.
Allport’s Tripartite Model of Prejudice (1954)
Cognitive: Beliefs about individuals or groups.
Affective: Emotional responses, often negative, towards the group.
Conative: Intentions to act in a certain way towards the group, not necessarily followed by action.
Components of Prejudice
Prejudice (affect): Biased views leading to negative attitudes about a group.
Stereotype (cognitive): Rigid beliefs about a group’s characteristics.
Discrimination (behavioral): Actions that target individuals based on their group identity, occurring even without overt prejudice.
Research Example: LaPiere's Study (1934)
Highlighted the discrepancy between attitudes and behavior.
Despite widespread anti-Asian prejudice, a Chinese couple faced refusal only once while traveling, whereas a follow-up survey showed that 92% of establishments would not accept Chinese customers.
This challenged the assumption that prejudiced attitudes directly predict discriminatory behavior.
Allport’s Scale of Prejudice and Discrimination
Antilocution: Verbal or social derision of a group.
Avoidance: Actively avoiding interactions with the group.
Discrimination: Unequal treatment based on group membership.
Physical Attack: Violence against the group.
Extermination: Efforts to eliminate the group.
Stereotypes
Arise from social categorization, influenced by focal and peripheral dimensions.
Example of negative stereotypes about Scottish people includes the belief that they are thrifty, leading to associated prejudices and discriminatory behaviors.
Types of Stereotypes
Positive stereotypes can also be restrictive (e.g., viewing Welsh people as good singers).
Stereotypes can distort perceptions beyond actual differences between groups.
Group-Level Psychology
In-group vs. Out-group: Preference for one’s own group (in-group) over others (out-group).
Leads to intergroup bias and can reinforce stereotypes and discrimination.
Racism
Two main types:
Old-fashioned racism: Openly negative beliefs about certain racial groups.
Aversive racism/new racism: Holds egalitarian beliefs while possessing negative feelings towards out-groups.
Sexism
Defined as gender-based prejudice and discrimination, often exhibiting hostile or benevolent attitudes.
Hostile sexism reflects typical masculine superiority views; benevolent sexism idealizes women in traditional roles.
Backlash Effect
Women who display assertiveness can face social and economic backlash, being disliked or viewed as incompetent despite equivalent qualifications compared to men.
Summary
Prejudice involves untested attitudes about social groups that may not manifest in overt discrimination.
Key areas of prejudice include race, gender, and physical conditions, often influenced by environmental factors.
Understanding stereotypes and their impact is crucial in addressing and reducing prejudicial behavior and discrimination.
Supporting Explanations
Illusionary correlation: The false belief that two variables correlate when they do not.
Important theories: Authoritarian Personality, Social Dominance Orientation, and methods to reduce prejudice like the Contact Hypothesis.