Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination

Why do we treat others differently?

Self-esteem of the Oppressed

Kenneth and Mamie Clark (1947).
Demonstrated that black children, as young as 3, rejected black dolls. Felt that white dolls were prettier and generally superior Key point in 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation decision

Goldberg found similar results for gender

Women rated articles as superior if written by a man (John vs. Joan McKay)

Swim and others have shown that these tendencies have diminished over the years

Definitions
Prejudice
A hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group based on generalizations derived from faulty or incomplete information Jussim (1996) counters this to some extent with his kernel of truth theory Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Trying to educate a bigot is like shining a light into the pupil of an eye it constricts. Very difficult to change prejudice through information

Definitions
Stereotype
Assigning identical characteristics to any person in a group, regardless of the actual variation among members of that group Not necessarily intended to be abusive, may even be a positive stereotype They are mental shortcuts like the representative heuristic But, if they rob us of our individuality that may be problematic Remember the dangers of deindividuation

Stereotype Threat
Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson
Tried to explain gap in test scores between whites and blacks Argued that blacks in test situations may feel apprehension about confirming existing negative stereotypes of intellectual inferiority They labeled this Stereotype Threat Demonstrated that black students did as well as whites on the GRE verbal when led to believe that the test itself, and not the student, was being tested

Stereotypes and Attributions

Ultimate attribution error in ambiguous situations we make attributions consistent with our beliefs and prejudices Formation of these attributions then strengthen the original prejudice because they provide supportive evidence

Gender and Attributions of Success

Male success is attributed to ability, female success is attributed to luck or effort
True for male and female perceivers Women frequently do this to themselves, particularly in male domains (Stipek & Galinski)

Mindset may be learned from parents

Daughters of women who hold strong gender stereotypes tend to believe they dont have much math ability

Gender and Attributions of Success

Tennis and attributions for failure
Women were more likely to lose a tennis match in straight sets (even at the professional level) Nicholls argues that women may give up because they attribute the loss in the first set to a lack of ability Ignores the fact that men have more chance to come back since they play 3 sets vs. 2 for women

Gender and Attributions of Success

How might Affirmative Action measures impact attributions of success?
Turner and Pratkanis found that women who believed that they received a job because of their gender (not merit) downplayed their own abilities and engaged in self-handicapping behaviors

Blaming the Victim

There is a tendency to assume that those who are worse off deserve it in some way
e.g., the homeless should try harder to find a job e.g., the often implicit assumption that a women who was raped brought it on herself somehow This tendency is even higher in those who have a strong belief in a Just World Frightening to think that bad things happen randomly

Prejudice and Science

Best source for this type of information is Stephen J. Goulds The Mismeasure of Man
Follows the history of people like Louis Agassiz, Samuel George Morton, and Paul Broca, and the history of IQ debates Each of these individuals wanted to prove the superiority of their group and allowed their biases to taint their science For example, Broca based male intellectual superiority on skull size, yet he only used 6 female skulls. Each of these skulls came from a women who died of infectious disease Foresaw the quotes from The Bell Curve

Prejudice and Self-fulfilling Prophecies

Word, Zanna, and Cooper
Study One, white interviewers interact with black and white subjects Find that interviewers are less immediate with black subjects Study Two, trained interviewers to treat white subjects the same way that blacks had been treated. Independent judges rate the quality of these interviewers as less effective than those treated like white subjects Belief creates reality

Automaticity of Stereotypes
Patricia Devine (1989)
Low prejudice individuals exert conscious vigilance that reduces stereotyping and prejudice But, when conscious control is is minimized even those who are relatively unprejudiced slip into automatic prejudice Banaji and Greenwald have recently done a huge amount of research that supports this assertion

Gender Role Socialization

Traditionally
Males are described by instrumental traits Females are described by expressive traits

These traits lead to behavioral expectations

Porter and Geis, in all male group person at the head of the table is viewed as the leader But, when group is mixed males are viewed as leader no matter where the women sit This interpretation is the same even when subjects self-rate as feminists!!!!

Gender Role Socialization

Sandra Bem argues for androgyny
Should use both sets of traits in the appropriate situation Further research shows that androgynous individuals are perceived as more likable and better adjusted However, must combine the traits. Acting solely in a cross-gendered manner is evaluated very poorly (e.g., highly effeminate male)

Time to Blame the Media Again

Visibility of minorities is low on prime-time television. One study shows that the presence of African-Americans has fluctuated between 6-16% over the last 15 years.
When present, African-Americans tend to be concentrated in virtually all Black situation comedies.

Minority Presence
Even worse for other minorities in the 1990s
Slightly more than 1% of primetime characters were Latino Slightly less than 1% were Asian or Native American Presence of gays and lesbians almost nonexistent. When present they are often presented as caricatures Women outnumbered by men 2 to 1, and are more frequently portrayed as victims of crime

Causes of Prejudice
Are we biologically wired to hate those who are not like us?
Possible, but even if so, the specifics of prejudice must be learned

Four causes have been researched extensively:

Economic and political competition, displaced aggression, personality needs, conformity to existing social norms

Economic and Political Competition

Prejudice increases during economic difficulties
In the west in the late 1800s attitudes toward the Chinese varied greatly depending upon the amount of employment opportunities. After Civil War the Chinese were hated due to competition for jobs

Research shows that the most anti-black prejudice is found in groups that are one rung higher on the SES ladder
This variable is confounded w/ educational level

Economic and Political Competition

All of this data is correlational and descriptive, what about experimental data? Muzafer Sherif Boy Scout Research
Created competition between the Eagles and the Rattlers and conflict over scarce resources Even after competition ended animosity remained and even continued to escalate

Misplaced Aggression
More commonly known as Scapegoating
Blaming a relatively powerless innocent person for something that is not his or her fault Similar to Freuds concept of displacement Term is based on ancient Hebrew practice

Long history Holocaust, southern Blacks

Between 1882-1930 the number of lynchings in the south in any give year could be predicted by the price of cotton

Scapegoating
Laboratory experiments reveal that we scapegoat the following:
Groups that are generally disliked Groups that are visible Groups that are relatively powerless

The Prejudiced Personality

Are there individual differences in the tendency to hate?
Adorno and his research on the Authoritarian Personality suggests yes

Authoritarian Personality has these characteristics

Adherence to conventional values (e.g., government, church, parents, middle-class) Contempt toward outgroups Superstition

Authoritarian Personality
Further characteristics:
Resistance to change Belief in censorship and strict laws (people need to be controlled) Intolerant of weakness Highly punitive Extremely respectful of authority

Appears to stem from harsh and threatening parental discipline

Prejudice through Conformity

Pettigrew suggests that discrimination arrives predominately from social conformity Prejudiced individuals, particularly Southerners, who enter the army tend to become less prejudiced
More non-prejudicial norms to follow

Laws and customs may provide the notion that one group is inferior to another
Segregation laws Affirmative Action?

Can Government Policies Reduce Discrimination and Prejudice?

Desegregation?
Key doesnt seem to be mere contact, but equal status contact. Does desegregation insure this? Dissonance research shows that knowing I will have to have contact with you reduces my dislike of you (all other things being equal) Things are not equal if desegregation leads to economic conflict

Possible Solution?
Interdependence
Sherif finally reduced the conflict between his groups of boy scouts by leading them into a cooperative task where everyone was important

Jigsaw classrooms
Aronson and his work in cooperative classroom environments. Everyone contributes and competition is counterproductive in the learning environment

A Successful Solution
Integration of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball Branch Rickey used a number of Psychological principles to increase the chances of Robinsons success, including:
Psychology of inevitable change (traded players who refused) Establish equal status contact

Jackie Robinson
Creation of a norm of acceptance (Pee Wee Reese) Non-violent resistance Individuate the new group member Undo perception of preferential selection Remove institutional barriers (built Dodgertown)