PATHS Model, Racism, & Media

Week 3 Lecture 1: PATHS Model, Racism, & Media

• The PATHS model includes Problem, Analysis, Test, Help, and Success
• Defining a problem is vital to solving it effectively
• When developing a problem definition, identifying the problem, its impact, causes, and the target group is important
• It is important to target a component that can be modified and is a psychological concern

A - Analysis Phase

• The outcome variable explains what needs to be fixed with concrete terms and a continuous range, making it easy to identify from the problem
• An outcome variable is what is desired to be influenced, with an explanation and a target for change

Framing Outcome Variables

• Outcome variables can be positively framed, like increasing mask-wearing, ensuring equal pay for everyone, and promoting positive views toward LGBTQ individuals
• Outcome variables can be negatively framed, such as decreasing racism towards ethnic minorities and addressing unequal pay for women
• Considerations when framing an outcome variable include behaviours, attitudes, cognitions, emotions, and affect

Divergent Stage

• The variable framing does not matter
• The generation of as many explanations as possible and identification of their causes is key
• The process includes free association: cast a wide net to identify potential causes
• An example of an outcome variable is prejudiced depictions of ethnic minorities in national media where the divergent stage addresses stereotyping, outgroup vs ingroup dynamics, privilege, and positionality

Convergent Stage

• The purpose is to reduce the number of explanations identified

Examples of PATHS Model

• Example 1: Not enough males in psychology is a problem because males won’t seek therapy, affecting males in workplaces, families, and communities; caused by fragile masculinity
• Example 2: People express hate towards the display of Maori culture in the news because it causes a divide in viewers' perspectives, affecting Maori broadcasters and the wider Maori audience; caused by racist and colonial mentality

Lecture 2: Racism

• Racism involves systems, policies, actions, and attitudes that create inequitable opportunities based on race
• Racism is prejudice accompanied by the power to discriminate, oppress, or limit the rights of others

Overt vs Covert Racism

• Overt racism includes easily identifiable actions, attitudes, and behaviours, often intentional, such as hate crimes, blackface, and the usage of slurs
• Covert/insidious racism includes actions, attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs not easily identifiable as racist and can be both intentional and unintentional
• Examples of insidious racism include microaggressions, police brutality, tone policing, all lives matter rhetoric, and racial profiling

T - The Test Phase

• This involves developing a process model that is a visual representation of the variables

Developing a Process Model

• List possible explanations and variables, ensuring they are social psychological, specific, concrete, and continuous
• Variables should primarily concern behaviours, attitudes/cognitions, emotions, or feelings
• Draw the outcome variable on the right side of the process model

Process model

• Move from right to left, identifying which variables influence the outcome variable
• Draw arrows to indicate the relationship's direction
• Mediators rather than directly related elements impact the model
• Consider direct, indirect, reinforcing, or undermining effects among variables
• Draw arrows to show interrelatedness as well
• Limit the model to no more than 10 variables and about 4 steps between the outcome variable and most distal elements

Testing the Process Model

• Use social psychological literature, why-interviews with the focused community, reviews from relevant groups, and original research

H - The Help Phase

• The focus is on identifying causal variables, developing an intervention, and implementing it

Preparing for Intervention Development

• Interventions need to be modifiable and have a strong effect

Modifiable Variables

• A variable should not be a stable trait, related to political or religious views, or related to stable environmental, chronic, medical, or psychiatric conditions
• It should also not relate to a lack of intelligence or literacy, or have strong biological biases

Strong Effect

• Look at past experiences or previous research to find which variable has the strongest effect (from the test phase)

Intervention Implementation

• Select the right channel relaying the intervention via verbal, written, or visual methods like social media posts or working groups
• Selecting the appropriate method is based on social psychological theory
• Disseminate intervention information through conferences, emails, and random connections
• Ensure buy-in through adoption by emphasizing the intervention's importance and making it easy to act on, starting with the target group
• Implementation starts by giving it to the participants, and maintaining continuation

Social Psychology of Racism

• Racism occurs due to sustaining structures, ingroup and outgroup biases, perceived competition for resources, categorization, social fear of outgroups, and learned attitudes

Categorization

• This is learned, not innate
• Labelling reinforces perceived differences between groups, leading to perceptual discrimination

Minimal Groups Phenomenon

• Humans easily form in-groups and out-groups based on meaningless distinctions
• Positive perceptions lead to in-group preference

Segregation

• Lack of interracial contact causes perceptual narrowing, social preference based on racial groups in children, and pessimistic beliefs

Hierarchy and Power

• The reinforcement of biases dictates norms
• Pass activism perpetuates inequality

Problems with Passivism

• Ignorance, denial, and observation of inaction, or the bystander effect, are components

Lecture 3: S - The Success Phase

• This is the evaluation process to make changes, check for unexpected outcomes, and see if the intervention is effective, identifying unwanted links between variables

Types of Evaluation

• Effect evaluation assesses the impact on the outcome variable and other variables in the process model
• Process evaluation determines why something worked or didn't, assessing completeness, exposure, satisfaction, recruitment, and context

Media Portrayals

• Media portrays POCs in stereotypical ways compared to white people, and with less representation
• The media functions with a system of oppression
• The content is controlled largely by non-POCs, is consumed by millions, and includes movies, tv shows, news, and social media

Representations

• African Americans are portrayed as dull-witted and violent
• Asian Americans are portrayed as perpetual foreigners
• Latinx are portrayed as spicy
• White people are portrayed as intellectual, calm, and sophisticated

Racism and Media in Aotearoa

• The media is a tool for colonisers to suppress ethnic minorities, with content largely controlled by non-POC media outlets
• The use of negative stereotypes and perceptions about Māori still impacts attitudes
• Addressing negative portrayals requires reducing covertly racist news stories published by mainstream media

Outcome Variable: Divergent Phase

• Expressing covert racism towards Māori in mainstream media requires reframing into a negative outcome
• Factors include ignorance, lack of reflexivity among writers, institutionalised norms of policies that allow for racism, malice, colonization, limited representation in media, passivism, and power differences in institutions

Week 4 Lecture 1: Hostile Sexism

• Sexism is prejudice based on someone's gender
• Hostile sexism involves overt derogatory attitudes toward women
• Measured through disagreement with statements

Hostile Sexism Statements

• “Feminists seek to have more power than men”, “Women exaggerate problems they have at work”, “Women seek power by getting control over men”, etc.
• This ideology expresses that women are emotional, manipulative, and incompetent

Aspects of Hostile Sexism

• Higher agreement predicts discrimination toward women in the workplace
• Hostile-sexism maintains men's advantages, is easily recognised and challenged, and is destructive for men's relationships

Beliefs About Women

• Some beliefs include women only being capable in their domains, a need to be protected and are social multitaskers
• Sexism is marked by ambivalence
• It is prejudiced rather than antipathy toward women

Benevolent Sexism

• It praises and expresses protection toward women and traditional relationships
• Measured through agreement with statements like: "Women should be cherished and protected by men"

Aspects Of Benevolent Sexism

• Also, "Men are incomplete without the love of a good women," and "Women, compared to men, tend to have a superior moral sensibility"
• Benevolent sexism is more covert and suitable
• Ambivalence occurs when those who agree with hostile sexism also agree with benevolent sexism

Correlation

• There is a strong correlation with hostile sexism
• Humans don't like unfair things so they supplement them

Functions Of Benevolent Sexism

• It impedes women's task performance
• This can stay with women for a long time
• Benevolent sexism functions to maintain men’s advantage in society in subtle ways
• It predicts more violence

Ambivalent Sexism Theory Key Points

• The two make up two sets of attitudes, with one aggressive and the other traditionally romantic
• Men, women, and non-binary people tend to agree or disagree with ideologies
• One forms a double-blind system of threat for women

Lecture 2: Manosphere

• The manosphere is a collection of online communities opposing feminism that share many ideologies, including Incels and Men’s Rights Activists
• Each group has distinct norms and language
• The manosphere is not a new concept

Ideologies Of The Manosphere

• The "Zero Sum" ideology expresses that any gains for one group result in losses for another, with biased perceptions toward ingroup losses
• Applying the sum in regards to gender: empowering men, weakens women
• First examined the study - Feeling the thermometer, what people think feminist or non-feminist would rate women as
• Those surveyed then rated how they felt toward men

Zero Sum Study Results

• Results showed people felt feminists had less warming
• People rejecting feminism had greater beliefs that gender groups are different
• People who ID'd as feminists saw both groups as similar

Competitive Victimhood

• Groups make claims with suffering as a competitor
• Being told your group has suffered feels nice
• Relieves you of: Succes, hiding away society, feelings, standards

Research Results On Research

• Participants had non-Indigenous parents
• Ingroup: the victimizing
• Group victims are tricky
• Extreme groups make it more extreme

More Zero Sum Aspects

• Benefit: Reconsolidation when their experienced harms is recognized
• Painting manhood creates hate

Study Summary

• Men punched the wall, women braided
• The men that braided acted more upset
• Zero sum beliefs cause less gain
• Manhood feels more vulnerable

Lecture 3: Relationship Structures

• Times have changed, there are different structures
• Polyamory and etc.

Love and Prejudices Studies

• Monogamy
• Non-monogamy
• Commitment

What is a Relationship

• Structures with people facing discrimination
• Psychology can test hate facets/discrimination stereotypes

Functional Love Theory

• Love should be maintained (humans evolved around that)
• Biological love involves maintaining the human

Aron Theory

• Given choice, choose one
• Will the love last
• Will they be maintained

Limited Supply

• Love will be maintained in order to grow/ maintain those relationships

Families and Relationships

• The myth of children
• There also cannot be jealousy, or inequality

Theories

• Pleasure = compassion
• Both happen simultaneously
• Inequality if less satisfied: you need to communicate

Science Behind Feelings

• Triangular
• Components of intimacy
• Biologically people may not have the chemistry to love
• 3 Hormones: Oxytocin, Steroid & Dopamine
• Hormones regulate many things depending on happiness