Understanding Prejudice and Its Measures

Prejudice Definition

• Prejudice is an attitude
• It's a hostile, negative attitude towards a distinct group of people
• Group membership is the sole basis for prejudice
• Prejudice is directed at individuals because of their group affiliation

Prejudice Measures

• Association Task Measure: measures implicit bias
• Skin conductance measures: physiological measure
• Donations to charity measure: behavioural measure
• Self-report questionnaires: measure explicit bias

Components of Prejudice

• Cognitive: Stereotypes are generalizations about a group, assigning specific characteristics. These are the beliefs and schemas about how we think of the group. An example is believing someone is lazy.
• Affective: Emotional/affect reactions towards the group. Examples include hate and feelings of contempt towards an individual or a group.
• Behavioural: Acts of discrimination, which are unjustified and negative or harmful behaviours towards a group member, based on their group membership. Examples include refusing to hire someone because of their ethnicity.

Attitude Object

• Individual members of a group

Common Types of Prejudices

• Homophobia
• Transphobia
• Sexism
• Racism
• Antisemitism (Jewish religion)

Prejudices Come From

• Operant conditioning
• Social learning
• War
• Direct experience
• Interpersonal conflict
• Classical conditioning
• Genes

Social Categorisation

• Process where people categorise; themselves and others into distinct social groups
• Two types: ingroups and outgroups
• Common social categorisations include:
  • Race
  • Religion
  • Social class/status
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Marital status

Social Identity Theory

• Individuals derive part of their self-esteem from the groups they belong to
• A person's sense of self is based on their group memberships
• People need their groups to see themselves positively

Categorisation that Causes Prejudices

• School Teacher Jane Elliot's experiment (blue eyes vs. brown eyes) in which students' behaviour, personalities and academic performance improved after categorizing
• Students' positive behaviour was noticed when blue eyed students were deemed superior

Minimal Groups Paradigm

• Not a theory, just a model
• Discovered that minimal conditions are needed for prejudices to occur between groups
• Shows one tiny factor is all that is needed for people to feel part of an ingroup and their self-esteem associated with being in a group grows
• Also noted the negativity that occurs when members are placed in outgroups

Minimal Group Experiment

• Navarrete et al. (2012) – Psychology students, different coloured shirts to create in- and out-groups tested their fear of in-group and out-group association with electric shocks
• It was found that people demonstrated more fear and dislike of out-groups faster and stronger than of in-groups

Realistic Conflict Theory

• Conflict between groups over goals and resources produces prejudice
• Sherif & Sherif (1954) Robbers Cave Summer Camp study
• In groups, hostility arises from competing goals; when limited resources or prizes are at stake, hostilities occur
• People associate positive attributes with their ingroups

Cognitive Dissonance

• Justifying prejudiced behaviour; this occurs when we face cognitive dissonance due to acting prejudiced
• We devise reasons to justify our actions to feel consistent
• Berscheid et al. (1968) electric shock study – Participants justify their actions to feel consistent

Individual to Group Generalisation

• The observed characteristic of a single group member informs the perceptions of the entire group

Generalisation Effect

• Dangerous
• All dangerous

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

• We perceive individuals in an outgroup as being more similar than they are; outgroup members seen as "all alike"
• Conversely, members of our ingroup are seen as individuals
• Research by Quattrone & Jones (1980)

Research Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

• PUHL ET AL. (2013): Generalization about Obese People

Common Ingroup Identity Model

• A larger identity overriding smaller groups will reduce prejudice
• Ingroup bias can be reduced if people in different groups view themselves as a part of a larger group
• Limitations: Dovidio et al., (2009) noted that superordinate identities are difficult to maintain and may encounter resistance

The Dual Identity Model

• A larger identity encompassing both groups, while sustaining the smaller ones, reduces prejudice and sustains individual subgroup identities.
• Simultaneous activation of subgroup and a shared group identity
• Extends ingroup favouritism to outgroup members
• Allows outgroup members to maintain their subgroup identities

Reducing Prejudice- Generalisation with Counter Stereotypical Conditions

• Ramasubramanian (2015): Stories about Morgan Freeman and Beyoncé Knowles illustrating counter-stereotypical conditions
• Stories about positive outgroup members (African Americans) changed negative stereotypes

Intergroup Contact Theory

• Interactions between individuals from different groups reduce prejudice toward the groups they represent
• We learn from interactions with outgroup members that they don't always fit stereotypes: leading to a positive outlook

Reducing Prejudice Generalisations with Intergroup Contact Theory

• Interaction between individuals of different groups alleviates prejudice between those groups
• Contact with outgroup members challenges stereotypes and improves attitudes towards the entire group

Contact Doesn't Need to Be Face-to-Face

• Interaction isn't limited to face to face, it can also be vicarious – observing one group member interacting positively with another

Reducing Prejudice Generalisation Teacher – Rachel Own Study

• Maunder et al., 2019 study
• Contact and interactions with outgroup members reduce prejudice
• Contact in all forms, including online chat rooms, VR, or face to face interaction leads to less prejudice

Criticism of Intergroup Contact

• Experiments may not fully reflect reality
• Real-world intergroup contact isn't always socially normative
• Short term : negative interactions still occur which worsens prejudice
• Stripped of intergroup tension: situations don't always automatically lead to association

Intergroup Contact Criticisms

• McKeown & Dixon (2017) - Intergroup contact can have a "sedative effect", reducing recognition of inequality; less allyship amongst minority groups
• Contact can lead to feelings of similarity with the majority, expectations of fair treatment, decreased bias from attribution of discrimination, and legitimization of power structures.

This quiz explores the definition of prejudice, its components, and various measures to assess it. From cognitive aspects to behavioral reactions, you'll learn how prejudice manifests and is evaluated through different methods. Test your understanding of these crucial social concepts.