Prejudice Lecture Notes 2024 PDF

Prejudice 1. Examples of prejudice 2. The Authoritarian Personality. 3. Realistic group conflict theory. 4. The minimal group paradigm.  Definition Prejudice is...”the holding of derogatory attitudes or beliefs, the expression of negative affect or the display of host...

Prejudice 1. Examples of prejudice 2. The Authoritarian Personality. 3. Realistic group conflict theory. 4. The minimal group paradigm.  Definition Prejudice is...”the holding of derogatory attitudes or beliefs, the expression of negative affect or the display of hostile or discriminatory behaviour toward members of a group on account of their membership in that group” (Brown & Lepore, 1996, p. 450). “It’s a problem of their racial integration... they’ve got to get used to the way of life. Perhaps rape is accepted over in Samoa and Polynesia but not in Auckland. They’ve got to learn that. There is a lot of people coming in with mental disease. I think it’s because there is a lot of interbreeding in those... islands. And that brings a big,... increase of retards” (quoted from Potter & Wetherell, 1987, p. 51). “The,... Maori, only 150 years ago he was a cannibal, he was eating his enemies. He hasn’t had the advantages of Western civilisation, he hasn’t... the capacity to reason, analyse” (quoted from Wetherell & Potter, 1992, p. 54). “Quite frankly, I don’t think mothers have the same right to work as fathers. If the Lord had intended us to have equal rights to work, he wouldn’t have created men and women” (Patrick Jenkin, Social Services Minister, quoted in Rose, 1987, p. 38). “Men (as a result of their sexuality) are: the victims of an impulse which... is one of the most destructive of human urges, and the true cause of rape, obscenity and lust” (Scruton, 1983, p.27). ”Wogs smell like six-month old shit; Pakis smell like curry which has been mixed with shit and piss; their breath smells like the local fucking sewers” (Billig et al., 1988, p. 117). “In short, we find them only an ignorant and barbarous people, who have long united in the most sordid avarice with the most detestable superstition and the most invincible hatred for every people by whom they are tolerated and enriched” (Voltaire, quoted in Billig, et al. 1988, p. 122).  Authoritarian personality Adorno et al. (1950). A personality type – overly deferential to those in authority whilst hostile towards those perceived as inferior. Associated with a very conventional value system in which ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are clear and distinct. Minority groups are openly derogated Working from a Freudian perspective Adorno et al., claimed that the Authoritarian Personality was derived from childhood Harsh, demanding, parents stifled child’s basic instincts Child’s aggression then displaced onto others such as ethnic minorities. End Result: people who were over deferential and submissive to authority figures and hostile to minorities. Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT) Attitudes reflect the objective interests of the ingroup. Two implicit assumptions If the interests of two groups coincide, then relations between groups will be harmonious. If there is a conflict of interests between two groups then relations between groups will be hostile. SHERIF’S field experiments Robbers Cave in Oklahoma. Adults in camp were trained researchers. Boys aged 12, all from white MC homes All screened before study. Only those from stable homes admitted. Thus - effects could not be attributed to social or psychological deprivation.  STAGE 1 Boys divided into 2 groups Normal camp activities (swimming, canoeing, bushwalking) Initially boys given tasks that emphasized cooperation Participants developed their own norms, names, leaders, followers, status hierarchies etc.  Stage 2 Boys brought into competition with each other. Series of contests (e.g., tug of war, softball etc.) Prizes for winner (cup and pen knives), nothing for losers. First stage: harmony between groups. Second stage: hostility between groups. Groups teased each other through name calling e.g. COWARDS, BUMS, SNEAKY & SMART ALECKS SHERIF (1966, p.85) went so far himself as to remark that to an outsider the boys would appear as “wicked, disturbed and vicious.” Escalated into verbal abuse, fights and raids on each others cabins.  The basic conditions necessary for discrimination. One of the most influential methods MINIMAL GROUP PARADIGM (MGP) Tajfel, et al., (1971) the MGP - a scientific attempt to create an 'empty environment’ where researchers could then systematically add variables that would elicit discrimination. To ensure that none of the other factors which influence prejudice would impinge upon the experimental conditions group membership was assigned arbitrarily e.g. letters out of a can or box. No info given about the personal characteristics of recipients 1. Code numbers and group membership labels were used to designate ingroup and outgroup members. 2. To guard against self-interest, respondents were denied the opportunity of allocating resources to themselves. Top - Member 72 of A group Bottom - Member 73 of B group 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 Research shows that people show discrimination against those who belong to different groups from themselves (Mullen et al, 1992) Why?  Summary 1. Examples of prejudice. 2. The Authoritarian Personality. 3. Realistic group conflict theory. 4. The minimal group paradigm.  Exam Question Naomi dislikes dealing with any people in the fire- twirling group at university. She has negative beliefs about the fire-twirling group such as they are all wild and irresponsible. We could say then that Naomi is: A. prejudiced B. discriminatory C. selfish D. unlikeable Research using the MGP would tend to suggest that prejudice could be a consequence of a) conflicting group interests b) group membership c) intergroup attribution d) the authoritarian personality