Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice: a negative attitude directed toward people because they are members of a specific social group. Discrimination: a negative action toward members of a specific social group.

So you don’t have any preconceived notions?

 Level of education?

 Music preferences?

 Hobbies?

 Name?

 Occupation?

 Can he babysit your child?

What is your level of comfort?

 Could you fall in love with a member of a different race?

 How would your friends react if you married a member of a different race?

 You receive a blood transfusion from a person of a different race.

 Does it make you uneasy to see a biracial couple?

Stereotyping and Prejudice

 Outgroup Homogeneity: members of the outgroup are more similar than members of the ingroup. “All Asians look alike.”  Negative feelings AND Stereotyping are essential components, but not the ONLYcomponents

Illusory Correlation

 The belief that two variables are associated wit one another when, in fact, there is little or no actual association.

 …a lot like the availability heuristic  Shared distinctiveness

Subcategories

• What groups did you have in high school? Could you change your perceptions of those people?

Social Causes

 Unequal Power and Oppression  Intergroup Competition (Vincent Chin) realistic group conflict theory hostility and ethnocentrism Robber’s Cave  Social Identity  Authoritarian Personality  Religion

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Authoritarian Personality

 Adorno: submissiveness to authority, rigid adherence to conventional values, and prejudice towards outgroups.

 F Scale: Short for Fascism  Psychological History: severely disciplined as children, learned society was competitive and hierarchical

Religious Beliefs

• Correlation of organized religion and increased prejudice and bigotry.

• Need to examine reasons for religiousity – Intrinsic – extrinsic

 Blatant, aka Old Fashioned Racism  Modern Racism is more subtle and complex. Hatred not as apparent, but more discomfort, uneasiness, and fear

Sexism and Heterosexism

Combatting Prejudice  Robin Fox: Stereotyping is inevitable due to biological makeup  Patricia Devine: Stereotyping can be monitored  Contact Hypothesis  Equal status  Close contact over time  Intergroup cooperation  Social norms