Psychology 147 Introduction

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Psychology 147 - Introduction

• Intergroup relations subject matter
• approach social psychology
• study of individual in social context
• social context own and other groups
• How do group memberships influence they way we
  perceive, feel, react, behave?
• three aspects of intergroup relations
• stereotypes
• prejudice
• discrimination

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Psychology 147 - Introduction

• A joke
• Heaven is where
• The police are British,
• The cooks are French,
• The mechanics are German,
• The lovers are Italian,
• And its all organized by the Swiss.
• Hell is where
• The police are German,
• The cooks are British,
• The mechanics are French,
• The lovers are Swiss,
• And its all organized by the Italians.

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Psychology 147 - Introduction

• So we all have stereotypes.
• Nationality, gender, race, social class,
  occupation, sexual orientation, etc., etc.
• Beliefs about social groups
• Goal understand what they are and how they
  work.
• Stereotypes (beliefs) ? feelings, emotional
  reactions. Hence, biased reactions prejudice.
• Beliefs and feelings ? guide behavior. Hence,
  biased behavioral reactions discrimination.
• So -- we all have stereotypes, we also have
  prejudices and probably discriminate.
• Are we all bigots?
• Examples to be used.

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Conceptual Orientations

• Conceptual orientations to stereotyping and
  prejudice
• (1) Psychodynamic approach
• Emphasis on motivational functions
• Roots in Freudian theory defense mechanisms
• The Authoritarian Personality
• Scapegoating
• Fein Spencer (Reading 9)
• Social Identity Theory

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Conceptual Orientations

• Fein Spencer stereotyping functional in
  self-image maintenance
• Rationale people motivated to have positive
  self-image (self-esteem). When threatened, need
  to re-affirm self-image. Stereotyping one way
  to restore self esteem.
• Study 1 Self-affirmation makes stereotyping
  less likely.
• 1st phase affirmation (or not) -- write about
  high-impt. or low-impt. value
• 2nd phase evaluate job candidate Jewish or
  not
• Results no affirmation condition less
  favorable ratings of Jewish than non-Jewish
  applicant

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Conceptual Orientations
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Conceptual Orientations

• Study 2 Threatening self-image increases
  stereotyping
• 1st phase SE threat -- intelligence test, bogus
  feedback (or not)
• 2nd phase read about target person, implies he
  may be gay (or not), rate impression of person
• Results Ps in threat condition made more
  stereotypic ratings of gay-implied target

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Conceptual Orientations
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Conceptual Orientations

• Study 3 Does it work? Does the stereotyping
  restore self-esteem?
• 1st phase intelligence test (positive or
  negative feedback), measured self-esteem
• 2nd phase evaluate job candidate Jewish or
  not then measure self-esteem again
• DV change in SE from 1st to 2nd time
• Results increase in SE for those (a) threatened
  and (b) who rated Jewish candidate.

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Conceptual Orientations
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Conceptual Orientations

• Social Identity Theory
• Moves same analysis from interpersonal to
  intergroup level
• Social identity aspects of self concept that
  derive from group memberships
• Rationale
• Want to feel good about self
• Part of SE comes from social identity ? want to
  feel good about ingroups
• Thus evaluate ingroup more favorably than
  outgroup i.e., ingroup bias, outgroup
  discrimination

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Conceptual Orientations

• Psychodynamic orientation recap
• One way of thinking about stereotypes, prejudice,
  discrimination
• Emphasizes role of motivation
• Focuses on intra-individual causes
• Self-affirmation, SIT consider those
  intra-individual causes in social context

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Conceptual Orientations

• (2) Sociocultural approach
• Stereotypes about ethnic groups appear as a part
  of the social heritage of society. They are
  transmitted across generations as a component of
  the accumulated knowledge of society. They are
  as true as tradition, and as pervasive as
  folklore. No person can grow up in a society
  without having learned the stereotypes assigned
  to the major ethnic groups.
• (Ehrlich, 1973)

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Conceptual Orientations

• Stereotypes products of social context, culture
• Importance of societal influences family,
  peers, role models, media, cultural traditions
• Processes social learning, social reinforcement
• Research on
• Parents, authority figures
• Peers
• Portrayals in media
• Roles, positions in social world

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Conceptual Orientations

• Eagly Steffen (Reading 7) stereotypes based
  on gender roles gender stereotypes
• women communal kind, helpful, understanding,
  warm, etc.
• men agentic active, independent, aggressive,
  dominant, competitive, confidant, etc.
• Why? Genes? Evolution? Status?
• Perceivers observe women and men in different
  social roles

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Conceptual Orientations

• Eagly Steffen, Study 3
• Method Ps read description of average man or
  average woman who is employed full time.
• Three conditions
• No occupational description
• Employee
• Homemaker
• DV ratings on communal and agentic traits

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Conceptual Orientations

• Results
• Occupation
• Gender Traits No Desc. Emply.
  Hmemkr.
• Female
• Comm. 3.81 3.31
  4.22
• Agnt. 3.00 3.69
  3.02
• Male
• Comm. 3.03 3.39
  4.11
• Agnt. 3.46 3.40
  2.90

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Conceptual Orientations

• (3) Cognitive approach
• Stereotypes beliefs about groups, carried in
  our heads. Cognitive structures.
• Cognitive structures ? the processing of
  information about groups, members
• Thus, stereotypes can bias information processing
  in systematic ways.
• Cognitive approach will permeate this course.
  Stay tuned for more

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Conceptual Orientations

• So three conceptual orientations
• Psychodynamic
• Sociocultural
• Cognitive
• Not theories rather, ways of thinking about
  stereotypes, prejudice
• Each approach
• focuses on certain causal factors, underlying
  processes
• each implies foci for changing stereotypes,
  reducing prejudice
• Not the case that one is right, the others wrong
  they are complementary.

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