Intergroup Relations:

1
Lecture 12

• Intergroup Relations
• Prejudice and Discrimination

2
Outline

• Introduction
• What is Prejudice?
• Theories of Intergroup Relations
• Authoritarian Personality Theory
• Realistic Conflict Theory
• Social Identity Theory
• Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination
• The Contact Hypothesis
• Common Ingroup Identity Model

3
Introduction

• Ingroup The social group to which an individual
  perceives herself or himself as belonging (us).
• Outgroup Any group other than the one to which
  individuals perceive themselves as belonging
  (them).

4
What is prejudice?

• Prejudice is a positive or negative attitude
  towards individuals based upon their membership
  in a particular social group.

5
What is Prejudice?

• 3 components of a prejudiced attitude
• (A) Affective
• Evaluative/emotional aspect
• (B) Behavioral
• Discrimination positive or negative behavior
  directed toward the persons or groups who are
  targets of prejudice
• (C) Cognitive
• Stereotypes A cognitive framework (i.e.,
  schema) to the effect that all members of a
  specific social group share certain
  characteristics.

6
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Authoritarian Personality Theory
• The authoritarian personality can be described in
  terms of 3 components
• 1. Authoritarian submission
• A high degree of submission to authorities who
  are perceived to be established and legitimate in
  the society in which one lives.
• 2. Authoritarian aggression
• A general aggressiveness, directed against
  various persons, that is perceived to be
  sanctioned by established authorities.
• 3. Conventionalism
• A high degree of adherence to the social
  conventions that are perceived to be endorsed by
  society and its established authorities.

7
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Authoritarian Personality Theory, cont.
• Scape-goating
• A response to frustration whereby the individual
  displaces aggression onto a socially disapproved
  outgroup.

8
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Realistic Conflict Theory (Sherif)

Harmonious intergroup attitudes
Biased perceptions
Development of Group Culture
Intergroup Cooperation
Intergroup Conflict
Group Formation
Tasks require intragroup cooperation
Intergroup competition for scarce resources
Introduce superordinate goal
9
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1978)
• Social categorization
• Social identity
• Social comparison
• Psychological group distinctiveness

10
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Social Identity Theory, cont.
• Social comparison
• The cognitive tendency to divide the social world
  into categories (i.e., social groups). This
  categorical differentiation has the effect of
  sharpening the distinctions between the
  categories and blurs the differences within them.

11
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Social Identity Theory
• Social identity
• That part of the individuals self-concept which
  derives from knowledge of his or her membership
  in a social group, together with the value and
  emotional significance associated to that
  membership.

12
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Social Identity Theory, cont.
• Social comparison
• The process through which characteristics of the
  ingroup are compared to those of the outgroup.

13
Theories of Intergroup Relations, cont.

• Social Identity Theory, cont.
• Psychological Group Distinctiveness
• The state desired by individuals in which the
  ingroup has an identity that is perceived by the
  group members as being both distinct and positive
  vis-à-vis relevant comparison groups.

14
Reducing Prejudice

• The Contact Hypothesis (Amir, 1969)

Cooperative Interdependence
Prejudice Reduction
Equal Status
Acquaintance Potential
Institutional Support
15
Reducing Prejudice, cont.

• Common Ingroup Identity Model
• Individuals in different groups who view
  themselves as members of a single social entity
  will experience more positive contacts between
  themselves and intergroup bias will be reduced.
• Recategorization
• Shifts in the boundary between an individuals
  ingroup and various outgroups cause persons
  formerly viewed as outgroup members now to be
  seen as belonging to the ingroup

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Reducing Prejudice, cont.

• Dissociation Model (Devine, 1989)
• Based on a conflict between stereo-typed
  responses and personal beliefs
• Automatic Processes (stereotyped-response)
• Involve the unintentional (spontaneous)
  activation of previously developed associations
  in memory that have been established through a
  history of repeated activation.
• Controlled Processes (personal beliefs)
• Refers to the intentional activation of
  information stored in memory. More flexible than
  automatic processes, but they can be initiated
  only with active attention and not under
  conditions in which ones cognitive capacity is
  limited