Stereotypes

1
Stereotypes

• What they are and what they do

2
Class Exercise

• Write a definition of stereotype
• List some racial stereotypes of an out-group
• List some racial stereotypes of your in-group
• Underline (mentally, if you wish) stereotypes
  that you endorse

3
Stereotypes are often (inaccurately) stereotyped

• Typical mainstream definitions
• a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified
  conception, opinion, or image (dictionary.com)
• a standardized mental picture that is held in
  common by members of a group and that represents
  an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude,
  or uncritical judgment (webster.com)
• a generalized image of a person or group, which
  does not acknowledge individual differences and
  which is often prejudicial to that person or
  group. (remember.org)

4
An activity from Remember.org

• a) All athletes are
• b) People on welfare are all
• c) He's a cheap
• d) Drugs are used by virtually
• e) All homosexuals are
• f) All politicians are
• g) All people with AIDS are
• h) All people who sleep on grates are
• i) All Christian Fundamentalists are
• j) All male hairdressers are
• k) All male ballet dancers are
• l) All Jewish mothers are
• m) All Harvard graduates are
• n) All construction workers are
• o) He's so dumb, he must be
• p) He's so smart, he must be
• q) He's quick-tempered, so he must be
• r) He drinks like a fish, so he must be
• s) He likes watermelon, and so does every

• Have students complete the following sentences,
  then break up into small groups to compare their
  answers and discuss if there is any prejudice and
  bigotry in their answers or in those of their
  classmates, as well as what factors (e.g.,
  television, newspapers, friendships, attitudes of
  their parents) may have contributed to such
  prejudice

5
Why the definitions are misleading

• Stereotypes are not necessarily
  overgeneralizations or over-simplifications. To
  the contrary, they are often contextually based
  (Brown, 2000).
• Stereotypes are not necessarily false or
  erroneous beliefs. They can be accurate
  statements about base rates (McCauley) that
  represent real group differences (i.e., many
  stereotypes are prototypes).
• Stereotypes have many useful functions

6
Sowhat are stereotypes?

• Stereotypes are
• Automatic and sometimes unconscious cognitive
  processes shared by many people and used by
  individuals to perceive and make sense of their
  environment
• Shared group beliefs regarding specific traits
  that are attributed to people based on group
  membership
• may be accurate or false
• may be positive or negative
• may be conscious or implicit (unconscious)
• may be (consciously) endorsed or rejected
• may or may not have an impact on behavior
• have both positive and negative functions
• may have either positive or negative outcomes

7
Related definitions

• Prejudice (affect)
• An attitude (usually negative) toward a
  distinguishable group or an individual member of
  that group based on group membership and without
  just ground (i.e., pre-judging).
• Discrimination
• Negative or harmful action (behavior) directed
  toward a distinguishable group or an individual
  member of that group based on group membership.
• Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or
  preference based on race, color, descent, or
  national or ethnic origin which has the purpose
  or effect of nullifying or impairing the
  recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal
  footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms
  in the political, economic, social, cultural or
  any other field of public life (UN International
  Convention)

8
Why are stereotypes shared?

• Two possible explanations
• Stereotypes as individual beliefs (social
  cognition)
• A common environment provides similar stimulus
  experience to different people and therefore
  similar stereotypes emerge.
• Stereotypes as collective belief systems
  (cultural perspective)
• A shared cultural pool of knowledge, social
  representations, ideology or culture from which
  different people sample and it is this which
  produces the commonality of views.
• Conclusion Stereotypes are shared by members of
  groups not just through the coincidence of common
  experience or the existence of shared knowledge
  within society, but because the members of groups
  act to coordinate their behavior.

9
The benefits of stereotypes

• Helps one deal with the social world more
  efficiently by simplifying the environment
  (cognitive miser hypothesis). This is useful as
  long as our understanding of base rates is
  relatively accurate.
• Helps people fit in and identify with social
  group by underscoring the positive features of
  the in-group, relative to out-groups (social
  identity theory).
• May serve a defensive function stereotyping
  others may make us feel better about ourselves
  (self-serving bias)
• In drama, allows quick introduction of characters
  that the audience understands and relates to
  (see http//en.wikipedia.org/
  wiki/List_of_heroic_stock_characters)

10
The problem with stereotypes

• Stereotypes get in the way of critical and
  complex thinking and can prevent us from more
  complex understanding
• Unexamined stereotypes may not represent all, or
  perhaps even most individuals within a group and,
  therefore, lead to misunderstanding
• Some stereotypes enhance our own self-identity by
  devaluing others and, in so doing, serve as the
  foundation for prejudice and discrimination
• Stereotypes can be obstacles in getting to know
  others as they really are versus how we think
  they might be
• Stereotypes can Stereotypes can serve to maintain
  systems of privilege and injustice

11
Development of stereotypesPsychodynamic
approach (1940s-1950s)

• The authoritarian personality ethnocentrism,
  fascism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism part of
  authoritarian syndrome
• Raised in a family highly structured and focused
  around the traditional authority of the father
  (usually)
• Climate of repression prevents expression of
  hostility in order not to explode, hostility and
  aggression must be projected
• Due to family background, thinking is rigid,
  dichotomous, and stereotyped (i.e., the closed
  mind )

12
Development of stereotypesValidity of
psychodynamic approach

• Original studies promising, but...
• 1958 southern state study
• White subjects showed high levels of anti-Black
  prejudice, regardless of whether or not
  personality was authoritarian.
• 1952 Virginia mine study
• 80 of white miners exhibited friendship and
  solidarity toward Black co-workers at work
• Out of the mines, lt 20 of the white miners
  maintained friendly relations with Black
  colleagues
• Individual personality differences cannot explain
  why prejudice is almost uniform in some cultures
  or predict which target will be chosen and when.

13
Development of stereotypesSocio-cultural
approach

• Social Learning Theory stereotypes are learned
  through direct observation of group differences
  or from exposure to media and other information
  (remember the Bobo doll studies?)
• Illusory Correlationstendency to see
  relationships between events that are unrelated
  (e.g., Jane Elliots exercisewe will watch this
  in class Thursday)
• Most likely to happen when an event stands out
• Woman who is a very aggressive CEO
• You may then notice women who are in positions of
  power and who are aggressive
• Leads to illusory correlation between women
  leaders and aggressiveness

14
Development of stereotypesSocio-cultural
approach (cont.)

• Kernel of Truth Hypothesis considers whether
  stereotypes that people commonly hold may in fact
  be partially accurate
• Racial stereotypes are formed in part due to
  group SES differences In the U.S., Blacks can be
  observed more often than whites in roles that
  imply less competence and less power. Due to
  conflation of race and class, class differences
  are attributed to race
• Stereotypes of Jews as cheap and as trying to
  make money
• Whats the kernel of truth?
• Where does the kernel come from?
• Whats the rest of the truth?

15
Development of stereotypesSocio-cultural
approach (cont.)

• Cognitive dissonance theory tendency for
  individuals to seek consistency between behaviors
  and beliefs as well as among their different
  beliefs and opinions.
• Information in conflict with belief system is
  unpleasant something must change to relieve
  dissonance
• Information in contrast to belief is avoided,
  actively refuted, or seen as an exception
• Stereotypes are reinforced

16
Development of stereotypes Socio-cultural
approach

• Mass media
• Man bites dog standard of what is newsworthy
  leads to illusory correlations even in
  politically unbiased media

• Black on white crime
• Palestinians throwing rocks at armed Israelis
• Most media outlets are not politically neutral

17
Support for the Sociocultural theory

• Large numbers of observers share similar
  stereotypes of a given target group and these
  stereotypes are relatively stable over time but
  also somewhat adaptive
• Example Katz Braly (1952/1933)--Princeton
  students stereotypes of the Japanese
• In 1933 intelligent, industrious, progressive
• In 1951 sly, shrewd
• In 1969 same as in 1933

18
The Role of Social Cognition
19
Categorization

• Categorization is the classification of persons
  into groups, often on the basis of common
  attributes.
• Unintentional, effortless, automatic activity of
  the mind
• Culturally shared
• Assimilation vs. differentiation
• Key Points
• We create the categories categories are not an
  essential part of the natural world
• How we categorize tends to be culturally
  influenced and shared and has social and
  political implications
• Items grouped together tend to be viewed more
  alike than actuality items in different
  categories may have their differences
  exaggerated.
• Once person is categorized into a group (e.g.,
  gender, race), we bring into play knowledge
  contained in the category (our schemas, our
  stereotypes)
• Leads to ingroup/outgroup dynamics.

20
In-group Out-group Dynamics

• In-group group with which an individual
  identifies and feels a member of (ILL-INI)
• Out-group group with which an individual does
  not identify (Muck Fichigan)
• In-group bias Positive feelings and special
  treatment for people defined as part of our
  in-group

21
Class Demonstration

1. Distribute 1000
2. Rate how much you like group members
3. Rate group members personality, academic
   performance
4. Distribute unpleasant task (e.g., transcribing
   video)

22
Tajfel (1982) Minimal Group Experiment

• Placed complete strangers in groups based on
  trivial criteria (e.g., a coin toss). Results
  indicated
• More liking for members of own group
• Rated ingroup members more positively (on
  personality and work performance)
• Gave more money and rewards to ingroup members
• Why?

23
Drawbacks to Social Categorization

• Outgroup homogeneity the perception that
  individuals in the outgroup are more similar to
  each other than they really are
• Leads us to overestimate the difference between
  groups and underestimate the differences within
  groups
• Reinforces stereotypes
• Reinforces Us versus Them mentality

24
The Cognitive Miser Hypothesis

• Bodenhausen (1990)
• 189 students Considering only your own feeling
  best rhythm, at what time would you get up if
  you were entirely free to plan your day? (6
  AM, 8 AM, 11 AM)
• Students divided into two groups Morning-type
  person or evening-type person
• Morning types High attention early in day Low
  attention later in day
• Evening types Low attention early in day High
  attention later in day

25
Cognitive Miser Hypothesis (cont.)

• Students asked to read about a campus crime in
  which the evidence was mixed and then rate the
  guilt of the suspect who was either White or
  Latino. Ratings occurred either early in the day
  or late in the day.
• What would we expect based on the cognitive miser
  hypothesis in terms of when stereotyping would
  occur?

26
Who should stereotype more late in the day?
27
Who should stereotype more early in the day?
28
Are stereotypes automatic?

• Groups can prime stereotypical thoughts and
  thoughts can prime stereotypical groups
• Automatic processing occurs when stimulus is
  encountered causing the stereotype to be
  accessed. Happens without conscious awareness
• Controlled processing occurs with awareness
  conscious choice to disregard or ignore the
  stereotyped information
• Hard choice (Fiske, 1989)

29
2002 Institute of Medicine Report

• When Latinos and African Americans were treated
  by physicians for a broken bone in their leg,
  they received pain medication significantly less
  often than white patients with the same injury.
  Minorities are less likely to be given
  appropriate cardiac medications or to undergo
  bypass surgery, and are less likely to receive
  kidney dialysis or transplants. By contrast, they
  are more likely to receive certain less-desirable
  procedures, such as lower limb amputations for
  diabetes and other conditions.

30
The Implicit Association Test

• Every man has reminiscences which he would not
  tell to everyone but only his friends. He has
  other matters in his mind which he would not
  reveal even to his friends, but only to himself,
  and that in secret. But there are other things
  which a man is afraid to tell even to himself,
  and every decent man has a number of such things
  stored away in his mind (Dostoyevsky)

Take the IAT at https//implicit.harvard.edu/impli
cit/

• Demonstration video at http//www.youtube.com/wat
  ch?v2RSVz6VEybk

31
IAT results
32
IAT over the lifespan
Replicated with preferences for flowers vs.
insects
33
Stereotypes and Biased Processing

• Stereotypes impacts processing of new information
• Biased information seeking
• Biased attention to information
• Biased memory for information
• Biased attributions for behavior
• Confirmatory biases
• Stereotypes resistant to change

34
Stereotype Suppression

• Stereotype suppression trying to consciously
  avoid using a stereotype.
• Suppression can be counter-productive
• Macrae et al. (1994) Participants wrote
  5-minute stories
• Phase 1 write a story about a day in the life of
  a skinhead
• Group 1 told to suppress stereotypes ? wrote less
  stereotypic passages
• Group 2 no instructions about stereotypes
  (control group)
• Phase 2 Tell another story about a day in the
  life of a skinhead
• Participants who had suppressed wrote more
  stereotypic second passages ? A rebound effect

35
Review

• Stereotypes are often inaccurately stereotyped
• Stereotypes have negative and positive features
• No single pathway to stereotype development
• Psychodynamic theory (authoritarian personality)
• Social learning theory (illusory correlations)
• Sociocultural theory (kernel of truth)
• Social categ./identity theories (minimal groups)
• Cognitive miser (early birds vs night owls)
• Stereotypes are automaticbut can be rejected
• Stereotypes are self-reinforcing (cog.
  dissonance)
• Stereotype-suppression can lead to rebounding

36
The issue of internalization

• The big issue Do targets of prejudice and
  stereotyping accept the negative evaluations and
  beliefs directed toward them?
• 1. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs
  interfere with individual achievement and lower
  self-esteem?
• 2. Can being a target of racial stereotypes
  elicit actual stereotypical behavior from
  targets?
• 3. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs lead
  members of subordinate groups to accept their
  subordinate position?

37
The long-term effects of exposure to prejudice
and stereotypes

• Common Assumption Negative stereotypes should
  result in lower self-esteem among members of
  stigmatized groups.
• BUT
• Crocker and Major (1989) reviewed 20 years of
  research and found no evidence that members of
  stigmatized or subordinate groups had lower
  self-esteem.
• Targets of prejudice and stereotyping can defend
  themselves in three ways
• By making ingroup comparisons only
• By attributing negative outcomes to
  discrimination rather than personal failure
• Through disidentification

38
Stereotype Threat

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vtjn6ZSU_zS0

39
Stereotype Threat

• Stereotype Threat (Steele Aronson, 1995) The
  threat of confirming as self-characteristic, a
  negative stereotype about ones group.
• Steele Aronson (1995)
• White and Black students took a brief test based
  on GRE
• Randomly assigned to three conditions
• Diagnostic condition The test is diagnostic of
  intellectual ability
• Non-diagnostic condition The test is a tool for
  studying problem-solving
• Non-diagnostic challenge condition The test is
  problem solving and challenge

40
Steele and Aronson (study 1)
41
Steele and Aronson (Study 3)
57 items about things you enjoy (e.g., rap,
classical music, basketball, tennis)
1. _ _ CE 2. _ _ ACK 3. MI_ _ _ _ _ _
1. DU_ _ 2. SHA_ _ 3. _ _ _ ERIOR
42
Steele and Aronson (Study 3, cont.)
43
Steele and Aronson (Study 4)

• Question
• Is it sufficient simply to prime race in a
  context in which racial stereotype threat is
  thought to exist?

44
Ryan and Anthony (2006)

• Question
• Would stereotype threat also emerge on actual IQ
  tests?

45
Martens, Johns, Greenberg, Schimel (2006)

• Question
• Is it possible to reduce stereotype threat?

Study 1
Study 2
46
Implications of stereotype threat

• Racial disparities in IQ and academic achievement
  may be PARTLY explained by negative racial
  stereotypes
• Programs designed to help disadvantaged groups
  may also present threats to self
• Affirmative action programs imply that its
  recipients are inferior and cant get by without
  special help (Shelby Steele, 1990)
• Evidence
• Schneider et al. (1996) Compared to those who
  didnt, Blacks who received unsolicited help from
  a White student reported depressive feelings and
  lower self-esteem.
• Nacoste (1985) Women who gained access to a
  group simply because they were women expressed
  fewer positive emotions and thought the admission
  procedure was less fair.
• BUT
• Pratkanis and Turner (1996) Effect of
  affirmative action on recipients depends on how
  program is framed. If presented as a way of
  removing or offsetting past discrimination, it
  doesnt lower recipient self-esteem.

47
The issue of internalization

• The big issue Do targets of prejudice and
  stereotyping accept the negative evaluations and
  beliefs directed toward them?
• 1. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs
  interfere with individual achievement and lower
  self-esteem?
• 2. Can being a target of racial stereotypes
  elicit actual stereotypical behavior from
  targets?
• 3. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs lead
  members of subordinate groups to accept their
  subordinate position?

48
Stereotypes Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• Person X has stereotype of out-group member
• Person X interacts with out-group member based on
  stereotype
• Out-group member responds to Person X
• Person X interprets out-group members behavior
  as consistent with stereotype
• Snyder (1984) Men who anticipated talking with
  an attractive woman perceived the woman to be
  more sociable and tended to act in a warm and
  friendly manner
• Men who spoke to an unattractive woman behaved in
  a more cold and reserved manner

49
Racial stereotypes and the self-fulfilling
prophesy
Word, Zanna, Cooper (1974)

• White participants interviewed both Black and
  White interviewees.
• The White interviewers sat farther away,
  conducted shorter interviews, and made more
  speech errors when interviewing Blacks.
• As a result, Black interviewees were seen as more
  nervous and less effective.
• But in a second study, both Black and White
  interviewees did worse when interviewers were
  told to sit farther away, conduct shorter
  interviews, and so on.

50
Limits of the self-fulfilling prophecy

• Hilton and Darley (1985) self-fulfilling
  prophecy effects go away when the target knows of
  the perceivers stereotypical expectations
• Jussim and Fleming (1996)
• Reviewed all published studies of the
  self-fulfilling prophecy
• The effect occurs reliably, but it is weak
  accounts for only about 4 of stereotype-confirmin
  g behavior.

51
The issue of internalization

• The big issue Do targets of prejudice and
  stereotyping accept the negative evaluations and
  beliefs directed toward them?
• 1. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs
  interfere with individual achievement and lower
  self-esteem?
• 2. Can being a target of racial stereotypes
  elicit actual stereotypical behavior from
  targets?
• 3. Do internalized evaluations and beliefs lead
  members of subordinate groups to accept their
  subordinate position?

52
Disidentification

• Disidentification as a social problem
• Disidentification protects self-esteem, but
  undermines academic success.
• This can reinforce inequalities already produced
  by a history of discrimination.
• How can it be dealt with? Steele suggests
• Optimistic guidance
• Challenge over remediation
• Stressing the expandability of intelligence
• Affirming domain belongingness and role models

53
Political responses to being a target of
prejudice and stereotyping

• Theories of internalization suggest that targets
  should accept their subordinate position, but
  this doesnt always happen.
• e.g., Schuman et al (1997) Blacks are far less
  likely to endorse negative evaluations of their
  own group and are far more supportive of policies
  aimed at reducing racial inequality
• A stronger sense of group identification and
  acts of political resistance are just as
  likely.
• When do members of subordinate groups accept
  their fate, and when do they resist?

54
Political responses to being a target of
prejudice and stereotyping

• Doosje and Ellemers (1997)
• Highly-identified members are more likely to
  stick with the ingroup and take collective action
  when others attribute low status to their group.
• Low identifiers individually dissociate
  themselves from the ingroup when faced with low
  status.

55
Stereotypes in the news

• Ok or not Ok?

56
A marketing campaign

• "Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two Wongs Can
  Make It White." 
• "Abercrombie and Fitch Buddha Bash -- Get Your
  Buddha on the Floor"

57
Halloween Displays
58
More displays
59
The news coverage

• http//video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkten-usbrandms
  nbcvid41d2a3de-9c97-493f-8322-10d18bac0541
• http//www.truveo.com/Was-Halloween-noose-racist/i
  d/2554693601