Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination

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Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination

• Social Context of Prejudice

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Social Context of Prejudice

• What are the social context that influence
  peoples individual attitudes and beliefs?
• Does intergroup processes contribute to
  prejudice?
• Do we think of people in terms of the social
  groups to which they belong instead of them as
  individuals?

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Social Context of Prejudice

• Theories of relationships between groups
• Realistic Conflict Theory
• Social Identity Theory
• Relative Deprivation Theory
• Integrated Threat Theory

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Realistic Conflict Theory

• Competitive or cooperative
• People come to dislike members of other groups
  because they see those groups as competing with
  their own group.
• People tend to like members of cooperating groups
• People are motivated by a desire to maximize
  rewards they receive in life, even if that means
  taking away from others rewards
• People join groups to make it easier to get
  rewards through cooperation with ingroup members
• Competition leads to conflict that leads to
  prejudice

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Realistic Conflict Theory

• Types of Realistic Conflict

Intergroup Competition Response to Domination by Outgroup Responses to Challenges to ingroup Dominance Competition with equal group Domination of outgroup by Ingroup Stable oppression of Ingroup by outgroup Unstable oppression of Ingroup by outgroup Ingroup sees challenges as unjust iced Ingroups sees challenges as justified
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Realistic Conflict Theory

• Stable Oppression
• False Consciousnessholding of false or
  inaccurate beliefs that are contrary to ones own
  social interest and which contribute to
  maintained the disadvantaged position of ...the
  group

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Social Identity Theory
Developed in Europe, this theory was developed
based on belief that American psychology was
putting too much emphasis on the individual and
not paying sufficient attention on the role
social group membership. Social Identitypart of
a persons self-concept derived from membership
in groups that are important to that person.
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Social Identity Theory
Intergroup Bias Minimal group paradigm Paradigmst
andard set of procedure for conducting research
on a topic Ingroup biasartificially constructed
on bases of trivial criteria
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Social Identity Theory

• Intergroup Bias Hypothesis
• Categorizationcompetition hypothesisperceive
  members of outgroup as more similar to each other
  than they actually are.(Us vs them)
• All Asians look alike
• All Black men are athletic
• Latinos or Hispanics as a single cultural group
• Yet seeing members of the ingroup as individuals

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Social Identity Theory
Intergroup Bias Hypothesis The self-esteem
Hypothesis having a positive social identity
with their personal identities Feeling good about
oneself We identity with a group that does well,
we feel good about ourselvespositive self-esteem
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Social Identity Theory

• Factors that Influence Social Identity
• Self-categorization
• Optimal distinctiveness
• Threat to the group
• Chronic social identities
• Individual differences

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Social Identity Theory

• Issues in Social Identity Theory
• Ingroup favoritism versus outgroup derogation
• Social identity and intergroup tolerance
• Personal motives versus social identity motives

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Social Identity Theory
Relative Deprivation Theorypeople feel deprived
relative to what they had in the past or relative
to people who have the resource they believe they
deserve. Getting less than the standardfeel
deprived Based on personal experiences or
comparing ones situation with others
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Social Identity Theory

• Relative Deprivation Theory
• Relative Deprivation, Dissatisfaction, and
  Resentment
• Distribution justiceunfairness, favoritism
• Procedural justiceunfairness of process rewards
  destructive
• Relative Deprivation and Prejudice
• Egoistic (personal) relative deprivation-degree
  to which a person feels deprived
• Fraternal (group) relative deprivation-

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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
_________ theory proposes that people dislike
members of outgroups because their ingroup is
competing with the outgroup for resources.
a) Realistic conflict b) Relative
deprivation c) Social categorization d)
Social identity
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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
_________ theory proposes that people dislike
members of outgroups because their ingroup is
competing with the outgroup for resources.
a) Realistic conflict (p. 301) b) Relative
deprivation c) Social categorization d)
Social identity
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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
According to realistic conflict theory, people
join groups a) for the social benefits. b) to
enhance their ability to obtain rewards and
resources. c) because belonging increases their
self-esteem. d) to ensure procedural
justice.
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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
According to realistic conflict theory, people
join groups a) for the social benefits. b) to
enhance their ability to obtain rewards and
resources. (p. 301) c) because belonging
increases their self-esteem. d) to
ensure procedural justice.
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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
People with ________ social identities are most
likely to be tolerant of other groups. a)
focused b) complex c) simple d) chronic
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The Social Context of PrejudiceStudy Questions
People with ________ social identities are most
likely to be tolerant of other groups. a)
focused b) complex (p. 314) c) simple d)
chronic