Unit 12: Social Psychology

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Unit 12 Social Psychology

• Essential Task 12-5
• Describe processes that contribute to
  differential treatment of group members with
  specific attention to prejudice.

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Introduction

• This demonstration is based on an actual study by
  Hamilton and Gifford (1979).

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Instructions

• You will see a series of statements, each
  describing a person performing some type of
  behavior.
• Each person belongs to either Group A or Group B.
• After all statements have been presented, you
  will respond with your impressions.

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• John visited a friend in the hospital.

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• Allen dented the fender of a parked car and
  didnt leave his name.

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• Bill is rarely late for work.

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• Bob helped a child.

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• Tom shared his lunch with a co-worker.

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• Scott cheated on an exam.

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• Alan planted seedlings in a park.

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• Henry went out of his way to return a lost wallet
  to the owner.

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• Nathan took neighborhood kids swimming.

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• John is considered a very dependable co-worker.

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• Chad always talks about himself and his problems.

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• Josh finished his homework on time.

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• Lane is well-like by his colleagues.

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• Davis read a story to his daughter.

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• Ron made prank phone calls to his teacher.

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• Bruce never returns library books on time.

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• Ken helped a lost child in a supermarket.

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• David converses easily with people he doesnt
  know well.

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• Fred gave blood to the Red Cross.

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• Alex kicked a dog.

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• Devin donated his clothes to charity.

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• Mark learned how to fly an airplane.

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• Gary earned an A on his research paper.

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• Ted ran a red light.

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• Jeff volunteered to tutor needy students.

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• Richard yelled at a boy who bumped into him.

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• Eric drove his elderly neighbor to the grocery
  store.

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• Vincent forgot about his job interview.

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• Keith organized a birthday party for a friend.

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• Colin works out to keep himself in good shape.

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• Robert talks with food in his mouth.

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• Scott received a promotion at work.

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• Norman often tailgates when he is driving

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• Eliot sings in the church choir.

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• William rarely washes his car.

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• Pete is recognized as an excellent musician.

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• Don took a hurt stray dog to the vet.

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• Roger repaired his neighbors lawnmower.

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• Craig helped a friend move.

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Done!

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Group Ratings

• I will hand you a chart to help you rate each
  group.
• Be patient. ?

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Group Ratings
Attribute Group A Group B
Popular
Lazy
Unhappy
Intelligent
Honest
Irresponsible
Helpful
Unpopular
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Group Ratings

• Your next task is to rate each of the groups.
• Use the scale below
• 1 Strongly Disagree
• 7 Strongly Agree
• You should use intermediate values as well as
  these two extremes.

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Debriefing

• Group A (n 26 members)
• 18 positive statements
• 8 negative statements
• 94 ratio of positive to negative statements

• Group B (n 13 members)
• 9 positive statements
• 4 negative statements
• 94 ratio of positive to negative statements

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Debriefing

• The ratio of positive and negative events was
  exactly the same for Group A and Group B!
• Did we rate the Groups the way we should have?
• Are our ratings of the Groups exactly equal?

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Illusory Correlation

• This demonstration illustrates an Illusory
  Correlation the perception of a relationship
  where none exists, or perception of a stronger
  relationship than actually exists. Another way
  to think of it a false impression that two
  variables correlate.

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Illusory Correlation

• The joint occurrence of two distinctive events
  (minority member Group B distinctive event -
  negative behavior) probably attracted more
  attention and caused faulty impressions.

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Illusory Correlation

• Examples
• It always rains on the week-end
• It always rains after you wash the car
• The phone always rings when you are in the shower
• Librarians are quiet
• Doctors are wealthy

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Illusory Correlation

• The Illusory Correlation may be one reason
  individuals become prejudiced.
• Research has shown that White Americans
  overestimate the arrest rate of African Americans
  (Hamilton Sherman, 1996).
• African Americans minority
• Arrest Rate distinctive event

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Prejudice

• Simply called prejudgment, a prejudice is an
  unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward
  a group and its members. Prejudice is often
  directed towards different cultural, ethnic, or
  gender groups.

Components of Prejudice

1. Beliefs (stereotypes)
2. Emotions (hostility, envy, fear)
3. Predisposition to act (discrimination)

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Reign of Prejudice

• Prejudice works at the conscious and more at
  the unconscious level. Therefore, prejudice is
  more like a knee-jerk response than a conscious
  decision.

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How Prejudiced are People?

• Over the duration of time many prejudices against
  interracial marriage, gender, homosexuality, and
  minorities have decreased.

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Racial Gender Prejudice

• Americans today express much less racial and
  gender prejudice, but prejudices still exist.

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Social Roots of Prejudice

• Why does prejudice arise?

1. Social Inequalities
2. Social Divisions
3. Emotional Scapegoating
4. Need to categorize

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Social Inequality

• Prejudice develops when people have money, power,
  and prestige, and others do not. Social
  inequality increases prejudice.

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Social Divisions

• Ingroup People with whom one shares a common
  identity.
• Outgroup Those perceived as different from ones
  ingroup.
• Ingroup Bias The tendency to favor ones own
  group.

Mike Hewitt/ Getty Images
Scotlands famed Tartan Army fans.
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Emotional Roots of Prejudice

• Prejudice provides an outlet for anger emotion
  by providing someone to blame. After 9/11 many
  people lashed out against innocent Arab-Americans.

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Cognitive Roots of Prejudice

• One way we simplify our world is to categorize.
  We categorize people into groups by stereotyping
  them.

Michael S. Yamashita/ Woodfin Camp Associates
Foreign sunbathers may think Balinese look alike.
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Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
In vivid cases such as the 9/11 attacks,
terrorists can feed stereotypes or prejudices
(terrorism). Most terrorists are non-Muslims.
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Sources of Prejudice

• Frustration-aggression theory
• People who are frustrated in their goals may turn
  their anger away from the proper target toward
  another, less powerful target. (Scapegoat)
• Authoritarian personality
• Personality pattern characterized by rigid
  conventionality, exaggerated respect for
  authority, and hostility toward those who defy
  social norms
• Racism
• Prejudice and discrimination directed at
  particular racial group

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We shall overcome

• Recategorize expand a schema to see how it
  relates to others. Not protestant vs. Catholic
  but instead both under Christianity.
• Controlled Processing purposefully putting on
  their shoes. Method to learn tolerance
• Increase contact between groups.
• Equal status
• One-on-one contact
• Come together to cooperate, not compete
• Should not be contrived