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Factors affecting prejudice (Individual differences: Personality (Key…
Factors affecting prejudice
Individual differences: Personality
Key dimensions of personality are described as The Big Five
E
xtraversion: outgoing, talkative, assertive
A
greeableness: cooperative, compassionate, sympathetic
C
onscientiousness: reliable, prompt, organised
N
euroticism: emotional stability
O
penness: Open to adventure
Link to prejudice
-
Openness to experience = negative relationship with prejudice
(those who are more open are less prejudiced against)
-
Agreeableness = negative relationship with prejudice
-
Conscientiousness = positive relationship with prejudice
-> linked with
right-wing authoritarianism
RWA
- a person likes society to have rules people stick to, and are prejudiced against those who don't conform to society's norms
SDO
- competitive and work towards their own interests, therefore desiring superiority and dominance associated with an ideology of prejudice
Personality and fascism
Adorno (1950) devised the fascism scale and uncovered the
'authoritarian personality'
which links to prejudice
More obedient to authority and believe in social hierarchy and social rules, more likely to be prejudiced
Evaluation
Strengths
Credible
Explains
individual differences
such as bullies at school or individuals with extreme political ideas
Weaknesses
Not a valid explanation for wide-scale prejudice
, such as the Holocaust
It says certain
personality traits that cause prejudice are genetic
, which would suggest that it is fixed and unchangeable, but we see
changes in attitudes towards minorities through history
Developmental psychology
They thought the authoritarian personality developed in childhood
Harsh parenting to ensure obedience leads to a love-hate relationship
The hate is repressed by the child and is displaced onto weaker members of society, while maintaining respect for authority
Situational Factors
Social threat
A
manipulated social norm (situation) would create prejudice
but personality factors would be the same
If the situation changed and personality remained the same, the
changing of the situation caused the prejudice
Akrami et al (2009)
Manipulated the social norm of sexism
Half of the participants did an
online survey
, including a c
omment about discrimination of women no longer being a problem and a personality scale
measuring Big Five + RWA and SDO
Both
situational and personality factors linked to prejudice
Cooper and Whitney (2009)
Considered
balance of situational and personality effects on prejudice
In examples of
strong prejudice, situational factors are more influential
In examples of
weak prejudice, personality factors are more influential
Richard et al (2003)
Looked at
322 studies
and concluded
both situational effect and personality effects contribute to prejudice equally
Guimond et al (2003)
Looked at whether power of the situation can override personality in terms of prejudice
High levels of prejudice during WW2
, suggests
personality cannot explain fluctuations in prejudicial attitudes
over time
Personality is
stable and enduring
, so
situation
should also be a cause of prejudice
Evaluation
Strengths
Situations can lead to prejudice
, from changing norms, to times of threat, to competition over resources
Weaknesses
These
factors can be affected as well by whether the groups talk to each other or meet, whether they have a different status or have common goals
But even when situations lead to prejudice, there are
personality characteristics
that link (RWA, SDO and conscientiousness)
Culture
Guimond et al (2013)
Compared attitudes in
multicultural and less multicultural societies
Pro diversity policies in countries
helped reduce prejudicial attitudes
Lowest level of prejudice in
Canada
and highest in
Germany
Countries such as
Canada have stronger social norms relating to multiculturalism
Our cultural norms can
stem from situations
and can
impact the development of our personality
Katz and Braly (1933)
Questionnaire
on students attending Princeton University to
investigate stereotypes Americans have about other cultures
Given different ethnic groups
and picked out
5-6 traits
from 84 they felt represented the groups
African Americans were classified as
superstitious
and ignorant and
Jews as shrewd
A replication by Karlins (1969) found they had
changed but some stayed the same
Culture does affect prejudice, but as cultural norms change, so do stereotypes
Evaluation
Weaknesses
As social norms, laws and events are ever-changing, so it is difficult to establish whether one culture is more prejudiced than another
Strengths
Culture can influence prejudice if it has
existing social norms that legitimate prejudiced practice
or
endorse prejudice
towards targets