[Stereotypes]
Definition
Stereotypes are generalised belief about specific groups of people
Origins of stereotypes
Illusory correlation
Grain of Truth Hypothesis
Social identity theory
Theory proposed by Tajfel and Turner
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They are schemas that help us understand the world around us. Tend to be very general in nature and individuals acknowledge that they cannot be applied to all members of the group. Prone to confirmation bias
Conformity to group norms
definition: concept relating a correlation between two variables that actually does not exist. It's a cognitive bias that makes people see a cause and effect relationship when its actually not really there.
study: Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
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Definition: The theory states that the formation of stereotypes originates from some kind of truth (social reality) in order to create the stereotype. The theory also states that stereotypes originate from two sources: 1. from a person's experience with another person, 2. from the communication of those experiences to other people
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A= investigate illusory correlation of group size and negative behaviour
M = lab experiment study
P = students were asked to read descriptions of two groups (Group A and Group B) and were told to assign negative and positive traits to both groups. Group A has two times more people than Group B, making B the minority but the proportion is the same
R = Participants categorises more positive traits to group A and more negatives to group B
C = participants have illusory correlation towards the groups, in that group B is a minority and therefore are smaller in number and more obvious to spot the negative traits and they generalize it to the group.
E = artificial since its not natural setting and lab exp so low ecological validity
Study: Ford & Stangor (1992) - They found that the traits that most objectively distinguished two target groups were most likely to emerge as central to a set of stereotypic beliefs about groups.
Effect of stereotype
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Stereotype threat
Prejudice
discrimination
Stereotype boost
Exposure to positive stereotypes can enhance one's performance.
Discrimination is an unjust action towards a particular category of people the negative behavior or actions towards an individual or group of people, treating them in an unfair way based on their group membership
definition: Through categorization and by being part of thoughts resistant to change, stereotypes have a tremendous potential to affect a certain group"s behaviour negatively, which can be explained by stereotype threat.
Stereotype threat occurs when one is in a situation where there is a threat of being judged or treated stereotypically, or a fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype.
Steele & Aronson (1995)
Shih, Pittinsky, Ambady (1999)
Four psychological mechanisms: Social categorization, Social identification, Social comparison, Positivie distinctiveness
Prejudice is a bad opinion or idea without any good reasons, a negative, pre-existing attitude, directed towards a group or an individual in a group
Our identity is influenced by our groups and categorize people to ingroups and outgroups, leding to ingroup favouritism and outgroup discrimination
Study: Schaller (1991)
A= investigate how group membership may lead to stereotyping
M= lab exp
P = presented with a series of statements that described members of their ingroups and their outgroups. The statements described both desirable and undesirable behaviors
R=When participants were asked about their own group, they recalled stereotyping statements that favored their own group or in group bias, showed negative stereotyping of their out group
racism
A: Tend to be very general in nature and individuals acknowledge that they cannot be applied to all members of the group.
M: lab exp
P= in the experimental condition (stereotype threat), participants were told that the test diagnosed intellectual ability
in the control condition, participants were told that the purpose of the research had nothing to do with intellectual ability
R=African-Americans did poorly when they believed that the test was a test of their ability, but did just as well as the white Americans when they believed that it was a test of problem-solving skills.
C=stereotype threat diminished the intellectual performance of the black participants in the experiment, suggesting that merely being aware of a stereotype can decrease academic achievement
E = artificial, cause and effect relationship, internal validity