Download Prejudice

Social Psychology – Part II
How we relate to others
Prejudice
Prejudice is a schema that influences how we notice and interpret events. A person who is prejudiced is likely to
interpret a neutral stimulus in a way that supports his/her bias. It is often unconscious because the prejudiced person
actually perceives events differently. This makes prejudiced beliefs very resistant to change.
- memory bias: we tend to recall more easily events that support our biases.
- Illusory correlation: we look for evidence to support our beliefs and ignore conflicting evidence
Note: Stereotypes and prejudice are not the same. Stereotypes are over generalized beliefs about a group of people.
Prejudice is a negative attitude about members of a group that usually includes negative stereotypes, feelings, and
predispositions to discriminatory actions.
Social Inequalities lead to prejudiced beliefs:
When people are not equal (for whatever reason), several things happen:
1. Due to a natural tendency to categorize, people begin to view others has being like them (in-group) or
unlike them (out-group). If one group has greater resources than the other, this can be particularly
damaging.
2. “Haves” begin to attribute failings of the “have nots” to personal disposition rather that situational factors
(they commit the fundamental attribution error)
3. The “have nots” respond to the injustice by blaming themselves, getting angry, or giving up. This often
leads to behaviors (aggression, despondency) that further confirm the “haves’” biased beliefs. They create
a self-fulfilling prophesy.
4. When either group gets angry or frustrated by the situation, people blame the members of the other group to
make themselves feel better (scapegoating)
This succession of events deeply affects our perception of the world such that we may not even realize that it is
happening. The altered perception often persists even long after the source of inequality has been removed.
(Self-fulfilling prophecy – when a person’s beliefs about others lead one to act in ways that induce the other’s to
appear to confirm the belief)
Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
1. Natural tendency to categorize (leads to in-group and out-group)
2. Availability heuristic (we judge the frequency of events by how easily examples come to mind)
3. The Just-World phenomenon—tendency of people to believe that the world is just and we get what we
deserve (where do we get these ideas?)
Aggression-- “any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy”.
Biology of Aggression
Freud thought that people had a “death instinct”—a self-destructive tendency which we displace towards others (as
aggression or in socially sanctioned activities, such as sports). The psychological community no longer accepts this
idea.
Genetic Influences—twin studies indicate that there is a genetic component that influences aggression
Neural Influences—stimulation and destruction of the amygdala causes animals (and people in the few experiments
we have) to behave more or less aggressively
Biochemical Influences—
1. Testosterone
o castration (removal of testosterone-producing testes) creates a reduction in aggression; injection of
testosterone into castrated mice increases aggression
o Violent criminals tend to have lower levels of serotonin and higher levels of testosterone; drugs
that reduce testosterone levels also reduces aggressive tendencies
o High testosterone correlates with irritability, impulsiveness, a low tolerance for frustration,
delinquency, hard-drug use, and bullying.
o Both testosterone levels and aggressiveness decrease with age
o Mood can affect testosterone levels!
2.
Alcohol – correlated with increased aggression in response to frustration (effects are both physical and
psychological)
Psychology of Aggression
Frustration-aggression principle: frustration creates anger, which may lead to aggressive behavior
- aggression is more likely if an aggressive cue is present (like a gun)
Other aversive stimuli can evoke anger (and aggression)—pain, insults, foul odors, hot temperatures, and even
cigarette smoke (it has been proposed that one side effect of global warming is an increase in crime! Based on
current statistics, an increase of 4 degrees would induce 50,000 additional violent crimes in the US alone)
Learning
- We are more likely to be aggressive in situations in which we were rewarded for aggressive behavior
- Children who observe aggressive models being rewarded for behavior often imitate aggressive behaviors
- Parents of delinquent teens often reinforce violent behavior in two ways:
- Punishing children with beatings models aggression
- Caving in to children’s temper tantrums reinforces aggressive behavior
- High crime rates are found in countries with greater discrepancies between rich and poor
- Higher violence rates are found in cultures and families with absent fathers
- Once established, it is hard to change aggressive patterns of behavior, and they are often passed down in
families for many generations
TV and aggression
- most children spend more time watching TV than they spending school
- Average US household in 1996 had a TV on for 51 hours per week
- Average child views 8000 murders and 100,00 acts of violence on TV before finishing elementary school
- Correlational studies link young children’s viewing of violence and their combativeness as teenagers
- Experimental studies show that watching violent TV ingresses cruel behavior when irritated
a. Violent TV programs increase arousal (which increases tendency towards violence)
b. Violent TV programs strengthen violence-related ideas, erode inhibitions, and provide models
c. Viewing violent TV desensitizes watchers to violence
- Watching violent programs alters how we think – those who watch more violent TV are more likely to
regard the world as more dangerous than it actually is
Sexual Aggression and the Media
- There is a correlation between the rise in sexual violence and home video rental
- Sex-offenders report a greater-than-usual appetite for sexually explicit and violent materials
- Repeatedly watching X-rated videos makes one’s own partner seem less attractive, makes women’s
friendliness seem more sexual, and makes sexual aggression seem less serious
- Sexual violence in videos is more likely to cause these affects than eroticism
Conflict—“a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas”
Types of conflicts:
Approach-approach: choice must be made between 2 attractive choices
Example:
Avoidance-avoidance: choice must be made between 2 unattractive choices
Example:
Approach-avoidance: a choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and
unattractive aspects.
Example:
Identify the following type of conflict:
1. John can’t decide whether to take a demeaning job in a car wash or to go on welfare. __________________
2. Desiree wants to apply to a highly selective law school, but she hates the risk of possible rejection. ___________
3. Vanessa has been shopping for a new car and is torn between a nifty little sports car and a classy sedan, both of
which she really likes. ______________________________
Social Traps – situations in which the conflicting parties become caught in mutually destructive
behavior
-
Arms races
Environmental problems
Enemy Perceptions – How do each of the following influence how we perceive our enemies?
In-group bias-Self-serving bias-Fundamental attribution error-Group polarization-Groupthink--
Attraction—Who are we attracted to?
-
Mere exposure effect – repeated exposure to a stimulus increases our liking of it
attractive people are perceived to be healthier, happier, more sensitive, more successful, and more socially
skilled
attractiveness is not related to self-esteem or happiness
beauty varies by culture, but some aspects are universal:
a. men prefer youthful women, women prefer men who seem mature and dominant
b. people prefer average-sized physical features
c. people prefer symmetrical faces and bodies
d. our feelings about a person change our perception of their attractiveness
e. people tend to have a lot in common with people they are attracted to
f. people like people who like them
Romantic Love
- passionate love (complete absorption in another that include sexual feeling and intense emotions)
a. Schachter two-factor theory of emotions--emotions have two ingredients: arousal and cognitive
appraisal
b. Men who are aroused by fright are more likely to find a woman attractive
- companionate love (warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another)
a. equity is important in making companionate love last
b. self-disclosure leads to greater intimacy
Altruism “unselfish regard for the welfare of others”
-
three factors are required for us to help another: 1) we must notice the situation, 2) we must interpret the
situation as an emergency, and 3) we must assume responsibility for helping
the presence of others decreases the likelihood that we will respond, primarily because we don’t take
responsibility (assume some one else will do it). This is called the bystander effect
happy people are more likely to help than unhappy people
we are more likely help people we feel are similar to us
Social exchange theory – the theory that our social behavior is an exchange in which we try to maximize
benefits and reduce costs
Social responsibility norm – the cultural norm that we should help those in need (even when they won’t
be able to reciprocate)
Peacemaking
-
cooperation toward a group goal makes us more likely to make friends with others in the group
communication is necessary for cooperation
small, conciliatory acts are a good way to begin easing the tension between two groups