This is a summary of part 2 of the Cross-Cultural Psychology minor. Some of the literature might differ as this is based on literature used during covid and online tutorials.
LG1 - What are stereotypes & prejudices?
- What is the difference between the following terms: discrimination, stereotypes, prejudice…
- What are their underlying mechanisms?
- How do stereotypes impact an individual’s behaviour? (perpetrator & target)
-> Group out-group (forget they are all different)
Expect (-) feedback
- How do stereotypes impact perception?
LG2 - How do stereotypes influence a first impression?
- Is this an automatic or independent process?
- What factors influence which stereotypes we activate?
- What factors influence the extent to which we apply or inhibit stereotypes?
- What is the relationship between stereotype activation & application?
LG3 - How can someone change an individual’s prejudices?
- What is the strengths (effectiveness) & pitfalls of each approach?
- Does it help to interact with people who are counter-stereotypical?
- Does it matter how the interaction is set up? (e.g. amount of counter-stereotypical people, context
of interaction…)
Article 1: Social Psychology (Kassin):
• “The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice” (Martin Luther King)
o We’ve seen a lot of progress concerning justice – but there are still many injustices
o (E.g. homosexuality being illegal, religious discrimination, racism)
• THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM: PERSISTENCE & CHANGE:
• Defining our terms:
o Racism = prejudice & discrimination based on a person’s racial background
§ Institutional & cultural practices that promote domination of one racial group
• => Systemic racism
§ E.g. tending to hire people from same race (gives idea on who is most valued)
o Sexism = same but based on gender (often against women)
o Stereotypes = beliefs or associations that link whole groups of people with certain
traits or characteristics
§ -> Associations/beliefs
o Prejudice = negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social
group
§ -> Feelings
o Discrimination = negative behaviours directed against persons because of their
membership to a particular group (individual level)
§ -> Behaviours
o Stigmatization = characteristic not values by society (society level)
o à Often all influence & reinforce each other
• RACISM: Current forms & challenges:
o Study looking into traits linking to white vs black students -> found decrease in
negative terms (e.g. lazy) being linked to black (75% to 5%)
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, § Increased inter-race couples
§ There are individual incidences but also systemic ones
o Systemic racism:
§ E.g. 16% less likely to get a Airbnb with African American names
§ Job application -> African American with no criminal record was less likely to
get an interview than a white man with felony
o Modern racism = form of prejudice that tends to surface when it is safe, socially
acceptable, or easy to rationalize
§ E.g. racial bias in calling strikes when not too noticeable – caricature?
o Aversive racism = ambivalence between people’s sincere fair-minded attitudes /
beliefs on one hand & their mostly unconscious prejudicial feelings
§ Micro aggression -> everyday subtle but hurtful forms of discrimination
§ -> People want to see themselves as fair but still have feelings against other
racial groups
o à Racism is more present when things are ambiguous (people overcompensate on
fairness when risk of making racist move later)
o Implicit racism = unconscious/unintentional racism
o Study -> teachers read story on student sleeping/not listening in class (white & black)
§ The 1st time there was no difference – 2nd were more strict with black
§ - Less prison time when whiter skin + death sentences
o MEASURING implicit racism =>
§ Implicit Association Test (IAT) -> measures extent to which 2 concepts are
associated
• Measure speed of associating good/bad concepts after seeing black or
white faces
• Seen already at 3-4 years old
• -> Explicit biases decrease with age but not implicit ones
• Has also been with age, gender
§ Found to predict magnitude of biases in healthcare
• Questions on how reliable the measurements are (importance of social
context is not taken into account)
• -> Can measure IAT at region level > individual level
o Found higher killing of black people by police in high rating
regions
o INTERRACIAL INTERACTIONS:
§ Tends to lead to stronger feeling than with gender/age relations
§ White = fear of appearing racist – colour = fear of potential racism
• Meta-stereotypes -> thought about out-group’s stereotypes about them
• This can lead to awkwardness -> confirming fears
§ Teacher/student study:
• Whites had to teach white &
black people (7 mins on
history)
• Measure level of implicit
racism before + anxiety levels
during
• High implicit racism = high anxiety = poor teaching = poor performance
from students (only seen with black students)
2
, § Whites want to seem warm (overly patronizing) – black want to seem
competent (impacted by patronizing)
§ ‘Colour-blind’ approach -> ignoring races completely (can feel uncomfortable)
• Multicultural approach = better – acknowledge people’s race
• Being STIGMATIZED:
o Stigmatized = individuals who are targeted of negative stereotypes, perceived as
deviant, and devalued from in society because they are part of a particular social
group/have a particular characteristic
§ Story of Cose (pro writer) -> refused for newspaper job because there were no
black readers – then proposed job in firm even though he had no experience
o -> Thought of racism attenuates extent of negative/positive feedback received
§ Consistent discrimination can lead to long-term physical & psychological
problems (increased blood pressure, chronic pain)
• STEREOTYPE THREAT: A threat in the air:
o Stereotype threat (Steele) = concern of being evaluated based on stereotypes about
one’s group -> can influence performance
§ Social identity threat (more general)
§ -> Can influence performance
1. Can increase anxiety/distracting thoughts
o Fear of confirming the stereotype
2. Can cause one to dis-identify from domain (no longer part of identity)
o Repeatedly experience the threat (e.g. only few black people in a
school) – situation becomes too threatening to self-esteem so she
dis-identifies from it (e.g. school)
o Original experiment => given verbal tests
§ Group A = told it measured intellectual ability – group B =
problem solving task
• Group A = stereotype threat
§ Results = effect of stereotype threat
§ Other version -> asked participants to mention race (or
not) before taking the test
• Performed worse when given (only black)
§ Gender version -> math test when told there could be
gender differences they found some
o Prevalence & diversity of threat =>
§ Negative effect of stereotype threat has been found in lab
& field research
§ Sports -> black to better when described as ‘natural athletic ability’
• White do better when described as ‘sport intelligence’
§ Those who care about success most are more susceptible
• No need to need to believe in stereotype, just knowing it affects you
o Causes of stereotype threat effects =>
§ Stereotype threat triggers many things (e.g. physiological arousal, loss of focus,
stress, poor working memory…)
3
, • CAUSES OF THE PROBLEM: INTERGROUP, MOTIVATION, COGNITIVE, CULTURAL FACTORS:
• Social categories of intergroup conflict:
o Social categorization = we divide people into groups based on common attributes
§ J Can help save time – make inferences about people
§ L Can lead to underestimating within group differences – overestimate between
group differences
• Don’t notice counter-S info (=> confirmation bias)
§ Most common/visible groups (age, gender, race) -> race has more genetic
variation within than between
o In-group vs out-group:
§ In-group = group we identify with (country, religion)
§ Out-group = group other than our own
§ -> Exaggerate differences between in & out-groups reinforces stereotypes
• Out-group homogeneity effect = belief people in your own in-group
differ more than people in out-groups
o -> Tend to think of out-groups as similar (e.g. engineering &
physics)
o Harder to tell out-group people apart (e.g. Asian vs Japan/China)
o Due to lack of familiarity & lack of diversity of experience with out-
group members
• Higher brain activation with in-group member
• In/out-group effect can override racial biases
o Dehumanizing out-groups:
§ Seen with Nazis + police brutality against black + teachers discriminating
§ Brain activity is similar to perceiving object > human when looking at out-group
o Reduced empathy for out-group members:
§ People feel pain when seeing someone else in pain
• -> Seen less when out-group member is experiencing pain – some even
enjoy it (e.g. seeing rival team loose > own team winning)
o Fundamental motives between groups:
§ Evolutionary -> people had small groups to survive – distrust of out-group
• Sense of belonging to in-group (leads to psych & physical benefits)
• Identity fusion = sense of ‘oneness’ people feel with a group
o Feel more safe/secure more likely to help each other
§ Terror management theory -> people cope with fear of own death by
constructing worldviews that preserve important values
• -> Thought of own mortality increases in/out-group distinction
o Motive concerning intergroup dominance & status:
§ Social dominance orientation = desire to in-group as dominant
• Contribute to oppression of other groups
• Sub-part of social identity theory
§ System justification theory = people are motivated to defend/justify existing
social, political, economic conditions
o Robbers Cave: a field study in intergroup conflict:
§ 2 groups of 11 year old boys (white & middle class)
§ Spent one week together forming in-group before competing against each other
• Competition turned into rivalry (burned flags, wrecked cabins)
§ Hard to return peace (non-competitive meetings did nothing)
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