What are two areas in American society where you think

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CHAPTER 9 PREJUDICE

What is the Nature and Power of Prejudice?

Prejudice comes in different forms.

– Northern liberals vs. southern rednecks

– Arab “terrorists”

– American “infidels”

– e.g.: Religion => + After 9/11 and the Iraq war, 4/10 admitted “some feelings of prejudice against Muslims”

& half of non-Muslims in western Europe perceived Muslims negatively and as violent

+ Muslims reciprocated the negativity, with most in Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and even

Britain seeing Westerners as “greedy” and “immoral.”

Obesity => + Weight discrimination, exceeds race or gender discrimination and occurs at every

stage of employment. (obese women & men seldom become CEOs of large corporations)

Sexual Orientation => + In national survey, 20% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons reported having

experienced a personal or proper crime based on sexual orientation, ½ reported

verbal harassment.

Age => + The perception of the elderly as kind, frail, incompetent, and unproductive predisposes

patronizing behavior such as baby-talk that leads to them feeling less competent and act

less capably.

Immigrants => + Same factors that feed racial and gender prejudice also feed dislike of immigrants.

(Germans toward Turks, French toward North Africans, British toward West Indians

Pakistanis, & Americans toward Latin American immigrants)

Defining Prejudice

Prejudice: A preconceived negative judgment of a group and its individual members. It is attitude (ABC)

(an antipathy based upon a faulty and inflexible generalization)

▪ A prejudiced person may dislike those different from themself and behave in a discriminatory manner, believing them ignorant and dangerous.

▪ Negative evaluations that mark prejudice are supported by negative beliefs called stereotypes.

Stereotypes: A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people. Stereotypes are sometimes

overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information.

▪ Europeans also view southern Europeans as more emotional & less efficient than northern Eur.

▪ The above is true across twenty northern hemispheric countries (but not in 6 southern hemisphere countries); southerners within a country are perceived as more expressive than northerners.

The generalizations are more or less true (and are not always negative)

o The elderly are more frail

o Southern countries in the northern hemisphere do have higher rates of violence

o People living in the south in those countries do report being more expressive than those in the north.

o “stereotypes” may be positive or negative, accurate or inaccurate.

o (southerners are closer to the equator than northerners, less personal space & more in your face)

To believe that most American welfare recipients are African Americans is to overgeneralize.

Individuals within a stereotyped group vary more than expected

Prejudice is a negative attitude.

Discrimination is a negative behavior.

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Discrimination: unjustified negative behavior toward a group or its members.

o 1,115 identically worded e-mails sent to Los Angeles area landlords regarding vacant apartments.

o 89% encouraging replies came back to “Patrick McDougall”

o 66% …… “Said Al-Rahman”

o 56% …… “Tyrell Jackson”

Racism: (1) an individual’s prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given race or

(2) institutional practices, even if not motivated by prejudice, that subordinate people of a given race.

Sexism: (1) an individual’s prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given sex or

(2) institutional practices even if not motivated by prejudice that subordinate people of a given sex.

Prejudice: Subtle and Overt

Prejudice provides one of the best examples of the dual attitude system

o “white” with “good’ vs. “black” with “good”

▪ May retain childhood, habitual automatic fear or dislike of people for whom we now express respect & admiration.

▪ Explicit attitudes may change dramatically with education, implicit attitudes may linger, changing only as we form new habits through practice.

▪ Prejudice and stereotypic evaluation can occur outside awareness

• Studies

o Flash words or faces that “prime” (automatically activate) stereotypes for some racial, gender or age group

o Having been rimed with images associated with African Americans, they reacted with more hostility to an experimenter’s (intentionally) annoying request.

▪

Racial Prejudice

It is people (not nature) who label Barack Obama, the son of a white woman, as “Black” & Tiger Woods as (25% Afr., 25% Asian, 1/8 Native American, 1/8 Dutch) as “Black.”

Most people see prejudice in other people, 44% estimated their peers to be high in prejudice while only 14% gave themselves a high score.

Is Racial Prejudice Disappearing?

1945 – most agreed “there should be separate sections for Negroes on streetcars and buses.”

Today – the question seems bizarre.

1942 – less than 1/3 supported school integration (only 1/50 in the south)

1990 – support was 90%

1954 – court found it noteworthy that most black kids chose white over black dolls.

1950’s – 1970’s black children were increasing likely to prefer black dolls

Adults came to view blacks and whites as similar in traits such as intelligence, laziness, and dependability.

Disappeared?

How great is the progress? It depends on who you ask.

o Whites tend to compare the present to the oppressive past and blacks tend to compare it to their ideal world.

=> Subtle Forms of Prejudice

Prejudice in subtle forms is more widespread

Whites are equally helpful to any person in need, except when that person is a remote caller with an accent in need of a message to be relayed.

o When asked to use shock to teach a task, whites give no more (maybe less) to a black person.

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o Except:

▪ When angered

▪ When the recipient couldn’t retaliate

▪ When the recipient would not know who did it

Prejudice surfaces when it can hide behind some other motive (take our country back)

Some researchers call subtle racism, “modern racism” or “cultural racism”

o Often appears subtly in our preferences for what is familiar, similar, and comfortable.

o Car dealerships.

▪ White males > 11, 362

▪ White females > 11, 504

▪ Black males > 11, 783

▪ Black females > 12, 237

o Callbacks

▪ 1/10 for those with assigned white names (Emily, Greg)

▪ 1/15 for those with assigned black names (Lakisha, Jamal)

o Traffic

▪ African Americans & Latinos were four times more likely to be searched,

▪ 2x as likely to be arrested,

▪ 3x as likely to be handcuffed & have excessive force used against them

▪ (NJ turnpike study, blacks made up 13.5 percent of the car occupants, 15 of the speeders, and 35 percent of the drivers stopped.)

=> Automatic Prejudice

9/10 while people took longer to identify pleasant words “good” with black rather than white faces. (they expressed little or no prejudice) (1998)

The more strongly people exhibit such implicit prejudice, the readier they are to perceive anger in black faces

(2003).

Implicit bias can leak in behavior –

▪ Implicit biases against Arab-Muslims predicted the likelihood of 193 corporate employers not interviewing applicants w/Muslim names

▪ Of 287 physicians, those exhibiting the most implicit racial bias were the least likely to recommend clot-busting drugs for black patient described as complaining of chest pain

When primed with a black face instead of white, people more readily think guns: they more often recognize & more often mistake a tool such as a wrench for a gun.

Exposing people to weapons make them pay more attention to faces of African Americans & police officers more likely to judge stereotypical-looking African Americans as criminals (Diallo)

Gender Prejudice

Norms are prescriptive; stereotypes are descriptive

People’s beliefs about how women and men ought to behave.

=> Gender Stereotypes

Stronger than racial stereotypes

22% of men thought the sexes were equally emotional

Remaining 78, those who thought female were more emotional outnumbered 15:1 (women within 1% point)

Stereotypes are not always accurate but sometimes they are.

Stereotypes are not prejudices; they may support prejudices.

One might believe, without prejudice, that women are men are “different yet equal”

=> Sexism: Benevolent and Hostile

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1967 – 56% of first year college students believe that “the activities of women are best confined to the home and family”

2002 – 22% agreed (Sarah Palin, mother of five as vice presidential candidate)

Eagly >> People don’t respond to women with gut-level negative emotions that they do with other groups

Most people like women more than men. (understanding, kind, helpful)

Benevolent sexism (superior moral sensibility)

Hostile sexism (once a man commits, she puts him on a leash)

=> those who endorse benevolent sexism toward women, also do so toward women.

=> Gender Discrimination

Men:

Three times more likely to commit suicide & be murdered

Battlefield deaths & death row casualties

Die five years sooner

Majority in mental retardation & autism & students in special education programs.

Articles by women received lower ratings when attributed to a female (women raters)

“Experiments have not demonstrated any overall tendency to devalue women’s work.” (Eagly)

Overt is dying and subtle bias continues.

o Parents announce birth of baby boy with more pride

o Announce the birth of baby girls with more happiness

Beyond the west, gender discrimination looms large

o 2/3 of the world’s unschooled are girls (UN 1991)

o Biggest violence against women happens prenatal

o China: 118 boys for 100 girls

o Taiwan: 119 boys for 100 girls

o Singapore: 118 boys for 100 girls

o Parts of India: 120 boys for 100 girls

What are the Social Sources of Prejudice?

Prejudice springs from several sources.

Social Inequalities: Unequal Status and Prejudice

Unequal status breeds prejudice

o Masters view slaves as lazy, irresponsible, lacking ambition (the traits that justify slavery).

Economic situation may predict intergroup attitudes

Where slavery was practiced, prejudice ran strong.

o 19th century imperialists described colonized as “inferior” “requiring attention”

o Stereotypes of blacks and women helped rationalize the inferior status of each. (mentally slow, emotional, primitive and “content” in their role)

o 2005 study, powerful men who stereotyped their mates gave them praise and fewer resources

o (Defined a way, then they seem themselves that way, then you further treat them so, circular)

Glick and Fiske, hostile and benevolent fit w/other groups as well

o Competent or likeable, but often not both

▪ Germans love Italians, but don’t admire them

▪ Italians admire Germans, but don’t love them

o We usually respect the competence of those of higher status, and like those who agreeably accept their lower status

▪ Competent (Asians, Jews, African Americans, non-traditional women, gay men are respected, but not so well like.

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▪ Those of the same group who are subordinate are liked, but not necessarily respect (emotional, spiritual, artistic and athletic abilities)

Some notice and justify status difference.

Social dominance orientation: a motivation to have one’s group dominate other social groups.

(view people in terms of hierarchies)

Those high in social dominance orientation tend to favor policies that maintain hierarchies (pro tax cuts & anti affirmative action)

Status may breed prejudice, but some more than others seek and try to maintain status.

Socialization

Prejudice springs from our acquired values and attitudes

Families & culture pass on all kinds of information: how to find mates, drive cars, divide household labor & whom to trust or distrust and dislike.

=> The Authoritarian Personality

1950 – Theodor Adorno & colleagues

Hostility toward Jews often coexisted with hostility toward other minorities.

Those who were prejudiced developed an entire way of thinking about those who were different in general

Ethnocentric: believing in the superiority of one’s own ethnic and cultural group, and having corresponding

disdain for all other groups.

(Tend to share an intolerance for weakness, a punitive attitude, and a submissive respect for their ingroup’s authorities. It is important that children should learn obedience and respect”)

Authoritarian personality: a personality that is disposed to favor obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status.

– as children they often faced harsh discipline & that led them to suppress their hostilities and impulses and to “project” them onto outgroups

– critics: too focused on right-wing authoritarianism

– * as reflected in ethnic tensions, surge during threatening times of economic recession and social upheaval (in Russia, they tended to support Marxist-Leninist ideology & oppose democratic reform)

(for some individuals, fears and hostilities surface as prejudice)

Different forms of prejudice toward blacks, gays, and lesbians, women, Muslims, immigrants, and the homeless do tend to coexist in the same individuals => “equal opportunity bigots” Altemeyer

High in social dominance orientation (one’s group status) & authoritarian personality (security & control)

=> Religion and Prejudice

– leaders invoke religion to sanctify present order

– e.g. more prejudicial attitude in north American Christianity,

1- church members express more racial prejudice than non-members.

2- those professing traditional and fundamentalist Christian beliefs express more prejudicial than progressives

(changes in society affect church members as well)

****(there may be no connection at all, as it is a correlation, prejudice > religion; religion > prejudice. (free will);

Studies suggest that religion does not cause prejudice.

– Faithful members, 24/26 less prejudiced.

– “my religious beliefs are what really lie behind my whole approach to life” expressed less prejudice.

– highest scorers on Gallup “spiritual commitment” index were more welcoming of people of other races moving in next door.

– civil rights, >> protestant & Roman catholic priests gave more support than laypeople.

– in Germany >> 45% had aligned themselves with the confessing church organized to oppose Nazi regime.

Paradoxical – makes prejudice and unmake prejudice.

=> Conformity

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– maintain by inertia

– 1958 (Pettigrew) – those who confirmed to other social norms were also most prejudiced.

– less conforming mirrored less of the surrounding prejudice

Prejudice was a manifestation of social norms.

~ we often think within the box. You do not easily picture what you have never seen.

As fashion changes, so can prejudice.

Institutional Supports

Social institutions may bolster prejudice through overt policies like segregation, or passively reinforcing status quo.

Schools are most prone to reinforce dominant cultural attitudes.

Children’s book before 1970, male characters outnumber females 3:1

Photographs >> devoted to face >> male → 2/3; female → less 1/2 >>>> perpetuate gender bias

Those whose faces are prominent in photos seem more intelligent and ambitious.

o Violent rap songs lead both blacks and white to stereotype black as having violent dispositions

o Rap music depictions of promiscuous black females reduce listeners’ support for Black pregnant women in need

What are the Motivational Sources of Prejudice?

Frustration can feed prejudice, as can the desire to see one’s group as superior.

Frustration and Aggression: The Scapegoat Theory

Frustration evokes hostility. When the case is intimidating or unknown we often redirect our hostility.

o Possible explanation for lynchings in the south (1882 – 1930, more lynchings after the war when cotton price was low

o When living standards are rising societies seem to be more open to diversity & anti-discrimination laws.

▪ Ethnic peace is easier to main in prosperous times.

▪ “the Jew is just convenient… if there we no Jews, the anti-Semites would have invented them.” German leader, quoted by Allport (1958)

▪ In our time, it was those Americans who felt angrier about 9/11, who were most intolerant toward immigrants and middle easterners.

Competition is a source of frustration that can fuel prejudice.

Realistic Group Conflict Theory: The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce

resources.

(Maximum competition will exist between groups species with identical needs.)

In Canada, since 1975 opposition to immigration has gone up and down with the unemployment rate

Strongest anti-black prejudice has occurred among whites who are closest to blacks on the socioeconomic ladder.

Social Identity Theory: Feeling Superior to Others

Humans cheer, kill and die for their group.

Social identity: The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I” that comes from our

group memberships.

o We categorize – a way to say other things about a person

o We identify – we gain self-esteem this way

o We compare – we contrast with a favorable bias toward our own group

We seek the group for identity. A sort of good by association.

We conform to our group norms

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• The more important our social identity and the more strongly attached we feel to a group, the more we react prejudicially to threats from another group.

Ingroup Bias

The more ethnic Turks in the Netherlands see themselves as Turks or as Muslims, the less they see themselves as Dutch.

Ingroup bias: The tendency to favor one’s own group.

More than 80% People see race relations as generally good in their own neighborhoods, but fewer than 60 view good in the country as a whole.

Sharing a birthday with someone is enough to create a bond with that person.

= Ingroup bias supports a positive self-concept

▪ We won, they lost

▪ Basking in a friend glory, unless it’s your area

= Ingroup bias feeds favoritism

▪ “we” are better “they”

▪ When dividing 15 points, 9-10 tend to go to those in their group

▪ When our group is the majority, we think less about it.

= Must ingroup liking foster outgroup disliking?

1- Liking for ingroup

(love, hope, contempt, resentment)

2- Disliking for outgroup

Denying the human attributes to outgroups.

E.g.: Comparing Africans to apes, Jews to vermin, Immigrants to parasites.

Need for Status, Self-Regard, and Belonging

Status is relative, you need people below.

Prejudice is greater in those low and slipping on the socioeconomic ladder & when positive self-image is being threatened.

~ perhaps higher status feels secure and don’t need.

Terror management: people’s self-protective emotional and cognitive responses (including adhering more strongly to their cultural worldviews and prejudices) when confronted with reminders of their mortality.

In U.S., 2004, election, reminding people of deaths boosted support for Bush. & policies

In Iran, reminders of death, increased college student’s support for suicide attacks.

Weakness of others, boost one’s own image (men seeing women as weak.)

o Men w/low-self acceptance disliked strong, nontraditional women. (those w/high preferred them)

o ** affirm people and they will positively evaluate an outgroup more positively.

o ** threaten their self-esteem and they will restore it by denigrating an outgroup

o (Scary movies -> white saw more anger in African American and Arab faces.)

o (We create a sense of belonging; belong then we do not disparage; don’t belong then we bias against others)

Motivation to Avoid Prejudice

Breaking the habit is not easy.

Intuition; automatic vs. controlled.

The emotion processing center in the brain becomes more active when viewing an unfamiliar person of another race.

(what you should feel vs. how you feel)

Automatic subsides when we fight it with internal reasons, instead of not wanting to be caught.

What are the Cognitive Sources of Prejudice?

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Stereotyped beliefs and prejudiced attitudes exist b/c – social conditioning

– enable people to displace hostilities

– byproduct of normal thinking processes

Categorization: Classifying People into Groups

+ provide useful information with minimal effort

(Basketball players,

Spontaneous Categorization

o Pressed for time

o Preoccupied

o Tire

o Emotionally aroused

o Too young to appreciate diversity

Categorization is not bad, but provides a basis for prejudice

*Prejudiced people took longer to classify ambiguous faces (“us,” “them” factor)

Perceived Similarities and Differences

Once we place people in groups, we are likely to exaggerate the similarities within the group & differences between them

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect: Perception of outgroup members as more similar to one another than are ingroup members. Thus, “they are alike, we are diverse”

Decision may be taken my group executive and others would conclude it is the entire group’s attitude.

o Many Anglos group “Latinos” together.

o (status and who produce names)

o **In general, the more familiar we are with a group, the more we see its diversity.

o **the smaller and less powerful the group, the less we attend to them, the more we stereotype.

o “They look like”

o Own-race bias: the tendency for people to recognize faces of their own race more accurately.

o (Fig.9.7)

o Infants as young as9 months display better own-race recognition of faces. (when not our group, category/group comes to us first)

o People more accurately recognize people similar to their own age.

Distinctiveness: Perceiving People Who Stand Out

Distinctive People

Being the only one of your “type” around

Someone, distinct, another group, tends to be perceived as the one who caused whatever is happening.

~ a person w/a pet snake & a pet dog is seen as a snake owner (we notice the difference)

~ we notice those who violate expectations (BHO being “articulate”)

+ it feeds self-consciousness

+ stigma consciousness

Stigma Consciousness: a person’s expectation of being victimized by prejudice or discrimination

Those who perceive themselves as frequent victims live with the stress of presumed stereotypes and antagonism & therefore experience lower well-being.

Vivid Cases

We use distinctive cases as a shortcut to judge groups.

~ given limited experiences we recall examples and generalize from those.

~ countering an example of a negative can lead us to generalize to the group & then limit interaction

~ those in numerical minority stand out and so their numbers are overestimated by the majority.

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~ people in non-Muslim countries often overestimate the Muslim pop. (2007; US was .6%)

~ 3 or 4 % of men have sex orientation, 1 or 2 percent of women.

Distinctive Events

Your ethnic or social group may be like other groups in most ways, but people will notice how it differs. (99.99% common)

~ in the media, distinctive events are highlighted.

~ when a self-described homosexual murders or sexually abuses someone, their orientation is mentioned

~ => illusory corr