Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

Definitions + Ex.
1. Stereotype: an oversimplified, generalised set of ideas we have of others. FOR EXAMPLE, secondary head teachers are strict, intimidating, scary and male
  1. disadvantages:
    1. stop us from seeing the real person when we meet someone for the first time
    2. most stereotypes promote harmful images
    3. we can make mistakes about people when meeting them for the forst time
    4. they may be difficult to overcome once leant by children
  2. advantages:
    1. helpful when we need to make a snap judgement - when we dont have the time to form a full impression of everyone we meet
    2. enable us to remember information about other people
    3. enable us to fit in with our own group and feel a sense of belonging
    4. enable us to respond appropriately when we meet others for the first time
  3. study: to find out if new parents stereotype their babies: parents were asked to describe their new babies wiithin 24H of birth. they found that parents of boys: alert and strong, parents of girls: soft and delicate. they concluded that parents steretype their children from a very early age despite no stereotypical behaviour being shown. streotypical behaviour can be shown prior to i=birthe by painting rooms pink/blue.
  4. practical implication - there is an increased awareness that children do observe and imitate those around them - role models in particular from the media, this led to a chnage in the way characters in childrens TV are portrayed to prevent children from growing up believing that all females want to stay at home and are incapable of doing manual jons
2. Prejudice: a rigid set of attitudes or beliefs towards particular groups of people. these are usually negative but not always. FOR EXAMPLE, prejudging an unemployed person as being lazy but it may not be the case
3. Discrimination: with reference to prejudice - the way an individual behaves towards another person as a result of their prejudiced views. this behaviour is usually negative bu can be positive. FOR EXAMPLE, not offering an old person a job but giving it to a young person despite the older person having more qualifications
Studies of prejudice and discrimination
1. Evaluations
2. Adorno - Authoritarian Personality inc F-scale
  1. this theory doesnt explain why people are prejudiced towards some groups but not to others
  2. the research was done in America - can it be applied cross-culturally?
  3. Adorno only found a relationship between personality type and prejudice. this cannot show cause and effect
  4. some prejudiced people who didnt grow up with critical and strict parents and some grew up with critical and prejudiced parents and are not prejudiced
3. Tajfel - in groups and out groups
  1. used boys aged 14-15 so resulsther ages cant be generalised to females and ot
  2. groups were artificially created so doesnt reflect real life. in real life, the groups we belong to mean something to us
  3. other research using participants of both genders and all ages supported Tajfel's findings. just assigning people to groups is enough to encourage discriminatory behaviour
4. Sherif - Robbers cave
  1. the groups and competitions were artificial and so dont reflect real life
  2. he used 12 year old white middle class boys. the results may not be generalised to females, other ages and other social classes
  3. the boys were American so the we should be careful when generalising to other nationalities
  4. it has real life implications - the study clearly demonstrated how quickly prejudice can arise between groups when they are competing for the same thing
ways of reducing prejudice and discrimination using evidence from studies
1. Sherif: Once Sherif had created prejudice between the 2 groups, his next aim was to see if he could get the boys to become friends, he attempted to do this by arranging joint activities for them - trips to cinema and meals
  1. this did not work and the boys continued to attack each other and call names. he then set up a situation where a truck was stuck in the mud otherwise they would not get dinner.
    1. this was successful as the task could not be completed wothout effort from all. he concluded that coorporation on an important task is one way of reducing prejudice between groups
2. Aronson. he was given the task of eliminating prejudice between black and white students in texas. he developed the JIGSAW method whoch involved teh students being mixed in race groups each taking responsibility for a part of the lesson. they had to become experts and pass on the knowledge to another group.
  1. this technique proved successful as each student was responsible for their own learning as well as that of others.
    1. after interviewing the students afterwards, the method had: enhanced their self-esteem, increased their liking of their classmates and improved their perceptions of the other racial group within teh class
3. Elliot. the morning after Mrtin Luther King Jr was killed, Jane Eliot was teaching a class of white, 9 year olds. they had never met anyone of a different colour to themselves
  1. she wanted to explain to these children about what happened the night before
    1. she let the children experinece what it is like to be judged by a physical characteristic you have no control over - using colors of the eyes
      1. (study)
4. Harwood
  1. (study)
5. Evaluations
  1. Sherif: the method may have only worked as his groups and the prejudice between them were artificially created. however, his method did show that if 2 groups work together to achieve a common goal, prejudice can be reduced
    1. PI: Sherif's theory is difficult to put into practice in real life. there may be tasks in communities that will need groups to work together to complete, but how do you get the groups to join in?
  2. Aronson: found that the Jigsaw method did lead to prejudice between the racial groups being reduced. however, the positive perceptions of the other racial groups were not generalised outside the classrooms
    1. PI: his work suggests that within schools and workplaces prejudice could be reduced but this may not generalise to other settings
  3. Elliott: his research could be considered unethical as the children suffered from psychological stress. however when she contacted the students 9 yrs later, they were more tolerant and showed more empathy towards others than those who hadnt experienced her lesson
    1. PI: his method of creating empathy within her children worked, but you need children to experience this at an early age
  4. Harwood: information gathered from interviews isnt always reliable. these are children who dont have regular contact with grandparents but still have positive attitudes towards the elderly
    1. PI: his research illustrates the importance of regular contact between children and grandparents
2 practical implications of research into steretyping, prejudice and discrimination
1. benifits
2. drawbacks
3 Explanations:
1. 3) Tajfel believes you are likely to be prejudiced because you favour your in-groups over your out-groups and belive your in-groups to be superior
2. 2) Sherif believes you are likely to be prejudiced if you are in competition with another group for a scarce resource
3. 1) Adorno believes that you are likely to be prejudiced if you are brought up by strict, critical parents and have an authoritarian personality

Next up

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by pv7137 about 11 years ago