Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • Gordon Allport (1954) • An adequate definition of prejudice must include two essential elements: • Attitude - favor or disfavor • Belief - based on overgeneralization or erroneous info

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination Walter Lippman (1922) Labeled beliefs as stereotypes “PICTURES IN OUR HEADS” That are fixed or unchanging and are the same image every time. What each does is based not on direct and certain knowledge but pictures made by the self. Peoples experiences and perspectives color the landscape of their beliefs and navigate their social world

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination DEFINITION OF STEREOTYPES Beliefs and opinions about characteristics , attributes, and behaviors of members of various groups.

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • KEY ASPECTS OF STEREOTYPES • Pictures in individual’s heads • Shared beliefs that are part of cultures • Are typically group consensus • People learn stereotypes from; • Media, peers, parents • Classical and modern literature • Gather information by observing the world

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • KEY ASPECTS OF STEREOTYPES • Can be accurate or inaccurate • A ‘Kernel of Truth’ • Descriptive (believed to be) and prescriptive (should be like) • Can be positive or negative

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • DEFINITION OF PREJUDICE • An attitude directed toward people because they are members of a specific social group • The affect or emotion a person feels when thinking about or interacting with members of other groups

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE • Attitudes are evaluations of an entire social group or of individuals because they are members of that group • Reaction to general social category • Can be positive or negative • Positive attitude is considered bias in favor of ones own group

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • EVAULATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS • Strongly related to how a person treats those group members • May stem from purely emotional or gut reactions to a social group as a whole or to an individual member of group.

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • EMOTIONAL REACTIONS • Can be positive or negative or a mixture of both • Mixed reactions—people can have an ambivalent emotional response • Can come from a group feeling threaten by another social group (experience fear, anxiety, or hostility) • Or perceived to interfere with the goals of one’s own group--competition

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION • Treating people differently from others based primarily on membership in a social group • OR • Results in someone’s being treated more positively than he or she otherwise would be based on group membership (Positive)

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • VIEWS OF DISCRIMINATION • Interpersonal Discrimination—One person treats another unfairly because of person’s group membership. Resulting from, • Stereotypic beliefs • Evaluations of a groups • Or combination of both that results in differential treatment of that person • Leads people to behave in ways implying own group superior to other groups

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • VIEWS OF DISCRIMINATION • Institutional Discrimination—Institutions or governing bodies sanction beliefs about group superiority • Occurs in subtle ways • Overt practices giving one group advantage over others by limiting their choices, rights, mobility, or access to information

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • VIEWS OF DISCRIMINATION • Cultural Discrimination—Within a culture, one group retains the power to define cultural values as well as the form those values should take • Maintaining dominance over other groups by rewarding those values that correspond to its views and punishing those values that do not. • Minority ethnic groups and their cultural heritage are marginalized • Characteristics and contributions of the dominant group are valued, not those of minority ethnic groups

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • VIEWS OF DISCRIMINATION • Institutional and cultural discrimination are both difficult to see and sometimes their existence is difficulty to accept.

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • Relationships • People can access stereotypic beliefs without awareness • Such beliefs influence behavior even of people low in prejudice • Implicit prejudices—reaction toward groups or individuals outside conscious awareness • Explicit prejudices—attitudes that people are aware of and can easily control

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • ISMS—Racism, sexism, ageism—synonyms for prejudice • Belief system or ideology based on group superiority and domination • Set of behaviors reflecting that belief system

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination ISMS— Characteristics: Desire to dominate and control members of other racial groups Power to define categories Establish and enforce race-based social norms and laws

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • ISMS— • Characteristics: • Belief in the biologically based, superiority of the group—moral and intellectual terms • Reflected in behavior • Behavior on part of members of group in power that demeans or harasses members of other group

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination • ISMS— • Combine prejudice with a group-centered worldview that emphasizes the superiority of one’s own group over others. • Reflective in • Laws • Social customs • Attempt to scientifically prove its validity

Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination