Prejudice

Chapter Overview

Prejudice is a usually negative attitude towards perceived characteristics towards members of a group that are unjustly generalized to all the members. Like other attitudes, it has three components: cognitive, affective and behavioural, and may be implicit (modern racism). Stereotypes are cognitions or beliefs about the members of other groups, which may change with conditions and intergroup relations. They are usually overgeneralizations and are often inaccurate, although validity may arise from self-fulfilling prophecies. The stereotype content model posits warmth and competence as basic dimensions of stereotypes. Innate fear of the unusual or the unfamiliar may be a primitive basis for prejudice. The acquisition of prejudice begins in the home, augmented by parents, peers, teachers and media. Some individuals are authoritarian personalities, likely to be prejudiced, ethnocentric and hostile. Under appropriate conditions, prejudice can be reduced by intergroup contact but interaction may be hampered by intergroup anxiety. Victims of prejudice may respond with aggression, low self-esteem, changes in group identification or self-stereotypes. The stereotype threat effect impairs performance by the stereotyped group. Sexism is usually directed at women, may be implicit and has various adverse effects.

KEYWORDS: authoritarianism, discrimination, modern racism, prejudice, sexism, stereotype, stereotype content, stereotype threat

True/False Questions

1. The belief that immigrants threaten our democracy is a symbolic belief.

2. Reverse discrimination may discourage real tolerance.

3. Most studies show that stereotypes carry some degree of truth: ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’.

4. Members of minorities may hear stereotypes so often they come to believe them and behave accordingly.

5. Research on certain characteristics of personality suggests that not everyone is equally prone to prejudice.

6. The likelihood of being executed for murder was unrelated to race.

7. Authoritarian individuals generally feel themselves to be morally superior.

8. Intergroup contact usually leads to less prejudice than if the groups are kept apart.

9. Cook’s simulation game showed that intergroup contact reduced prejudice in a substantial minority of previously bigoted experimental participants.

10. The experience of prejudice invariably results in adverse effects on the self-esteem of the victims.

True/False Answers

1. T

2. T

3. F

4. T

5. T

6. F

7. T

8. F

9. T

10. F 

Multiple-Choice Questions

Short-Answer Questions

1. What are stereotypes and how do they influence the way we relate to people?

2. How can we evaluate the pervasiveness, persistence and accuracy of stereotypes?

3. Evaluate the ‘kernel of truth’ hypothesis about stereotypes.

4. Explain the term scapegoating. Give an example.

5. How is personality related to prejudice?

6. Why does intergroup contact not always serve to disconfirm negative stereotypes, even when there is no truth to the stereotypes?

7. What are the effects of gender role stereotypes, particularly in employment opportunities?

8. How is education related to prejudice? 

Essay Questions

1. Outline the factors involved in the consequences of prejudice on its victims

2. Critically examine the kernel of truth hypothesis regarding stereotypes