Intergroup Relations and Prejudice

What is a stereotype?

• prejudice directed at women because of their gender
•  behavior that affects members of a targeted group
• positive or negative (generally negative) attitude formed about others because of their membership in a group
• the cognitive component of prejudices and discrimination

What is discrimination?

• prejudice directed at women because of their gender
•  behavior that affects members of a targeted group
• positive or negative (generally negative) attitude formed about others because of their membership in a group
• the cognitive component of prejudices and discrimination

Which of the following is not a way people learn prejudice?

• classical conditioning (a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that elicits a response so that after time the neutral stimulus alone elicits a similar response)
• instrumental conditioning (responses that produce rewards are strengthened)
• temporal conditioning (stimulus occurs every couple of minutes)
• modeling (the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior)

What is instrumental conditioning?

• a person will continue their prejudiced behavior if their peer group encourages them
• a process in which responses that produce rewards are weakened

What is an example of scapegoating?

• Hitler blaming the Jews for the economic problems in Germany 
• Women misrepresented in the media
• African Americans and Hispanics portrayed as criminals by the media

What is it called when a person who is looking at an outgroup does not perceive individual differences among members of the group.

• ethnocentrisim
• scapegoating
• outgroup homogeneity effect

What is an example of ethnocentrism?

• Hitler blaming the Jews for economic problems in Germany
• American believe poor, undeveloped countries should copy the US form of government

What conditions need to exist for contact hypothesis to work?

• Groups are from different social and economic status
• Cooperation and interdependence exist
• there is no opportunity for the groups to work and socialize together

What do we call the apprehension arising in a person from the person’s awareness of a negative stereotype involving his/her own group, which can undermine motivation and impair performance. 

• ethnocentrism
• scapegoating
• stereotype threat
• contact hypothesis

Judging people as individuals rather than as members of groups is one way to...

• increase prejudice
• reduce prejudice
• increase stereotypes