Social Thinking: Attitudes & Prejudice

Attitudes
What is an attitude?
predisposition to evaluate some people, groups, or issues in a particular way can be negative or positive Has three components
Cognitivethoughts about given topic or situation Affectivefeelings or emotions about topic Behavioralyour actions regarding the topic or situation

Components of Attitudes
An attitude is a positive or negative evaluation of an object, person, or idea

The Effect of Attitudes on Behavior

Youre most likely to behave in accordance with your attitudes when
1. Attitudes are extreme or are frequently expressed 2. Attitudes have been formed through direct experience. 3. You are very knowledgeable about the subject. 4. You have a vested interest in the subject. 5. You anticipate a favorable outcome or response from others for doing so.

Attitudes Affecting Actions

Many studies suggest a persons attitudes do not match their actions Attitudes can predict behavior if: Outside influences are minimal People are aware of their attitudes Attitude is relevant to behavior

Actions Affecting Attitudes

Under some circumstances ones actions can influence attitudes. They include: Foot-in-the-door phenomenon Role playing Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance
(Leon Festinger)
1919-1989

The theory that people act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) they feel when their thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent with their actions When our attitudes are inconsistent with our actions, we change our attitudes to reduce the dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance
Unpleasant state of psychological tension or arousal that occurs when two thoughts or perceptions are inconsistent Attitudes and behaviors are in conflict
it is uncomfortable for us we seek ways to decrease discomfort caused by the inconsistency

How Cognitive Dissonance Leads to Attitude Change

When your behavior conflicts with your attitudes, an uncomfortable state of tension is produced. However, if you can rationalize or explain your behavior, the conflict (and the tension) is eliminated or avoided. If you cant explain your behavior, you may change your attitude so that it is in harmony with your behavior.

Insufficient-justification effect
Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)
gave subjects a boring task, then asked subjects to lie to the next subject and say the experiment was exciting paid the subjects $1, other $20 then asked subjects to rate boringness of task $1 group rated the task as far more fun than the $20 group each group needed a justification for lying
$20 group had an external justification of money since $1 isnt very much money, $1 group said task was fun

Role Playing
Can be explained by Cognitive Dissonance

Playing a role can influence or change ones attitude Zimbardos Prison Study College students played the role of guard or prisoner in a simulated prison. The study was ended after just 6 days when the guards became too aggressive and cruel. Want to learn more about this famous study? See the Stanford Prison Experiment Online Slide Show or watch Stanford Prison Experiment video (8 minutes) Modern issues of Prison Abuse see CNN Report on Juvenile Jails and Abuse 3 min.

Dr. Phillip Zimbardo

Cognitive Dissonance: A Review

If you have a good excuse for a behavior that does not go with your attitude then you avoid dissonance. If you do not have a good excuse for a behavior that is against your attitude you must change your attitude to fit your behavior.

Dissonance-Reducing Mechanisms
Avoiding dissonant information
we attend to information in support of our existing views, rather than information that doesnt support them

Firming up an attitude to be consistent with an action

once weve made a choice to do something, lingering doubts about our actions would cause dissonance, so we are motivated to set them aside

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Prejudice

Prejudice
Based on the exaggerated notion that members of other social groups are very different from members of our own social group An unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its members Usually involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action Usually involves a negative attitude

Keep in Mind
Racial and ethnic groups are far more alike than they are different Any differences that may exist between members of different racial and ethnic groups are far smaller than differences among various members of the same group.

Categorization
The tendency to group similar objects May be a means to explain stereotypes

Stereotype
A generalized belief about a group of people Stereotypes are sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized. Because stereotypes sometimes have a kernel of truth, they are easy to confirm, especially when you see only what you expect to see. When stereotypic beliefs become expectations that are applied to all members of a given group, they can be both misleading and damaging Creating special cases, or exceptions, allows

Studying stereotypes
3 levels of stereotypes in todays research
public
what we say to others about a group

private
what we consciously think about a group, but dont say to others

implicit
unconscious mental associations guiding our judgments and actions without our conscious awareness

See The Hidden Prejudice video clip (Scientific American Frontiers (6 minutes)

Implicit Stereotypes
Use of priming: subject doesnt know stereotype is being activated, cant work to suppress it
Bargh study
have subjects read word lists, some lists include words like gray, Bingo, and Florida subjects with old word lists walked to elevators significantly more slowly

another study
flash pictures of Black vs. White faces subliminally give incomplete words like hos_____, subjects seeing Black make hostile, seeing White make hospital

Implicit Stereotypes
Devines automaticity theory
stereotypes about African-Americans are so prevalent in our culture that we all hold them these stereotypes are automatically activated whenever we come into contact with an AfricanAmerican we have to actively push them back down if we dont wish to act in a prejudiced way. Overcoming prejudice is possible, but takes work

Ingroup Us
People with whom one shares a common identity

Outgroup Them
Those perceived as different or apart form us (the ingroup)

Out-Group Homogeneity Effect

1. Typically, we describe the members of our in-group as being quite varied, despite having enough features in common to belong to the same group 2. We tend to see members of the outgroup as much more similar to one another, even in areas that have little to do with the criteria for group membership.

Ingroup Bias
The tendency to favor ones own group usually at the expense of the outgroup We make favorable, positive attributions for behaviors by members of our in-group, and unfavorable, negative attributions for behaviors by members of out-groups. Ethnocentrism - belief that ones own culture or ethnic group is superior to others

The Basis for Prejudice

In combination, stereotypes and ingroup/out-group bias form the cognitive basis for prejudicial attitudes. Prejudice also has a strong emotional component, which is intensely negative and involves hatred, contempt, fear, and loathing Behaviorally, prejudice can be displayed in the form of discrimination

Discrimination
In social relations, taking action against a group of people because of stereotyped beliefs and feelings of prejudice

Prejudice and Discrimination

Play Attitudes and Prejudicial Behavior (6:06) Segment #31 from Psychology: The Human Experience. Play Ethnocentrism and Prejudice (5:06) Segment #32 from Psychology: The Human Experience.

Scapegoat Theory
The theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame Example: Nazi Germany blaming the Jews for the troubles in Germany after WWI.

Just-World Phenomenon
The tendency to believe that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get Reflects childs attitude that good is rewarded and evil is punished

Accounting for Prejudice

Accounting for Prejudice: Two Theories

1. Prejudice and intergroup hostility increase when different groups are competing for scarce resources 2. People are prejudiced against groups that are perceived as threatening important in-group norms and values Social psychologists have increasingly come to believe # 2 is more correct.

Overcoming Prejudice

Reducing Prejudice
Initially, researchers thought simple contact between conflicting groups would reduce prejudice (contact theory) They now think that prejudice can be overcome when rival groups cooperate to achieve a common goal

Social Identity and Cooperation

Social identity theory: States that when youre assigned to a group, you automatically think of that group as an in-group for you Sherifs Robbers Cave study 1112 year old boys at camp Boys were divided into 2 groups and kept separate from one another Each group took on characteristics of distinct social group, with leaders, rules, norms of behavior, and names

Robbers Cave (Sherif)

Leaders proposed series of competitive interactions which led to 3 changes between groups and within groups within-group solidarity negative stereotyping of other group hostile between-group interactions A fierce rivalry quickly developed To restore harmony, Sherif created a series of situations in which the two groups would need to cooperate to achieve a common goal After a series of joint efforts, the rivalry diminished and the groups became friends.
1906-1988

Robbers Cave
Overcoming the strong we/they effect establishment of superordinate goals e.g., breakdown in camp water supply overcoming intergroup strife - research stereotypes are diluted when people share individuating information This idea used in the classroom The Jigsaw Method of cooperative learning. (see pg. 514)

Patricia Devines 3-step process to Individual Prejudice Reduction

1. Individuals must decide that prejudiced responses are wrong and consciously reject prejudice and stereotyped thinking 2. They must internalize their nonprejudiced beliefs so that they become an integral part of their personal self-concept 3. Individuals must learn to inhibit automatic prejudicial reactions and deliberately replace them with nonprejudiced responses that are based on their personal standards