Social

Psychology
Elliot Aronson
University of California,
Santa Cruz

Timothy D.
Wilson
University of Virginia

Robin M. Akert
Wellesley College

slides by Travis Langley

6th edition

Chapter 13
Prejudice:
Causes and
Cures

Source of image: www.clipart.com

Prejudice:
The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon
Prejudice is ubiquitous: In one form
or another, it affects us all.
For one thing, prejudice is a two-way
street; it often flows from the
minority group to the majority group
as well as in the other direction.
And any group can be a target of
prejudice.

Prejudice:
The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon
Many aspects of your identity can
cause you to be labeled and
discriminated against:
nationality
weight
racial and ethnic identity disabilities
gender
diseases
sexual orientation
hair color
religion
professions
appearance
hobbies
physical state

Prejudice:
The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon
Many aspects of your identity can
cause you to be labeled and
discriminated against.
Consider the stereotypes of the ditzy blonde,
dumb jock, or computer nerd.
Some people have negative attitudes about bluecollar workers; others, about Fortune 500 CEOs.
The point is that none of us emerges completely
unscathed by prejudice; it is a problem common
to all humankind.

Prejudice:
The Ubiquitous Social Phenomenon
In addition to being widespread, prejudice is
dangerous.
Simple dislike of a group can be relentless and can
escalate to extreme hatred, to thinking of its
members as less than human, and to torture,
murder, and even genocide.
Even when murder or genocide is not the
culmination of prejudiced beliefs, the targets of
prejudice will suffer in less dramatic ways.
One frequent consequence of being the target of
relentless prejudice is a diminution of ones selfesteem.

Prejudice and Self-Esteem

Seeds of low self-esteem are sown
early.
Clark and Clark (1947) demonstrated
that African American children as
young as 3 already thought it was not
particularly
desirable
be black.
Children
were
offered to
a choice
between playing
with a white doll and playing with a black doll.
The great majority of them rejected the black
doll, feeling that the white doll was prettier and
generally superior.
Taking this evidence into consideration, the
Supreme Court ruled that separating black
children from white children on the basis of race
alone generates a feeling of inferiority."
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

Prejudice and Self-Esteem

Goldberg (1968) women in this culture had
learned to consider themselves intellectually
inferior to men.
In his experiment, Goldberg asked female
college students to read scholarly articles and
to evaluate them in terms of their competence
and writing style.
For some students, specific articles were
signed by male authors (e.g., John T. McKay),
while for others, the same articles were signed
by female authors (e.g., Joan T. McKay).
The female students rated the articles much
higher if they were attributed to a male author
than if the same articles were attributed to a

A Progress Report
Significant changes have happened since
those studies:
The number of blatant acts of overt
prejudice and discrimination has
decreased sharply.
Affirmative action opened the door to
greater opportunities for women and
minorities.
The media have increased our exposure
to women and minorities doing important
work in positions of power and influence.

A Progress Report
These changes are reflected in the gradual
increase in self-esteem of people in these
groups.
Most recent research has failed to replicate
the results of those earlier experiments.
1. African American children have gradually
become more content with black dolls
than they were in the late 1930s.
2. People no longer discriminate against a
piece of writing simply because it is
attributed to a woman.

Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

A Progress Report
While this progress is real, it would be
a mistake to conclude that
prejudice has ceased to be a
serious problem in the United
States.
Prejudice exists in countless subtle
and not-so-subtle ways.
For the most part, in America,
prejudice has gone underground
and become less overt.

Prejudice Defined
Prejudice is an attitude.
Attitudes are made up of three components:
affective or emotional component,
representing both the type of emotion
linked with the attitude (e.g., anger,
warmth) and the extremity of the attitude
(e.g., mild uneasiness, outright hostility),
cognitive component, involving the beliefs
or thoughts (cognitions) that make up the
attitude,
behavioral component, relating to ones
actionspeople dont simply hold attitudes;
they usually act on them as well.

Prejudice Defined
Prejudice refers to the general
attitude structure and its affective
(emotional) component.
While prejudice can involve either
positive or negative affect, social
psychologists (and people in
general) use the word prejudice
primarily when referring to negative
attitudes about others.

Prejudice Defined
Prejudice refers to the general
attitude structure and its affective
(emotional) component.
While prejudice can involve either
Prejudice
positive or negative affect, social
A hostile or negative attitude toward
psychologists (and people in
people in a distinguishable group,
general) use the word prejudice
based solely on their membership in
primarily when referring to negative
that group.
attitudes about others.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

Stereotypes:
The Cognitive Component
The distinguished journalist Walter
Lippmann (1922), who was the first
to introduce the term stereotype,
described the distinction between
the world out there and stereotypes
the little pictures we carry around
inside our heads.
Within a given culture, these pictures
tend to be remarkably similar.

Stereotypes:
The Cognitive Component
Stereotype
A generalization about a group of
people in which identical
characteristics are assigned to
virtually all members of the group,
regardless of actual variation
among the members.
Once formed, stereotypes are
resistant to change on the basis of
new information.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

Stereotypes:
The Cognitive Component
Stereotyping is a cognitive process,
not an emotional one.
Stereotyping does not necessarily lead
to intentional acts of abuse.
Often stereotyping is merely a
technique we use to simplify how we
look at the worldand we all do it to
some extent.

SPORTS, RACE, AND

ATTRIBUTION
POTENTIAL ABUSE OF STEREOTYPINGS
MENTAL SHORTCUTS CAN BE BLATANT
AND OBVIOUSAS WHEN ONE ETHNIC
GROUP IS CONSIDERED LAZY OR
ANOTHER ETHNIC GROUP IS CONSIDERED
GREEDY.
THE POTENTIAL ABUSE CAN BE MORE
SUBTLEAND IT MIGHT EVEN INVOLVE A
STEREOTYPE ABOUT A POSITIVE
ATTRIBUTE.

SPORTS, RACE, AND

ATTRIBUTION
So what here is abusive to the
minority?
Whats wrong with the
implication that black men
canabuse
jump?
The
enters when we ignore the
overlap in the distributionslike
when we ignore the fact that plenty
of African American kids are not
adept at basketball and a plenty of
white kids are.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

SPORTS, RACE, AND

ATTRIBUTION
So what here is abusive to the
minority?
Whats wrong with the
implication that black men
canabuse
jump?
The
entersa when
ignore the
Thus if we meet
youngwe
African
overlap
in man
the distributionslike
American
and are astonished
when
ignore the
factbasketball
that plenty
at his we
ineptitude
on the
of
African
American
kidsreal
are sense,
not
court,
we are,
in a very
adept
at him
basketball
and a plenty of
denying
his individuality.
white kids are.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

STEREOTYPES, ATTRIBUTION, AND

GENDER
1. Compared to men, women do tend to
manifest behaviors that can best be
described as more socially sensitive,
friendlier, and more concerned with the
welfare of others, while men tend to
behave in ways that are more dominant,
controlling, and independent.
2. Some data indicate that the stereotype
tends to underestimate the actual gender
differences.
3. While overlap exists between men and
women on these characteristics, the
differences are too consistent to be

STEREOTYPES, ATTRIBUTION, AND

GENDER
Needless to say, the phenomenon of gender
stereotyping often does not reflect reality
and can cut deeply.
When a man is successful on a
given task, observers of both
sexes attribute his success to
ability.
If a woman is successful at that
same task, observers attribute
her success to hard work.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

STEREOTYPES, ATTRIBUTION, AND

GENDER

Even as children, girls have a tendency to

downplay their own ability.

While 4th-grade boys attribute their own

successful outcomes on a difficult
intellectual task to their ability, girls
tend to derogate their own successful
performance.
While boys learn to protect their egos by
attributing their own failures to bad
luck, girls take more blame for failures.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

STEREOTYPES, ATTRIBUTION, AND

GENDER
These beliefs can be influenced by the
attitudes of our society in general and
parents.
Mothers who hold the strongest genderstereotypical beliefs also believe their
own daughters have relatively low math
ability and that their sons have relatively
high math ability.
Mothers who don't hold stereotypical
beliefs do not see their daughters as less
able in math than their sons.

Discrimination:
The Behavioral Component
Discrimination
An unjustified negative or harmful
action toward the members of a
group simply because of their
membership in that group.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
HOMOSEXUALS
SEVERAL STUDIES DURING THE PAST TWO
DECADES HAVE SHOWN THAT
HOMOSEXUALS FACE A GOOD DEAL OF
DISCRIMINATION AND ANTIPATHY IN
THEIR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES.
Unlike women, ethnic minorities, and
people with disabilities, homosexuals are
not protected by national laws banning
discrimination in the workplace.
Only 11 states have such laws.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
HOMOSEXUALS
Researchers have found that
compared to the way they
interacted with nonhomosexuals,
employers interacting with job
applicants they have been led to
think are homosexual:
were less verbally positive
spent less time interviewing them
used fewer words while chatting with
them
made less eye contact with them

What Causes
Prejudice?

The Way We Think:

Social Cognition
Our first explanation for what causes
prejudice is that it is the inevitable
byproduct of the way we process and
organize information.
Our tendency to categorize and group
information, to form schemas and use
them to interpret new or unusual
information, to rely on potentially
inaccurate heuristics (shortcuts in mental
reasoning), and to depend on what are
often faulty memory processesall of
these aspects of social cognition can lead
us to form negative stereotypes and to
apply them in a discriminatory way.

SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION:
US VERSUS THEM
THE FIRST STEP IN PREJUDICE IS THE CREATION
OF GROUPSPUTTING SOME PEOPLE INTO ONE
GROUP BASED ON CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS
AND OTHERS INTO ANOTHER GROUP BASED ON
THEIR DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS.
THIS KIND OF CATEGORIZATION IS THE
UNDERLYING THEME OF HUMAN SOCIAL
COGNITION.
THUS SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION IS BOTH USEFUL
AND NECESSARY; HOWEVER, THIS SIMPLE
COGNITIVE PROCESS HAS PROFOUND
IMPLICATIONS.

SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION:
US VERSUS THEM
For example, in Jane Elliots third-grade classroom,
children grouped according to eye color began to
act differently based on that social
categorization.
Blue-eyed children, the superior group, stuck
together and actively promoted and used their
higher status and power in the classroom.
They formed an in-group, defined as the group
with which an individual identifies.
The blue-eyed kids saw the brown-eyed ones as
outsidersdifferent and inferior.
To the blue-eyed children, the brown-eyed kids
were the out-group, the group with which the
individual does not identify.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

IN-GROUP BIAS
In-Group Bias
Positive feelings and special treatment
for people we have defined as being
part of our in-group and negative
feelings and unfair treatment for
others simply because we have
defined them as being in the outgroup.

IN-GROUP BIAS
The major underlying motive is selfesteem:
Individuals seek to enhance their
self-esteem by identifying with
specific social groups.
Self-esteem will be enhanced only if
the individual sees these groups as
superior to other groups.

IN-GROUP BIAS
To get at the pure, unvarnished
mechanisms behind this phenomenon,
researchers have created entities that
they refer to as minimal groups.
In these experiments, complete strangers
are formed into groups using the most
trivial criteria imaginable.
For example, in one experiment,
participants watched a coin toss that
randomly assigned them to either group X
or group W.

IN-GROUP BIAS
The striking thing about this research is that
despite the fact that the participants were
strangers before the experiment and didnt
interact during it, they behaved as if those
who shared the same meaningless label
were their dear friends or close kin.
They liked the members of their own group
better.
They rated the members of their in-group as
more likely to have pleasant personalities
and to have done better work than out-group
members.
Most striking, participants allocated more
rewards to those who shared their label.

OUT-GROUP HOMOGENEITY
OUT-GROUP
HOMOGENEITY
THE BELIEF THAT THEY
ARE ALL ALIKE.
IN-GROUP MEMBERS TEND TO PERCEIVE THOSE
IN THE OUT-GROUP AS MORE SIMILAR TO
EACH OTHER (HOMOGENEOUS) THAN THEY
REALLY ARE, AS WELL AS MORE
HOMOGENEOUS THAN THE IN-GROUP
MEMBERS ARE.

If you know something about one outgroup member, you are more likely to
feel you know something about all of
them.

THE FAILURE OF LOGIC

EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE USUALLY SENSIBLE
BECOME RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO
RATIONAL, LOGICAL ARGUMENTS WHEN
IT COMES TO THEIR PREJUDICE.
WHY IS THIS SO?
1. It is primarily the emotional aspect of
attitudes that makes a prejudiced
person so hard to agree with.
LOGICAL ARGUMENTS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE
IN COUNTERING EMOTIONS.

THE FAILURE OF LOGIC

EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE USUALLY SENSIBLE
BECOME RELATIVELY IMMUNE TO
RATIONAL, LOGICAL ARGUMENTS WHEN
IT COMES TO THEIR PREJUDICE.
WHY IS THIS SO?
2. As discussed in earlier chapters, an
attitude tends to organize the way we
process relevant information about the
targets of that attitude.

THE FAILURE OF LOGIC

Specifically, information consistent
with their notions about these
target groups will be:
Given more attention
Rehearsed (or recalled) more often,
and
Therefore remembered better than
information that contradicts these
notions.

THE PERSISTENCE OF
STEREOTYPES
STEREOTYPES REFLECT CULTURAL
BELIEFS.
EVEN IF WE DONT BELIEVE THESE
STEREOTYPES, WE CAN EASILY
RECOGNIZE THEM AS COMMON
BELIEFS HELD BY OTHERS.

THE ACTIVATION OF
STEREOTYPES

Automatic and Controlled

Processing of Stereotypes
An automatic process is one over
which we have no control.
Stereotypes are automatically
triggered under certain conditions
they just pop into ones mind.
Since the process is automatic, you
cant control it or stop it from
occurring.
However, for people who are not
deeply prejudiced, their control
processes can suppress or override

The Justification-Suppression Model

of Prejudice
According to Crandall and Eschlemans (2003)
model, most people struggle between their urge
to express prejudice and need to maintain
positive self-concept (as a non-bigot).
However, it requires energy to suppress
prejudiced impulses.
Because people are programmed to avoid the
constant expenditure of energy, we seek
information that can convince us there is a valid
justification for holding a negative attitude
toward a particular out-group.
Once we find a valid justification for disliking this
group, we can act against them and still feel as
though we are not bigotsthus avoiding
cognitive dissonance.

THE ILLUSORY
CORRELATION
Illusory Correlation
When we expect two things to be
related, we fool ourselves into
believing that they are actually
unrelated.

CAN WE CHANGE
STEREOTYPICAL BELIEFS?
Researchers have found that when people
are presented with an example or two
that seems to refute their existing
stereotype, most do not change their
general belief.
Indeed, in one experiment, some people
presented with disconfirming evidence
actually strengthened stereotypical belief
because the disconfirming evidence
challenged them to come up with
additional reasons for holding on to that
belief.

How We Assign Meaning:

Attributional Biases

DISPOSITIONAL VERSUS
SITUATIONAL EXPLANATIONS
ONE REASON STEREOTYPES ARE SO
INSIDIOUS AND PERSISTENT IS THE
HUMAN TENDENCY TO MAKE
DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTIONS.
RELYING TOO HEAVILY ON
DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTIONS
OFTEN LEADS US TO MAKE
ATTRIBUTIONAL MISTAKES.

DISPOSITIONAL VERSUS
SITUATIONAL EXPLANATIONS

Ultimate Attribution Error

Our tendency to make dispositional
attributions about an individuals
negative behavior to an entire group
of people.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

DISPOSITIONAL VERSUS
SITUATIONAL
EXPLANATIONS
Researchers had college students read fictionalized
files on prisoners to make a parole decision.
Sometimes the crime matched the common
stereotype of the offenderfor example, when a
Hispanic male, committed assault and battery,
or when an upper-class Anglo-American
committed embezzlement.
When prisoners crimes were consistent with
participants stereotypes, the students
recommendations for parole were harsher.
Most students ignored additional information that
was relevant to a parole decision but
inconsistent with the stereotype, such as
evidence of good behavior in prison.

Stereotype Threat
When African American
students find themselves
in highly evaluative
educational situations,
most tend to experience
apprehension about
confirming the existing
negative cultural
stereotype of intellectual
inferiority.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

Stereotype Threat
Stone and his colleagues (1999)
found that when a game of
miniature golf was framed as
a measure of sport strategic
intelligence black athletes
performed worse at it than
whites.
But when the game was framed
as a measure of natural
athletic ability the pattern
reversed, and the Black
athletes outperformed the
Whites.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

Stereotype Threat
The common stereotype has it that men are
better at math than women are.
When women in one experiment were led to
believe that a particular test was designed to
show differences in math abilities between men
and women, they did not perform as well as
men.
In another condition, when women were told that
the same test had nothing to do with malefemale differences, they performed as well as
men. The phenomenon even shows itself among
white males if you put them in a similarly
threatening situation.

Stereotype Threat
How can the effects of stereotype
threat be reversed?
An understanding of stereotype
threat can be very useful for
improving performance on tests and
other.
Merely reminding participants they
were selective northeastern liberal
arts college students eliminated
the gender gap on a spatial ability
test.

EXPECTATIONS AND
DISTORTIONS
WHEN A MEMBER OF AN OUT-GROUP BEHAVES
AS WE EXPECT, IT CONFIRMS AND EVEN
STRENGTHENS OUR STEREOTYPE. AND WHEN AN
OUT-GROUP MEMBER BEHAVES IN AN
UNEXPECTED, NONSTEREOTYPICAL FASHION?
ATTRIBUTION THEORY PROVIDES THE ANSWER:
WE CAN SIMPLY ENGAGE IN SOME
ATTRIBUTIONAL FANCY FOOTWORK AND EMERGE
WITH OUR DISPOSITIONAL STEREOTYPE INTACT.
PRINCIPALLY, WE CAN MAKE SITUATIONAL
ATTRIBUTIONS ABOUT THE EXCEPTIONFOR
EXAMPLE, THAT THE PERSON REALLY IS AS WE
BELIEVE, BUT IT JUST ISNT APPARENT IN THIS
SITUATION.

BLAMING THE VICTIM

WHEN EMPATHY IS ABSENT, IT IS
SOMETIMES HARD TO AVOID
FALLING INTO THE TRAP OF
BLAMING THE VICTIM FOR HIS
OR HER PLIGHT.

Source of image: www.clipart.com

BLAMING THE VICTIM

Ironically,
this
WHEN
EMPATHY
Ironically,
this IS ABSENT, IT IS
tendency
blame
SOMETIMES
tendency to
to HARD
blameTO AVOID
victims
their
victims for
for
their
FALLING
INTO
THE TRAP OF
victimization
is
victimization
is VICTIM FOR HIS
BLAMING
THE
typically
motivated
typically
motivated
OR
HER PLIGHT.
by
by an
an
understandable
understandable
desire
desire to
to see
see the
the
world
world as
as aa fair
fair and
and
just
just place,
place, one
one
where
where people
people get
get
what they deserve

SELF-FULFILLING
PROPHECIES
On a societal level, the insidiousness of the
self-fulfilling prophecy goes far.
Suppose that there is a general belief that
a particular group is irredeemably stupid,
uneducable, and fit only for menial jobs.
Why waste educational resources on
them? Hence they are given inadequate
schooling.
Thirty years later, what do you find? An
entire group that with few exceptions is fit
only for menial jobs.

Prejudice and Economic

Competition: Realistic Conflict
Theory

Realistic conflict theory holds

that limited resources lead to
conflict among groups and result in
prejudice and discrimination.
Thus prejudiced attitudes tend to
increase when times are tense and
conflict exists over mutually
exclusive goals.

Source of image: www.clipart.com

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL

COMPETITION
When times are tough and resources
are scarce:
1. In-group members will feel more
threatened by the out-group.
2. Incidents of prejudice,
discrimination, and violence toward
out-group members will increase.

THE ROLE OF THE

SCAPEGOAT
Research on scapegoating
shows that individuals,
when frustrated or
unhappy, tend to displace
aggression onto groups that
are disliked, are visible, and
areform
relatively
powerless.
The
the aggression
takes
depends on what is allowed or
approved by the in-group in
question.
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.

The Way We
Conform:
Normative Rules

WHEN PREJUDICE IS
INSTITUTIONALIZED
SIMPLY BY LIVING IN A SOCIETY WHERE
STEREOTYPICAL INFORMATION ABOUNDS
AND WHERE DISCRIMINATORY BEHAVIOR
IS THE NORM, THE VAST MAJORITY OF US
WILL UNWITTINGLY DEVELOP PREJUDICED
ATTITUDES AND DISCRIMINATORY
BEHAVIOR TO SOME EXTENT.
WE CALL THIS INSTITUTIONAL
DISCRIMINATION OR, MORE SPECIFICALLY,
AS INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM AND
INSTITUTIONALIZED SEXISM.

WHEN PREJUDICE IS
INSTITUTIONALIZED
Normative
Normative Conformity
Conformity
The
The strong
strong tendency
tendency to
to go
go along
along
with
with the
the group
group in
in order
order to
to fulfill
fulfill
the
the groups
groups expectations
expectations and
and
gain
gain acceptance.
acceptance.

MODERN PREJUDICE
AS THE NORM SWINGS
TOWARD TOLERANCE,
MANY PEOPLE SIMPLY
BECOME MORE CAREFUL
OUTWARDLY ACTING
UNPREJUDICED YET
INWARDLY MAINTAINING
STEREOTYPED VIEWS.
PEOPLE HAVE LEARNED TO HIDE
PREJUDICE IN ORDER TO AVOID BEING
LABELED AS RACIST, BUT WHEN THE
SITUATION BECOMES SAFE, THEIR
PREJUDICE WILL BE REVEALED.
Source of image: www.clipart.com

SUBTLE AND BLATANT

PREJUDICE
ELSEWHERE
EXAMPLES OF BLATANT PREJUDICE ABOUND
IN DAILY NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:
ETHNIC CLEANSING IN BOSNIA
VIOLENT CONFLICT BETWEEN ARABS AND
JEWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
MASS MURDER BETWEEN WARRING
TRIBES IN RWANDA
THIS PREJUDICE EXISTS IN MODERN
FORMS AS WELL.

Subtle Sexism
Hostile sexists hold stereotypical
views of women that suggest that
women are inferior to men (e.g.,
that they are less intelligent, less
competent, and so on).
Benevolent sexists hold
stereotypically positive views of
women.

How Can
Prejudice Be
Reduced?

The Contact Hypothesis

Mere contact between groups is not
sufficient to reduce prejudice.
In fact, it can create opportunities for
conflict that may increase it.
Prejudice will decrease when two conditions
are met:
1. Both groups are of equal status.
2. Both share a common goal.

When Contact Reduces

Prejudice: Six Conditions
Sherif and colleagues (1961) found:
Once hostility and distrust were
established, simply removing a conflict
and the competition did not restore
harmony.
In fact, bringing two competing groups
together in neutral situations actually
increased their hostility and distrust.
Mutual
Mutual Interdependence
Interdependence
The
The need
need to
to depend
depend on
on each
each other
other to
to
accomplish
accomplish aa goal
goal that
that is
is important
important to
to
each
each group.
group.

When Contact Reduces

Prejudice: Six Conditions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mutual interdependence
Common goal
Equal status
Friendly, informal setting
Knowing multiple out-group
members
6. Social norms of equality

Social
Psychology
Elliot Aronson
University of California,
Santa Cruz

Timothy D.
Wilson
University of Virginia

Robin M. Akert
Wellesley College

slides by Travis Langley

6th edition