PSYC1004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ethnocentrism, Authoritarianism, Social Identity Theory
LECTURE 2 PART 2: STEREOTYPING AND PREJUDICE:
Sexism – prejudice and discrimination on the basis of sex
Racism – prejudice and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity
Ageism – prejudice and discrimination on the basis of age
Other stigmatised groups – homophobia, anti-fat bias, mentally disordered people
Socio-cultural (Sherif):
→ Ran a summer camp in USA
→ All middle-class kids, Caucasian, 12 years old
→ Separated into two groups:
o Eagles
o Rattlers
→ Initially group cohesion was low, just a bunch of kids thrown together
→ Stage 1: Build group cohesion
→ Stage 2: Introduce the other group (competitive goals)
→ Stage 3: Non-competitive contact
→ Stage 4: Common interdependent goals
→ In-group formation – Friction – Integration
How would you introduce cohesion within the group?
→ Stage 1: Let them play games together in which the group must cooperate, separate
from the other group (e.g. treasure hunt) – in group cohesion followed
→ Stage 2: They were introduced to the other group
o Rejection, verbal insults, name calling and violence
o Were asked to name their friends – Eagles picked Eagles and Rattlers picked
Rattlers
o Boys used negative characteristics to describe the other group, but rated their
own group more favourably
o Occurred spontaneously when each group realised the other boys were there –
spurred on by introducing a competitive tournament
→ Stage 3: Non-competitive activities
o Brought the boys together (e.g. watching films, eating, lighting fireworks) –
failed as contact during meal times lead to food fights
→ Stage 4: Beyond contact
o Superordinate goals hypothesis – situations that encourage groups to work
together to achieve a common goal (one which cannot be solved by one group
alone) can reduce conflict between these groups
o Created a series of emergencies that could only be handled by the groups
working together (e.g. lack of water, bogged truck, sharing resources to
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purchase a film) – after 6 days of this cooperation the tensions were fairly well
wiped out
→ Sherif created his realistic group conflict theory to explain results
o Negative stereotypes and prejudice reflect the pattern of shared and competing
goals that characterise group life
o When groups have conflicting and mutually exclusive goals this will foster
ethnocentrism
o Action based on belief that their ingroup is superior to other outgroups (which
in turn are perceived as inferior)
o Sherif argued that this can only be overcome by creating higher-order shared
goals
Critique:
→ Major advance stereotypes (and prejudice) could change to the extent that features of
the social world did too
→ Approach more descriptive than explanatory (it doesn’t tell us much about what was
going on in people’s heads)
→ Analysis of psychological process was relatively imprecise
Psycho-dynamic:
→ Well-integrated psychological analysis
→ Prejudice related to frustration
→ Prejudice due to a distinct personality syndrome which they called authoritarianism
Frustration – Aggression Hypothesis
Dollard et al (1944)
→ Psychodynamic origins (e.g. Freud)
→ Experience of frustration (e.g. goals not achieved)
→ Source of frustration beyond reach (e.g. more powerful)
→ Displacement of aggression onto less powerful targets – scapegoating
→ Supporting evidence – Hovland & Sears (1940) found that the number of lynchings of
Black people in the American South increased when economic conditions worsened
(e.g. low price of cotton – late 19th – early 20th century)
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Sexism prejudice and discrimination on the basis of sex. Racism prejudice and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity. Ageism prejudice and discrimination on the basis of age. Other stigmatised groups homophobia, anti-fat bias, mentally disordered people. All middle-class kids, caucasian, 12 years old. Separated into two groups: eagles, rattlers. Initially group cohesion was low, just a bunch of kids thrown together. Stage 2: introduce the other group (competitive goals) Stage 1: let them play games together in which the group must cooperate, separate from the other group (e. g. treasure hunt) in group cohesion followed. Stage 2: they were introduced to the other group: rejection, verbal insults, name calling and violence, were asked to name their friends eagles picked eagles and rattlers picked. Rattlers: boys used negative characteristics to describe the other group, but rated their own group more favourably, occurred spontaneously when each group realised the other boys were there spurred on by introducing a competitive tournament.
