PSYC12H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Raw Image Format, Pink Elephants, Computer Keyboard
Chapter 3 – Feeling Versus Thinking in the Activation and Application of Stereotypes
1. Mood
1.1. Affect plays a major role in the way that information about social groups and group members is
processed
1.2. Types of Intergroup Affect
1.2.1.Incidental affect – affect that arises in situations unrelated to the intergroup context
1.2.2.Integral affect – affect that originates within the intergroup situation and involves the
stereotyped outgroup. This type of affect can also arise from merely thinking about the
outgroup
1.2.3.Chronic outgroup affect – Oes stable feeling toward the outgroup
1.2.4.Episodic outgroup affect – ones affective reaction to a specific member of the outgroup
1.3. Chronic Outgroup Affect
1.3.1.Attitude object – any idea, object, or person about which one forms an attitude
1.3.2.This idea holds true for the notion of outgroup attitudes
1.3.3.Allport defines stereotype as a fixed idea that accompanies a category
1.3.4.Because ones outgroup attitude was believed to be a stable evaluation of the outgroup
and its members, it was assumed that any evaluation of the outgroup member in the
future, regardless of the context, would be a direct result of the simple recall of the
perceivers stored evaluation of the outgroup member
1.3.5.Each time the attitude object is perceived or remembered, the evaluation will trigger
beliefs and other information associated with the object, as well as enduring feelings
associated with the attitude object
1.3.6.The affect that one feels toward the outgroup, as a result of ones enduring attitude
toward the outgroup can be termed chronic outgroup affect
1.3.6.1. This affect is different from affective reactions to an interaction with a specific
member of the outgroup
1.3.7.Aversive racism – used by Gaertner & Dovidio to describe a type of racism in which the
individual believes they are non-prejudiced, but they still harbor negative feelings about
the outgroup
1.3.7.1. If people can do this in a rationalizable fashion, these individuals may express
negative attitudes toward African Americans yet feel no affective consequences from
doing so, thereby preserving the self from threatening conflict-related negative
affect
1.3.8.People in ingroups are:
1.3.8.1. 1) assumed to be more similar in beliefs
1.3.8.2. 2) evaluated more favourably
1.3.8.3. 3) the recipients of more positive behaviour by the perceiver than are members
of outgroups
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1.3.8.4. 4) found to be more attractive by the perceiver
1.3.9.When it comes to low-prejudice individuals, they feel like they possess egalitarian values.
When situations arise that makes negative feelings toward outgroups salient, low-
prejudiced individuals try to dissociate themselves from these feelings and often act more
positively in ways that will convince them and others that they are not prejudiced
1.3.10. The most common negative affective state that has been investigated is anxiety,
because it is commonly experienced by individuals in an intergroup interaction
1.3.10.1. Anxiety has a disruptive effect on the behaviours, thoughts, and feelings of the
outgroup member and the perceiver. This anxiety can also lead to increased
stereotyping by the perceiver (through cuing more negative cognitions or relying
more on expectancies due to cognitive load), an avoidance of future intergroup
interaction, and attempts by the perceiver to control others
1.3.10.2. The amount and conditions of intergroup contact determines whether the
individual will experience anxiety when interacting with the outgroup
1.3.10.3. When there has been minimal contact, or contact has been characterized by
conflict, the individual will tend to feel more anxiety prior to or during the intergroup
interaction
1.3.11. Dijkers research suggests that an important determinant of the type of chronic racial
affect that the perceiver feels in the intergroup context is the degree to which the
outgroup member is culturally dissimilar from the perceiver
1.3.11.1. 4 main types of emotions: positive mood, anxiety, irritation, and concern
1.3.12. When groups are similar, anxiety will decrease and positive mood increase
1.3.13. When groups are dissimilar, negative mood will increase
1.3.14. Emotions that we feel about the outgroups is related to the characteristics of the
outgroups
1.3.15. Episodic Outgroup Affect
1.3.15.1. Oes itergroup-related affect can also be a result of a specific interaction with
a specific individual member of the outgroup (or imagined interaction)
1.3.15.2. Episodic interactions with outgroups can often have a strong impact on an
individuals hronic, enduring outgroup affect, and, it is believed, the individuals
enduring attitudes toward the outgroup – may be possible to change a negative
chronic outgroup affect by positive episodic outgroup affects
1.3.16. Incidental Affect
1.3.16.1. Feelings that have no origination associated with the outgroup can be
characterized as incidental affect
1.3.16.2. Affect in one context can influence social judgments in another context
1.3.16.3. Then it may be reasonable to suggest that incidental affect can subsequently
influence an individuals proclivity (tendency) to use stereotypes in social judgment
1.3.16.4. Research has shown that a video that ignites incidental sadness has an impact
on participants subsequent judgments of characteristics associated with outgroups
1.3.16.5. In sum, it appears that affect induced in a context unrelated to the outgroup can
have an impact on attitudes toward and judgments about the outgroup
1.4. Influence of Positive Affect
1.4.1.Positive affect appears to influence how people categorize others
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1.4.2.Positive affect has been shown to reduce the extent of systematic processing
1.4.3.People who are happy tend to process information less analytically; they rely on heuristic
cues, initial judgments, decisional shortcuts, and other simplifying strategies; more likely
to use stereotypes in judgments
1.4.4.However, when the happy person meets someone from an outgroup that is radically
different from himself, he will give up stereotype to in making judgments
1.4.5.People are more likely to stereotype when they are under increased cognitive constraints
due to influences such as distraction, or demands brought on by other complex,
simultaneous cognitive processing
1.4.5.1. However, researches have shown that there is little support for the idea that
happiness promotes stereotypic thinking by constraining the perceivers capacity for
more systematic thought
1.5. Effects of Negative Affect
1.5.1.Angry people tend to make more stereotypic judgments
1.5.2.Sad or neutral-affect people did not differ in their use of stereotypes
1.5.3.Mildly depressed/sad person tend to engage in the most systematic and careful cognitive
processing of information and is least likely to use stereotypes
1.5.4. Criticism is that sad people does not show decrease in memory performance, especially
when the task is resource intensive
just evoking information related to affect and not activating it may be enough to activate
stereotyping – the research that studied this found that info related to sadness =
increased reliance on sadness and info related to happiness = decreased reliance on
stereotypes – contrary to previous research – indicates the topic needs more research
1.6. Motivational versus Cognitive-Capacity Deficit
1.6.1.Positive mood= greater reliance on stereotypes b/c some say: conveys the message that
because all is well with their environment, they do not need to focus on new
information. Thus, these people may be motivated to maintain their good mood and
avoid activity that negates it and some say: positive moods activate positive past
memories which take up cognitive capacity
1.6.2.Negative moods create a diminished cognitive capacity in the individual. An equally
impressive array of experiments support the idea that negative moods affect the
individuals motivation to process information systematically
1.6.3.A research suggests that moods do not have stable implications (as previously mentioned).
Rather, they have different meanings depending on the persons iterpretation of the
mood
1.6.4.Positive mood can tell people to keep doing what they are doing (if enjoys doing it and
goal is not attained), or stop what they are doing if goal is attained
1.6.5.Negative mood can tell people to stop what they are doing (if not enjoys doing it), or keep
doing what they are doing (if goal is not attained)
2. Cognition
2.1. Implicit Cognition
2.1.1.Some psychologists believe that cognition occurs outside of awareness
2.1.2.Some advocates within the American Psychology have suggested terms such as
subconscious ad unconscious cognitive processes
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Document Summary
Chapter 3 feeling versus thinking in the activation and application of stereotypes: mood. Affect plays a major role in the way that information about social groups and group members is processed. 1. 2. 1. incidental affect affect that arises in situations unrelated to the intergroup context. 1. 2. 2. integral affect affect that originates within the intergroup situation and involves the stereotyped outgroup. This type of affect can also arise from merely thinking about the outgroup. 1. 2. 3. chronic outgroup affect o(cid:374)e(cid:859)s stable feeling toward the outgroup. 1. 2. 4. episodic outgroup affect one(cid:859)s affective reaction to a specific member of the outgroup. 1. 3. 1. attitude object any idea, object, or person about which one forms an attitude. 1. 3. 2. this idea holds true for the notion of outgroup attitudes. 1. 3. 3. allport defines stereotype as (cid:858)a fixed idea that accompanies a category(cid:859) 1. 3. 5. each time the attitude object is perceived or remembered, the evaluation will trigger beliefs and other information associated with the object, as well as enduring feelings associated with the attitude object.
