Prejudice (Lecture 17&18)

A hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group based solely on their membership in that group, containing cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.

Stereotypes, which are generalizations about a group of people in which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among them.

Prejudice as a generalized emotion, attitude, or feeling toward members of a group, which can be positive ("ingroup love") or negative ("outgroup hate").

Discrimination, which is the unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group solely because of their membership in that group.

The cognitive component of prejudice, involving generalizations about a group of people that assign certain traits to all members of the group, regardless of individual differences.

Negative stereotypes about women that are often associated with harmful attitudes like aggression, such as believing that women are inferior.

Positive stereotypes about women, which are still restrictive and patronizing, such as believing that women should be treated with care and kindness but often leading to victim-blaming.

A framework that categorizes stereotypes along two dimensions: warmth and competence, leading to four types of stereotyped groups.

Unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group solely because of their membership in that group, which can be carried out by individuals or institutions.

Subtle, everyday insults and invalidations that communicate to someone that they do not belong, often occurring in the context of discrimination.

Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that prejudice is a way of resolving inconsistencies between discriminatory behavior and egalitarian values.

The process of classifying people into groups based on common characteristics, which leads to prejudice as a byproduct of categorization.

The tendency to favor members of one's own group over those from other groups, which is a consequence of social categorization.

The tendency to perceive members of an out-group as more similar to each other than they really are.

A theory proposing that people are vigilant to the possibility of being devalued or mistreated because of their social identities, such as race, gender, or class.

The uncertainty that members of stigmatized groups experience when trying to determine whether a behavior or treatment is due to prejudice or other factors.

The belief that prejudice is the result of ignorance or lack of contact between groups, and that increasing contact between groups can reduce prejudice.

A cooperative learning technique where students are placed in small groups, each responsible for learning and teaching a segment of the overall lesson, which helps break down in-group/out-group boundaries and promotes empathy.

When an individual’s belief or expectation about someone leads them to act in ways that make those expectations come true.

When individuals witness and directly communicate their displeasure with a prejudiced expression, which can reduce the endorsement of prejudiced attitudes and subsequent stereotyping behaviors.

Confrontation works by increasing social pressure for people to act non-prejudiced, even if it doesn't immediately change their attitudes.

The emotional and cognitive stress that occurs when people feel their social identity is threatened, leading to decreased performance or well-being.

The Social Identity Threat Concerns (SITC) Scale measures how individuals perceive and react to potential threats to their social identity, helping to understand how identity impacts behavior and emotions.

Normative social influence leads individuals to adopt prejudicial attitudes to conform to group norms and gain social approval.

The process of displacing aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible, and relatively powerless, often as a way to cope with frustration or conflict.

A theory suggesting that prejudice and discrimination arise from competition for limited resources between groups, leading to conflict and hostility.