Chapter 13: Prejudice and

Discrimination

Prejudice

Prejudice
An attitude toward members of some group,
based solely on their membership in that
group

Components of prejudice
Cognitive
Affective
Behavioral

Stereotypes

Stereotype
A belief or expectation about an individual
based on an individuals group membership

Types of stereotypes
Descriptive stereotype beliefs
concerning how most people in a group
behave and what they prefer
Prescriptive stereotype controlling
attitudes that tell members of a group how
they should think, feel, and behave

Effects of stereotypes
Extend to all group members
Influence judgments
Distort social perception so that information
confirms stereotypes
Self-fulfilling

Discrimination

Discrimination
Negative actions directed toward persons
who are the object of prejudice
Many forms of discrimination

Job discrimination
The reluctance to hire, promote, and
provide equal pay to individuals based on
their group membership
Subtler forms:
Withholding assistance
Tokenism

Origins of prejudice

Origins of prejudice
Intergroup conflict
Stems from competition among social
groups over valued commodities or
opportunities

Origins of prejudice -Social categorization

Divide world into ingroup and outgroup

Results of categorization
See ingroup positively and outgroup
negatively
Outgroup homogeneity effect
Categorize ingroup members at more specific
levels of categories than outgroup members

Results of categorization (cont.)

Ingroup bias tendency to favor in-group
over out-group

Results of categorization (cont.)

Ingroup bias tendency to favor in-group
over out-group
Illusory correlation tendency to
overestimate the occurrence of two
distinctive events

Origins of prejudice -Social identity theory

Group membership affects self esteem
Motivated to positively differentiate ingroup from outgroups
BIRGING and CORFING

Origins of prejudice -Social learning

Learned from different aspects of society

Effects of prejudice in the

workplace
Targets confined to roles dictated by
stereotype
Conflict within organization

Gender discrimination

Gender discrimination
Sex role stereotypes
Attributions made for success

Modern racism
Old-fashioned racism blatant forms of
prejudice based on the belief that members
of certain racial, ethnic, or social groups
should be discriminated against
Modern racism subtle and more indirect
forms of prejudice

Reducing prejudice and

discrimination
Prevent children from learning these
negative views

Reducing prejudice and

discrimination (cont.)
Increasing contact

equal status
informal
cooperative conditions
typical group member