Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Psychological Perspectives and Consequences

Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Introduction

This unit explores the psychological foundations and consequences of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. These phenomena are central topics in social psychology and are critical for understanding how individuals and groups interact within society.

Guidelines for Discussion

• Speak as individuals, not representatives of entire groups.

• Listen with resilience, even to difficult topics.

• Ask questions rather than make attributions about others.

• Respect confidentiality: what is shared stays, what is learned can leave.

• Take care of yourself in this space.

Objectives

• Understand the 'ABCs of Bias'

• Examine psychological perspectives on the origins of prejudice and stereotyping

• Analyze adverse consequences of racism

• Discuss strategies for reducing bias

The 'ABCs' of Bias

Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Components

• Affective → Prejudice: Negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their group membership.

• Behavioral → Discrimination: Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.

• Cognitive → Stereotype: A generalization about a group of people, where certain traits are assumed to apply to everyone, regardless of actual variation among the members.

Bias is defined as reacting to a person based on their perceived membership in a group, while ignoring all other parts of their identity or personal traits.

Origins of Bias

Three Types of Explanations

1. Socialization

2. Cognition

3. Motivation

1. Socialization

• Direct and Indirect Observation: Individuals learn biases through observing others, especially parents and peers.

• Social Learning:

  • Meta-analysis of over 45,000 parent-child dyads found a medium-sized correlation ($r = .38$) between parent attitudes and child attitudes (Degner & Dalege, 2013).

  • Children pay attention to nonverbal signals and can "catch" social biases from their parents (Skinner, Meltzoff, & Olson, 2017; Skinner, Olson & Meltzoff, 2020).

• Norms:

  • Children and adults infer that what is (descriptive norm) reflects the way things should be (injunctive norm) (Bear & Knobe, 2017).

• Media:

  • Media places people in stereotypic roles and under-represents certain groups.

  • Examples: Films and TV shows often reinforce stereotypes or fail to represent minority groups.

• Institutions:

  • Institutionalized racism and segregation (e.g., redlining).

  • Structure of institutions (e.g., representation in congress, justice system, school curricula) perpetuates bias.

Individual Reflection

• Reflect on your own socialization experiences: family, friends, neighborhood, school, media, and institutions.

• Consider what messages, ideas, or stereotypes you were exposed to—directly or indirectly—and when you became aware of them.

• Analyze how these messages inform your cognition.

2. Cognition

• Schema Theory & Fast Thinking: Humans tend to categorize and rely on heuristics, which can be helpful but also lead to stereotyping.

• Social Construction of Categories: Society creates categories (e.g., race) that have stereotypes associated with them.

• Dissociation Model of Prejudice (Devine, 1989):

  • Stereotypes are automatically triggered.

  • We control whether or not we accept the stereotype; if distracted or overwhelmed, we may not control it, leading to stereotyping.

  • People high in prejudice are more likely to stereotype.

3. Motivation

• Realistic Group Conflict Theory: Active or perceived competition for resources or goals leads to conflict and bias.

• Social Identity Theory (Tajfel):

  • Self-esteem is partly derived from group memberships.

  • In-group bias: Favoring one's own group over others.

  • Minimal groups paradigm: Even arbitrary group distinctions can lead to bias.

Consequences of Bias

General Implications

Bias affects how people perceive the world, influencing their feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Consequences: Thinking

• Stereotype Activation and Circadian Rhythm: Research (Bodenhausen, 1990) shows that at low points in circadian rhythm, individuals are more likely to rely on stereotypes, affecting judgments of guilt.

Condition	Tested in Morning	Tested in Afternoon/Evening
Stereotype Activated	Higher perceived guilt	Higher perceived guilt
Not Activated	Lower perceived guilt	Lower perceived guilt

Additional info: This demonstrates how cognitive resources and time of day can interact with stereotype activation to influence decision-making.

Consequences: Behavior

• Shooter Bias (Correll et al., 2002): Participants were instructed to "shoot" armed targets and "not shoot" unarmed targets.

Error Type	White Individuals	Black Individuals
Armed Errors (Miss)	Missed more often	Missed less often
Unarmed Errors (False Alarm)	Shot less often	Shot more often

Additional info: This research highlights how stereotypes can influence split-second decisions, with significant real-world implications for law enforcement and public safety.

Consequences for Target

• Exposure to American Indian mascots negatively affected Native students’:

  • Self-esteem

  • Sense of possible academic selves

  • Community self-worth

Additional info: Stereotypical representations in media and institutions can have lasting psychological effects on targeted groups.

Reflection

• Consider which findings on the consequences of bias stand out to you and why.

• Reflect on your awareness of bias in daily life and how it may change depending on context (e.g., campus, city, hometown).