Revision:Stereotypes and Stereotyping

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Contents 1 Individual stereotypes 2 Group stereotypes 2.1 Process of stereotyping 3 Campbell: social consequences of stereotypes 3.1 Self-perception 3.1.1 Theory 3.1.2 Gender identity 3.1.3 Stereotypes 3.1.4 Taigiuri 4 Comments

Individual stereotypes

Experienced teachers asked to evaluate a set of short essays written by eleven year olds identified by first name only - those by attractive names were graded a full letter higher than those by unattractive names - the effect was stronger for boys names that girls names (Haari, McDavid, 1973).

Dion et all (1972) - photos of attractive people consistently credited with more desirable qualities - more intelligent, more moral, better adjusted, warmer, more successful , etc.</p>

{although Dermar and Thiel- 1975 - found that very attractive women were judged as being egoistic, Evain, materialistic, snobbish and less likely to be successfully married). Subjects given a list of sentences like "Carol, a librarian, is attractive and serious" each sentence gave a name, an occupation and two traits - one "typical" of occupation - subjects when asked to recall showed marked tendency to recall the stereotyped traits and to forget the non-stereotyped traits ( Hamilton and Rose, 1978)

Group stereotypes

Process of stereotyping

• Assign person to a particular group (e.g. on the basis of physical appearance)

• Generalise on basis of belief that all members of the group share certain characteristics (the stereotype)

• Infer that this individual must share these characteristics

Basic method - Katz and Braly (1933) - subjects presented with a list of ethnic groups and 84 words describing personality - asked to list the five or six words most characteristic of the group - considerable agreement, especially about derogatory traits.

Duncan (1976) - showed video of discussion between two males (sometimes both white, sometimes both black, sometimes one white one black), in heated moment one actor gave the other a shove - subjects were far more likely to classify the black man's behaviour as violent, especially if he shoved a white man.

Rothbert (1979) - people often recall better those facts that support their stereotypes (selective remembering).

Howard and Rothbart (1980) - people often recall facts which are critical of the minority (negative memory bias) - stereotypes also enhance and amplify small differences - tendency to exaggerate the significance of a trait if it does not fit our stereotype of a certain ethnic or other group.

Linville and Jones (1980) - gave subjects written descriptions of applicants to law school - one group told an impressive applicant was black and that another was white (black judged far more impressively as he was exceptional and therefore the more impressive) - situation reversed with two poor applicants (black judged far more harshly - it made him seem typical and therefore unimpressive).

Our expectations of people's personalities or capabilities may influence the way we actually treat them, which in turn may influence their behaviour in such a way at our expectation is confirmed - the self fulfilling prophecy.

Mischenbaum (1969) - class of 14 adolescents in school for juvenile offenders - teachers told that 6 of the girls were high in potential and late developers - the girls performed significantly better, the teachers' expectations had actually influenced the girls' behaviour which in turn influenced their performance.

Campbell: social consequences of stereotypes

• Over estimation of differences between groups, making groups appear vastly different from what they actually are.

• Underestimation of variations within the group.

• Distortions of reality

• Stereotype used to justify hostility, discrimination, oppression

Also used as a reason for political inaction as the stereotyped minority can be blamed for their own shortcomings.

Self-perception

Theory

We are two selves in one. The subject self behaves and the psychologist-self interprets/ explains behaviour displaying biases. The left side of the brain appears to house the portion of the brain that interprets perceptions and emotions registered in other parts of the brain.

Gender identity

Degree to which one regards oneself as male or female.

We usually go on to make further inferences about the actor well beyond the evidence.

Stereotypes

Lippmann (1922) coined the term - a schema which associates a set of personality traits with members of a particular group ( group stereotype) or a schema which associates a set of personality traits as belonging to a particular individual (individual stereotype).

Taigiuri

The general inclination to place a person in categories according to some easily and quickly identifiable characteristic such as age, sex, ethnic membership, nationality or occupation, and then to attribute to him qualities believed to be typical to members of that category

When labelling is applied it effects our overall judgement: in a simple experiment four short lines were each labelled A and four slightly longer ones B - people saw a bigger difference in the average length of these lines when they were labelled than when no labels were attached. (Tajfel, 1963)

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