Chapter . Critical Learning Exercises - Understanding Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination

Students’ examples of prejudice will vary, but in their discussion they should include research from the chapter to explain the prejudice, which may include the following main causes: hostile feelings linked to a category, realistic group conflict theory (prejudice is based on a real conflict or competition regarding scarce resources), ingroup bias (prejudice based on familiarity with own group and unfamiliarity with those outside the group), or ethnocentrism (prejudice based on viewing the world through own’s cultural views of good and bad). In addition, students may describe a personality leaning toward right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) or social dominance orientation (SDO) leading the person to be more prone to prejudice.

Students’ experiences with the IAT will differ, as will their rationale for why they think they have implicit biases toward the three social identities they chose for their test. They may include in their discussion their lack of awareness of their bias, their cultural or familial upbringing, personal experiences with these social identities, stereotypes they believe, how their thoughts do not match their behaviors, and so on.

Different examples may be given for stereotypes in the student’s culture, but the discussion of factors they believe are related to the stereotype may include the following: kernel of truth (stereotypes are based on actual differences), social role theory (stereotypes are based on the belief that those who fulfill a particular role have certain traits), stereotype content model (stereotypes range along two dimensions, competence and warmth, and we have different reactions to the different groups that result from these dimensions), or illusory correlation (perceptual bias that could lead us to believe a correlation exists between group membership and a certain behavior or trait when it doesn’t).

Students may recommend solutions to address the four psychological functions of stereotypes: to simplify everyday life, justify prejudice and discrimination, justify the status quo, or boost self-esteem. Recommendations may include eliminating public information and propaganda that dehumanizes or objectifies a group of people; increasing familiarity with outgroups through increased exposure to diversity; focusing on being egalitarian to reduce activation of stereotypes; and so on.