Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effects on behaviour.
Stereotype
widely held evaluative generalizations about a group of people (Aronson et al., 2007)
Theories of stereotype formation (don't get mixed up, choose one to explain in depth only):
Social-cognitive theories
stereotype formation based on the following reasoning:
stereotypes are schemas and have the following characteristics:
Schema
Cohen (1981)
Aim: Investigate the effects of stereotypes on memory
Procedure:
Bargh et al. (1996)
Aim: To investigate stereotype activation
Procedure:
widely held evaluative generalizations about a group of people (Aronson et al., 2007)
Theories of stereotype formation (don't get mixed up, choose one to explain in depth only):
- social-cognitive theories
- social identity theory
- system-justification theory and social-representation theory
Social-cognitive theories
stereotype formation based on the following reasoning:
- our social world is very complex
- since our capacity to process information is limited, there is a need to simplify our social world
- a way to avoid information overload is social categorization (stereotype)
stereotypes are schemas and have the following characteristics:
- energy-saving devices
- can be automatically activated
- stable and resistant to change
- affect behavior
- formed over time on the basis of relevant experiences
Schema
Cohen (1981)
Aim: Investigate the effects of stereotypes on memory
Procedure:
- presented participants with a videotape showing a woman having dinner with her husband
- half of the participants were told that the women was a waitress while the other half was told that she was a librarian
- participants who thought that she was a waitress remembered her beer drinking
- participants who thought that she was a librarian remembered that she was wearing glasses and listening to classical music
Bargh et al. (1996)
Aim: To investigate stereotype activation
Procedure:
- participants were asked to complete a test (language proficiency task) involving 30 items
- each of the 30 items consisted of five unrelated words and for each item participants had to use four of the five words to form (as fast as possible) a grammatically correct sentence
Condition 1:
contain words related to and intending to activate the elderly stereotype (e.g. gray, retired, wise) |
Condition 2:
words are unrelated to the elderly stereotype (e.g. thirsty, clean, private) |
- after completing the task, participants were directed towards the elevator
- a confederate times how long the participants took to walk from the room to the elevator
participants who had elderly stereotype activated walked significantly more slowly than the rest of the participants
Illusory correlation:
the phenomenon whereby observers conclude that two factors are associated despite the lack of any real association between them (e.g. Friday 13th and bad luck, full moon and insanity)
Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
Procedure:
the phenomenon whereby observers conclude that two factors are associated despite the lack of any real association between them (e.g. Friday 13th and bad luck, full moon and insanity)
Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
Procedure:
- asked participants to read descriptions about two made-up groups (Group A and B)
- Group A (majority) had twice as many members than Group B (minority)
- description were based on a number of positive and negative behavior
- for each group, positive behavior is twice than that of negative ones
Group A
performed 18 positive and 8 negative behaviors |
Group B
performed 9 positive and 4 negative behaviors |
Findings:
participants attribute more of the undesirable behaviors to the minority than the majority
Explanation:
participants attribute more of the undesirable behaviors to the minority than the majority
Explanation:
- distinctive information draws attention
- Group B members and negative behaviors are both numerically fewer and therefore more distinct than Group A members and negative behaviors, which stands out for the participants, causing illusory correlation