Social, personality and abnormal psychology session 4:
prejudice and discrimination
Examples of extreme discrimination
1942-45 – Nazis kill millions of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, mentally ill
1994 - Tutsi massacre 100,000 Hutu in Rwanda
Most common forms of prejudice: Sexism, Racism, Ageism, Against homosexuals,
Against people with physical or mental disabilities
Theories of prejudice and discrimination
Frustration-Aggression hypothesis (Dollard et al., 1939) – goal attainment impeded –
frustration – disequilibrium leading to aggression
Breuer, Scharkow & Quandt (2013) - Participants played Fifa Worldcup 2010 against
confederate (rigged to either win or lose) measurements of negative affect and
aggression were taken after game - losing was related to feeling frustrated, angry,
irritated and ashamed which in turn was related to higher levels of aggression
(higher level of noise blast given to the opposition)
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis and Prejudice/Discrimination - Aggression often
gets displaced onto scapegoats (a ‘weaker’ group) EXAMPLE: Lynchings in the US
South increased in times of economic hardship – increase in charges for those
moving goods (Hovland & Sears, 1940)
Frustration aggression hypothesis critique: Some research shows that frustration
leads to reduction in prejudice - No evidence that aggression is displaced or
generalised - Aggressive acts can occur without presence of frustration MAIN
CRITICISM: Too reductionist - Assumes every person in one group feels frustrated
and vents this towards the same outgroup without communicating with each other
Social identity theory - Social categorisation - I belong to this group (ingroup)/Social
comparison – ingroup versus outgroup (‘us’ and ‘them’)/Need for positive social
identity – ‘we’ are better than ‘them’
Social Identity Theory’s explanation of prejudice and discrimination -
Distinctiveness of social identity perceived to be threatened - Leads to increased
efforts to make ingroup different to outgroup - Results in prejudice and
discrimination - EXAMPLE: Perception of threat to ‘British’ identity may lead to
prejudice towards outgroups (e.g. immigrants)
Social indentity theory: critique - Assumes social identity will be salient (forefront) -
Doesn’t take into account the beliefs and attitudes of individuals - Ignores the
individual context
Effect of prejudice and discrimination
Social stigma - When a person possesses (or is believed to possess) some attribute
which conveys their membership to a group which is devalued in society. Two
factors to consider: 1. Visibility/Concealability (how easy it is to hide a characteristic-
race/sexuality) 2. Controllability (how easy to control the characteristic - smoking)
Effects of stigma – attempts to conceal may have costs (not being ‘true’ self) - Failed
attempts to control can lead to negative affect (failure, inadequacy) - Stigma can lead
to stigmatised groups getting fewer resources & potentially lower wellbeing
(unconscious bias towards a group)
prejudice and discrimination
Examples of extreme discrimination
1942-45 – Nazis kill millions of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, mentally ill
1994 - Tutsi massacre 100,000 Hutu in Rwanda
Most common forms of prejudice: Sexism, Racism, Ageism, Against homosexuals,
Against people with physical or mental disabilities
Theories of prejudice and discrimination
Frustration-Aggression hypothesis (Dollard et al., 1939) – goal attainment impeded –
frustration – disequilibrium leading to aggression
Breuer, Scharkow & Quandt (2013) - Participants played Fifa Worldcup 2010 against
confederate (rigged to either win or lose) measurements of negative affect and
aggression were taken after game - losing was related to feeling frustrated, angry,
irritated and ashamed which in turn was related to higher levels of aggression
(higher level of noise blast given to the opposition)
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis and Prejudice/Discrimination - Aggression often
gets displaced onto scapegoats (a ‘weaker’ group) EXAMPLE: Lynchings in the US
South increased in times of economic hardship – increase in charges for those
moving goods (Hovland & Sears, 1940)
Frustration aggression hypothesis critique: Some research shows that frustration
leads to reduction in prejudice - No evidence that aggression is displaced or
generalised - Aggressive acts can occur without presence of frustration MAIN
CRITICISM: Too reductionist - Assumes every person in one group feels frustrated
and vents this towards the same outgroup without communicating with each other
Social identity theory - Social categorisation - I belong to this group (ingroup)/Social
comparison – ingroup versus outgroup (‘us’ and ‘them’)/Need for positive social
identity – ‘we’ are better than ‘them’
Social Identity Theory’s explanation of prejudice and discrimination -
Distinctiveness of social identity perceived to be threatened - Leads to increased
efforts to make ingroup different to outgroup - Results in prejudice and
discrimination - EXAMPLE: Perception of threat to ‘British’ identity may lead to
prejudice towards outgroups (e.g. immigrants)
Social indentity theory: critique - Assumes social identity will be salient (forefront) -
Doesn’t take into account the beliefs and attitudes of individuals - Ignores the
individual context
Effect of prejudice and discrimination
Social stigma - When a person possesses (or is believed to possess) some attribute
which conveys their membership to a group which is devalued in society. Two
factors to consider: 1. Visibility/Concealability (how easy it is to hide a characteristic-
race/sexuality) 2. Controllability (how easy to control the characteristic - smoking)
Effects of stigma – attempts to conceal may have costs (not being ‘true’ self) - Failed
attempts to control can lead to negative affect (failure, inadequacy) - Stigma can lead
to stigmatised groups getting fewer resources & potentially lower wellbeing
(unconscious bias towards a group)
