Prejudice and Discrimination: Situation and Culture
Situation:
Social Norms:
Culture:
Unwritten rules about what is socially acceptable
The Norm of Intolerance:
and desirable within specific social groups.
John Baldwin suggests that all cultures are
Social Identity Theory - people follow the norms
ethnocentric to some extent - they believe their
created by their ingroup to fit in and avoid
own culture is superior to others.
rejection.
The norm is to be accepting of diversity but
Linked to self esteem.
prejudice and discrimination exist in more
Hadley Cantril suggests that socialisation by the
subtle ways.
group leads to prejudice views and individuals can
Known as MICRO-AGGRESSIONS and describe
become increasingly prejudice.
BENEVOLENT INTOLERANCE - e.g. giving money
Ralph Minard (1952) noted the difference in
to a homeless person but not wanting a
relations between white and black coal miners in
homeless shelter built on your street.
the US.
Between 1948 and 1994 in South Africa there was
Below ground they were friendly to one
racial segregation and an apartheid. The system
another but above ground, they held negative
was abolished but prejudice was still prevalent.
views towards one another.
The Norm of Fairness:
Competition and Resource Stress:
Some cultures are more concerned with fairness
Realistic Conflict Theory shows the importance of
than competition and this should lead to reduced
competition in escalating prejudice.
levels of prejudice.
Victoria Esses and colleagues (2001) used
Margaret Wetherwell (1982) replicated Tajfel’s
RESOURCE STRESS to describe the term when
minimal group experiment in a New Zealand school.
things like jobs and money is limited.
She found that Polynesian children were more
‘Zero-sum’ - applied to immigration. Provision for
generous in allocation points than the
the immigrants come at a cost to the indigenous
Caucasians.
population.
Collective cultures are more focused on sharing and
The ingroups try to demonstrate the outgroups
cooperation which reduces levels of discrimination.
lack of ‘worthiness’ due to the perceived
threat they pose.
Evaluation:
Strength - Nazar Akrami (2009) experimentally manipulated social norms with the statement ‘Discrimination of
women is no longer a problem in Sweden’. Levels of sexism were lower in the group who had heard the statement
before hand that the group that didn’t.
Competing - Personality like RWA and SDO are factors.
Application - ‘Zero-sum’ beliefs can be used in real life examples.
Situation:
Social Norms:
Culture:
Unwritten rules about what is socially acceptable
The Norm of Intolerance:
and desirable within specific social groups.
John Baldwin suggests that all cultures are
Social Identity Theory - people follow the norms
ethnocentric to some extent - they believe their
created by their ingroup to fit in and avoid
own culture is superior to others.
rejection.
The norm is to be accepting of diversity but
Linked to self esteem.
prejudice and discrimination exist in more
Hadley Cantril suggests that socialisation by the
subtle ways.
group leads to prejudice views and individuals can
Known as MICRO-AGGRESSIONS and describe
become increasingly prejudice.
BENEVOLENT INTOLERANCE - e.g. giving money
Ralph Minard (1952) noted the difference in
to a homeless person but not wanting a
relations between white and black coal miners in
homeless shelter built on your street.
the US.
Between 1948 and 1994 in South Africa there was
Below ground they were friendly to one
racial segregation and an apartheid. The system
another but above ground, they held negative
was abolished but prejudice was still prevalent.
views towards one another.
The Norm of Fairness:
Competition and Resource Stress:
Some cultures are more concerned with fairness
Realistic Conflict Theory shows the importance of
than competition and this should lead to reduced
competition in escalating prejudice.
levels of prejudice.
Victoria Esses and colleagues (2001) used
Margaret Wetherwell (1982) replicated Tajfel’s
RESOURCE STRESS to describe the term when
minimal group experiment in a New Zealand school.
things like jobs and money is limited.
She found that Polynesian children were more
‘Zero-sum’ - applied to immigration. Provision for
generous in allocation points than the
the immigrants come at a cost to the indigenous
Caucasians.
population.
Collective cultures are more focused on sharing and
The ingroups try to demonstrate the outgroups
cooperation which reduces levels of discrimination.
lack of ‘worthiness’ due to the perceived
threat they pose.
Evaluation:
Strength - Nazar Akrami (2009) experimentally manipulated social norms with the statement ‘Discrimination of
women is no longer a problem in Sweden’. Levels of sexism were lower in the group who had heard the statement
before hand that the group that didn’t.
Competing - Personality like RWA and SDO are factors.
Application - ‘Zero-sum’ beliefs can be used in real life examples.
