PSYC 331 MIDTERM #1, PSYC 331 FINAL EXAM
WITH COMPLETE ANSWERS
INTERGROUP RELATIONS - ANSWER any aspect of human interaction that
involves individuals perceiving themselves as members of a social category, or
being perceived by others as belonging to a social category
PREJUDICE - ANSWER an attitude toward a group (either favorable or
unfavourable)
- Feeling/emotion based
- Can be overt (willing to self report) or hidden (privately held because we know
its a social stigma to share)
STEREOTYPES - ANSWER A belief about a group of people (eg. attributes,
characteristics, typical behaviors)
- Belief based, cognition
- Generalization (extending beyond just known group members)
Three key aspects:
1. Shared across many people in a culture or known by the culture
2. Accuracy*
- There is a small kernel of truth that are largely overgeneralized or the
accuracy is not situated in actual differences between the groups
3. Descriptive (how people behave) and prescriptive (how people should
behave)
DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER behaviours directed toward people on the basis of
their group members
- Behaviour based
Can be:
1. Interpersonal: one on one interaction between people; their group
membership can change the questions they ask
2. Organization: ensures that some people receive better or worse treatment
3. Institutional: structures that ensure what some people are treated better or
worse
4. Cultural: certain norms in a culture that perpetuate discrimination
,INEQUALITY WITHIN SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS - ANSWER When a culture
or society has wide laws or rules that dictate treatment based on social
category membership
- Ex. Pre Civil rights movement in US: rules on where black and white people
could operate
Institutional discrImination: when norms policies, and practices associated with
an institution result in different outcomes on the basis of a group distinction
- Not one person but a collective
Ex. How laws are administered
- How much crack vs powder cocaine to get 5 year prison sentence: 5 grams of
crack vs 500 grams of powder
- Most black people used crack vs white using power
- Disproportionately affecting one group over another
- Example of disparate impact : the enforcement of the law is disproportionately
affecting one group
GROUP-BASED DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER Groups as the level of analysis
- How groups interact with each other
- Social movements
- The dominant focus in sociology
Organization discrimination: when norms policies, and practices associated
with an organization result in different outcomes ont he basis of a group
distinction
- Ex. banning of dreadlocks in school: one group (school board) banned which
resulted in the affecting one group (black people) over another
INTERPERSONAL DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER Interpersonal discrimination:
when one person treats another person differently on the basis of their group
membership
Ex. What would you do? (Tv Show): trying to break a bike lock (either white or
black)
- People watched the white guy and questioned him but very few tried to stop
him
- When people saw the black guy many more people confront, try to call the
police, take pictures of him for evidence, call more attention
- When its a white girl people actually help her steal the bike
- Assumes that POC are more likely to be a thief (even when they all admitted to
it)
- Most people had alternate justifications for how they acted rather than race
discrimination
,DISCRIMINATION WITHIN INDIVIDUAL MIND - ANSWER Personalities,
perceptions, beliefs that exist on their minds about other groups that can be
indicative of seeing people differently based on their social categories
- Interpersonal discrimination can be based on this internal discrimination
discrimination can be informed from bottom-up processes (individual minds)
and top-down (cultural norms)
CULTURAL PRACTICES THAT REINFORCE INEQUALITY - ANSWER Inequality
and discrimination can be embedded into regular cultural practices
- Ex. slogans on young girls t shirts vs boys
- Ex. white washing black women on magazines
Formed associations and tells people it's okay to act on these associations
Cultural capital: social assets of a person that promote social mobility
Ex. company trying to figure out who the best people are to hire
- Look at who does the best at the company and screen out applicants who don't
match that (ie. hard work, extracurriculars, etc..)
- But problem is that is there are biases in hiring, these will be perpetuated
- Found that the 2 factors most indicative of success was that their name of
Jared and they played lacrosse
Social capital: value obtained from interpersonal relationships and social
networks
- Ex. correlation between where you got you PHD vs where you work
- Found that those who get there PhD at Harvard or MIT are most likely to work
there (likely due to social connections)
- More likely to hire who you know
Ex. found womens earnings drop significantly after having a child but mens dont
Why are there differences?
1. Individual: bosses may think that new mothers (vs new fathers) are less
committed to their careers
2. Interpersonal: Job discrimination against mothers (mothers are perceived as
less competent and offered less starting salary or passed over in promotions)
3. Cultural norms: mothers are the cultural default for childcare
4. Institutional: workplaces do not accommodate for childcare
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PREJUDICE, STEREOTYPE, AND DISCRIMINATION -
ANSWER Each of these reinforce each other
, Prejudice and stereotypes affecting each other (cognitive process)
- Selective exposure: tendency to selectively seek information that reinforces
one attitudes, while selectively avoiding information that contradicts ones
attitudes
Prejudice and stereotypes work together to justify discrimination
- Ex. your prejudice of who comes into. the country is likely to be strongly
indicative of your ideas on policy and who should come into the country
Discrimination can effect prejudice/stereotyping: how you treat someone can
impact how they act, those reaffirming your ideas of them
-Self-fulfilling Prophecy:
1. People have an expectation about what a person or group is like
2. Which influences how they act toward that person
3. Which causes the person to behave consistently with the expectation
4. Which makes the expectation come true
5. Which provides "proof" that the original expectation was correct
Ex. Snyder, Tanke (1977): men and women had a casual phone conversation in
which men decided what to talk about
- Men were randomly assigned to receive an attractive or unattractive photo of
the women beforehand
- Coders independently rated the womens recording
- Women who were thought to be attractive were perceived to be: more
sociable, warm, interesting, funny because the questions being asked by the
men allowed them to be seen as such, which reaffirmed their initial view of the
women
SCIENTIFIC RACISM - ANSWER Phrenology: popular scientific fad in early 19th
century that believed skull shape was a reliable predictor of psychological traits
- Used as a way of distinguishing who is most likely to be a criminal, philosopher
- Used as justification for racism (more black people had bigger forehead,
which meant they were more likely to be criminals)
Study: WIlliam McDougall wrote one of the first textbooks on social psychology
- In a series of lectures, he purported to identify a number of psychological
qualities associated with "superior" groups, such as curiosity, introversion, and
self-assertion.
- argued "Nordic" races were more likely to possess these traits. Also argued
that Black people were inherently submissive, which made it appropriate for
them to be subjected to a lower status in society
- Justified oppression because it is just " in their nature"
WITH COMPLETE ANSWERS
INTERGROUP RELATIONS - ANSWER any aspect of human interaction that
involves individuals perceiving themselves as members of a social category, or
being perceived by others as belonging to a social category
PREJUDICE - ANSWER an attitude toward a group (either favorable or
unfavourable)
- Feeling/emotion based
- Can be overt (willing to self report) or hidden (privately held because we know
its a social stigma to share)
STEREOTYPES - ANSWER A belief about a group of people (eg. attributes,
characteristics, typical behaviors)
- Belief based, cognition
- Generalization (extending beyond just known group members)
Three key aspects:
1. Shared across many people in a culture or known by the culture
2. Accuracy*
- There is a small kernel of truth that are largely overgeneralized or the
accuracy is not situated in actual differences between the groups
3. Descriptive (how people behave) and prescriptive (how people should
behave)
DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER behaviours directed toward people on the basis of
their group members
- Behaviour based
Can be:
1. Interpersonal: one on one interaction between people; their group
membership can change the questions they ask
2. Organization: ensures that some people receive better or worse treatment
3. Institutional: structures that ensure what some people are treated better or
worse
4. Cultural: certain norms in a culture that perpetuate discrimination
,INEQUALITY WITHIN SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONS - ANSWER When a culture
or society has wide laws or rules that dictate treatment based on social
category membership
- Ex. Pre Civil rights movement in US: rules on where black and white people
could operate
Institutional discrImination: when norms policies, and practices associated with
an institution result in different outcomes on the basis of a group distinction
- Not one person but a collective
Ex. How laws are administered
- How much crack vs powder cocaine to get 5 year prison sentence: 5 grams of
crack vs 500 grams of powder
- Most black people used crack vs white using power
- Disproportionately affecting one group over another
- Example of disparate impact : the enforcement of the law is disproportionately
affecting one group
GROUP-BASED DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER Groups as the level of analysis
- How groups interact with each other
- Social movements
- The dominant focus in sociology
Organization discrimination: when norms policies, and practices associated
with an organization result in different outcomes ont he basis of a group
distinction
- Ex. banning of dreadlocks in school: one group (school board) banned which
resulted in the affecting one group (black people) over another
INTERPERSONAL DISCRIMINATION - ANSWER Interpersonal discrimination:
when one person treats another person differently on the basis of their group
membership
Ex. What would you do? (Tv Show): trying to break a bike lock (either white or
black)
- People watched the white guy and questioned him but very few tried to stop
him
- When people saw the black guy many more people confront, try to call the
police, take pictures of him for evidence, call more attention
- When its a white girl people actually help her steal the bike
- Assumes that POC are more likely to be a thief (even when they all admitted to
it)
- Most people had alternate justifications for how they acted rather than race
discrimination
,DISCRIMINATION WITHIN INDIVIDUAL MIND - ANSWER Personalities,
perceptions, beliefs that exist on their minds about other groups that can be
indicative of seeing people differently based on their social categories
- Interpersonal discrimination can be based on this internal discrimination
discrimination can be informed from bottom-up processes (individual minds)
and top-down (cultural norms)
CULTURAL PRACTICES THAT REINFORCE INEQUALITY - ANSWER Inequality
and discrimination can be embedded into regular cultural practices
- Ex. slogans on young girls t shirts vs boys
- Ex. white washing black women on magazines
Formed associations and tells people it's okay to act on these associations
Cultural capital: social assets of a person that promote social mobility
Ex. company trying to figure out who the best people are to hire
- Look at who does the best at the company and screen out applicants who don't
match that (ie. hard work, extracurriculars, etc..)
- But problem is that is there are biases in hiring, these will be perpetuated
- Found that the 2 factors most indicative of success was that their name of
Jared and they played lacrosse
Social capital: value obtained from interpersonal relationships and social
networks
- Ex. correlation between where you got you PHD vs where you work
- Found that those who get there PhD at Harvard or MIT are most likely to work
there (likely due to social connections)
- More likely to hire who you know
Ex. found womens earnings drop significantly after having a child but mens dont
Why are there differences?
1. Individual: bosses may think that new mothers (vs new fathers) are less
committed to their careers
2. Interpersonal: Job discrimination against mothers (mothers are perceived as
less competent and offered less starting salary or passed over in promotions)
3. Cultural norms: mothers are the cultural default for childcare
4. Institutional: workplaces do not accommodate for childcare
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PREJUDICE, STEREOTYPE, AND DISCRIMINATION -
ANSWER Each of these reinforce each other
, Prejudice and stereotypes affecting each other (cognitive process)
- Selective exposure: tendency to selectively seek information that reinforces
one attitudes, while selectively avoiding information that contradicts ones
attitudes
Prejudice and stereotypes work together to justify discrimination
- Ex. your prejudice of who comes into. the country is likely to be strongly
indicative of your ideas on policy and who should come into the country
Discrimination can effect prejudice/stereotyping: how you treat someone can
impact how they act, those reaffirming your ideas of them
-Self-fulfilling Prophecy:
1. People have an expectation about what a person or group is like
2. Which influences how they act toward that person
3. Which causes the person to behave consistently with the expectation
4. Which makes the expectation come true
5. Which provides "proof" that the original expectation was correct
Ex. Snyder, Tanke (1977): men and women had a casual phone conversation in
which men decided what to talk about
- Men were randomly assigned to receive an attractive or unattractive photo of
the women beforehand
- Coders independently rated the womens recording
- Women who were thought to be attractive were perceived to be: more
sociable, warm, interesting, funny because the questions being asked by the
men allowed them to be seen as such, which reaffirmed their initial view of the
women
SCIENTIFIC RACISM - ANSWER Phrenology: popular scientific fad in early 19th
century that believed skull shape was a reliable predictor of psychological traits
- Used as a way of distinguishing who is most likely to be a criminal, philosopher
- Used as justification for racism (more black people had bigger forehead,
which meant they were more likely to be criminals)
Study: WIlliam McDougall wrote one of the first textbooks on social psychology
- In a series of lectures, he purported to identify a number of psychological
qualities associated with "superior" groups, such as curiosity, introversion, and
self-assertion.
- argued "Nordic" races were more likely to possess these traits. Also argued
that Black people were inherently submissive, which made it appropriate for
them to be subjected to a lower status in society
- Justified oppression because it is just " in their nature"
