Psychology semester
test notes
Race and Psychology
• What is Race?
o Grouping or categorization of peoples based on physical or biological
differences.
o Skin colour, hair texture, facial features, and eye formation.
o No Biological Validity for racial categories
o Human physical variations overlap
o No genes that can identify distinct groups
• How was it construed and perpetuated?
o Lewin’s Equation
§ Kurt Lewin - context is important in understanding
behavior
§ B = f(P+E)
§ Behavior is a function of a Person and his Environment
o Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
§ Urie Bronfenbrenner
§ Individual exists in different Sub-systems
§ Systems are divided into 5 different levels
§ Microsystem
o The person and individuals in
immediate social environment
§ Mesosystem
o Involves interactions between
microsystems
, o Home, neighbourhood, peer groups,
school, or work
§ Exosystem
o Social setting surrounding the person
o Religious institutions, media, etc.
§ Macrosystem
o Broader spheres of influence
o Cultures, subcultures, economic and
political systems, COVID pandemic
§ Chronosystem
o Systems may be influenced over a
period of time
o An individual’s lifespan
§ All these systems have an effect on the individual
o Scholars assert race is a social construct
o Race developed by society to group or categories various people
o Criteria for categorization are not universal or fixed
o Apartheid manufactured its own particular understanding of race
o People were divided in 4 population groups
§ Whites, Indians/Asians, Coloureds, Blacks/Natives
o Hierarchically Arranged
o Pencil Test
• Race in Psychological Research
o Racial categories still used in SA
o Post-apartheid South Africa has been unable to move away from
apartheid racial categories
o Why is using race in research problematic?
§ Reduce human lives and experiences to neatly defined
categories
§ Assumes categories are fixed and unchanging
o Niewoudt et al purports that Coloured people are a “homogenous
group” described as “poor, lower working-class community”
o Why is using race in research problematic?
§ Reproduces politically constructed racial categories
§ Perpetuates stigma, discrimination, and racism
, § Perpetuating stereotypes that inform stigma and
discrimination
o Niewoudt et al states that coloured women present with low education
levels and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours
o Niewoudt et al. article draws heavily on colonial racist stereotypes
o Problem is not unique to this article
o This article allows us to highlight problems with using racial
categories within research
Where to from here?
• Hendricks at al have provided 5 steps to promote ethical science and practice.
o Researchers to reflect on personal racial suppositions and conceptualisations.
o Institutions of Higher Learning to take responsibility in setting up rigorous
research management systems. Provide training in ethical research, research
integrity and research for the public good.
o Ethics committees should aim to remove potentially discriminatory research.
Include critical scholars in race theory on panels
o Journal reviewers and editors to be more vigilant in the reproduction and
dissemination of research
o Grant agencies and the Department of Higher Education to reflect on
processes and assess whether they are sensitive to issues of race and
discrimination.
History of psychology
• Psychological Knowledge Produced
o Western/Eurocentric frame of reference
o Mainstream schools of thought
§ Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud
§ Behaviorism – John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov
§ Humanism – Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow
History of Race in Psychology
• Three models found to guide and conceptualise research on people of colour
o The Inferiority model
o The Genetic Deficiency Model
o The Culturally Deprived Model
test notes
Race and Psychology
• What is Race?
o Grouping or categorization of peoples based on physical or biological
differences.
o Skin colour, hair texture, facial features, and eye formation.
o No Biological Validity for racial categories
o Human physical variations overlap
o No genes that can identify distinct groups
• How was it construed and perpetuated?
o Lewin’s Equation
§ Kurt Lewin - context is important in understanding
behavior
§ B = f(P+E)
§ Behavior is a function of a Person and his Environment
o Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
§ Urie Bronfenbrenner
§ Individual exists in different Sub-systems
§ Systems are divided into 5 different levels
§ Microsystem
o The person and individuals in
immediate social environment
§ Mesosystem
o Involves interactions between
microsystems
, o Home, neighbourhood, peer groups,
school, or work
§ Exosystem
o Social setting surrounding the person
o Religious institutions, media, etc.
§ Macrosystem
o Broader spheres of influence
o Cultures, subcultures, economic and
political systems, COVID pandemic
§ Chronosystem
o Systems may be influenced over a
period of time
o An individual’s lifespan
§ All these systems have an effect on the individual
o Scholars assert race is a social construct
o Race developed by society to group or categories various people
o Criteria for categorization are not universal or fixed
o Apartheid manufactured its own particular understanding of race
o People were divided in 4 population groups
§ Whites, Indians/Asians, Coloureds, Blacks/Natives
o Hierarchically Arranged
o Pencil Test
• Race in Psychological Research
o Racial categories still used in SA
o Post-apartheid South Africa has been unable to move away from
apartheid racial categories
o Why is using race in research problematic?
§ Reduce human lives and experiences to neatly defined
categories
§ Assumes categories are fixed and unchanging
o Niewoudt et al purports that Coloured people are a “homogenous
group” described as “poor, lower working-class community”
o Why is using race in research problematic?
§ Reproduces politically constructed racial categories
§ Perpetuates stigma, discrimination, and racism
, § Perpetuating stereotypes that inform stigma and
discrimination
o Niewoudt et al states that coloured women present with low education
levels and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours
o Niewoudt et al. article draws heavily on colonial racist stereotypes
o Problem is not unique to this article
o This article allows us to highlight problems with using racial
categories within research
Where to from here?
• Hendricks at al have provided 5 steps to promote ethical science and practice.
o Researchers to reflect on personal racial suppositions and conceptualisations.
o Institutions of Higher Learning to take responsibility in setting up rigorous
research management systems. Provide training in ethical research, research
integrity and research for the public good.
o Ethics committees should aim to remove potentially discriminatory research.
Include critical scholars in race theory on panels
o Journal reviewers and editors to be more vigilant in the reproduction and
dissemination of research
o Grant agencies and the Department of Higher Education to reflect on
processes and assess whether they are sensitive to issues of race and
discrimination.
History of psychology
• Psychological Knowledge Produced
o Western/Eurocentric frame of reference
o Mainstream schools of thought
§ Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud
§ Behaviorism – John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov
§ Humanism – Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow
History of Race in Psychology
• Three models found to guide and conceptualise research on people of colour
o The Inferiority model
o The Genetic Deficiency Model
o The Culturally Deprived Model
