Human Behavior and the Social Environment I Part IV Chapter 5 Social Categorization & Stereotyping

PART IV THE SOCIAL CHANGE DIMENSION Learning Objectives Explore Theories of Racism , Discrimination , and Oppression on the macro level and how it impacts on the levels Describe Attribution Theory Describe the Vicious Cycle Describe Social and Economic Perspectives Describe Social Action and Social Change Perspectives Define Community Describe Community Organization Theory The Social Change Dimension 151

Vignette Otis , a African American boy , has been in the foster care system for just over one year , after his mother was arrested and convicted of prostitution . No relatives were found to care for Otis and his younger brother , and they were separated into different foster homes . Otis experienced placement in a few foster homes ( all Caucasian families ) before being placed with an African American family , where he has been for the past months . He was observed Photo by nana on to be adjusting fairly well despite the continued inconsistencies of visits with his mother and his mothers shortcomings in completing the plan to reunite their family . He was making friends and enjoyed his visits with his younger brother . His mother parental rights were recently terminated , and Otis experienced another move when placed with his new adoptive family . The Johnson family have adopted Otis . His adoptive parents are an older , wealthy couple , Bill and Christina , who have other daughters , both older than Otis . They are trying their best to make Otis feel welcome and a part of their but have noticed Otis does not seem to be well , even though he has been with them for almost months . He looks them in the eye , hardly responds when his adoptive sisters try to engage him , and has hardly been eating or sleeping . His teachers report Otis is typically withdrawn each day , demonstrating little interactions with his teachers and 152 The Social Change Dimension

peers . The Johnsons decided to begin therapy with Otis as they do not know what to do want to do their best in supporting him . Otis is to report feeling out of place within his new environments as he been the only African American person present in most of his new settings and is not sure how he fits into his new life . The Social Change Dimension This dimension explores theories of racism , discrimination , oppression , and privilege on the macro level and explores how it impacts individuals on the mezzo levels . We will also explore Social and Economic Justice perspectives , Social Change and Action perspectives , and Community Organization theories . But first , let start with some vocabulary words Social Change Dimension Vocabulary Words Stereotype an belief about a particular group of people . Prejudice preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience . Discrimination the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things , especially on the grounds of race , age , or sex . a class or kind of people unified by shared interests , habits , or characteristics . prejudice , discrimination , or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one own race is superior . Oppression prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or The Social Change Dimension 153

control . Primary Oppression Active and purposeful . Use of force or deprivation through laws , policies , or regulations that discriminate against people perceived to be inferior to the dominant group . Secondary Oppression Not active , but still benefit from it . An example would be staying silent when oppressive acts are occurring such as extending a job offer to a person of the dominant group but not to an equally qualified member of a minority group . Tertiary When members of an oppressed group seek acceptance by supporting oppressive acts of the dominant group abandoning their own group or selling out to seek approval and admission with the dominant group . Attribution Theory explores how we observe and make judgments about others . Dispositional judges behavior due to inherent qualities , motivations , or characteristics of a person ( lazy , careless , rude , impatient , unmotivated ) Situational judges behavior through situational factors that are often outside of a persons control ( bad weather , poor economy , bad luck ) This theory also suggests we tend to have more positive thoughts about people like us ( and connect more to situational ) and tend to place blame on groups that are different from us ( and connect more to dispositional ) The Vicious Cycle states when certain conditions ( prejudices ) are assumed to be true , forces may be set in motion to create and perpetuate the assumed condition ( leading to discrimination ) This allows the dominant group to limit opportunities for the group in 154 The Social Change Dimension

the secondary position and continue holding the power position within their group . Social Learning Theory and Conflict Theory can also offer help in understanding the origins and structures of prejudice and discrimination . Otis stor Within Theories of Racism , Discrimination , and Oppression we would first want to explore how societal or historical beliefs have impacted Otis and his family . As an African American family living in poverty , it may be easy for people to believe stereotypes and prejudices about his family and why they were in their situation , connecting more to dispositional rather than situational . His mother arrest may reinforce and he may feel the effects of the vicious cycle and begin to internalize these . We then move to the foster care system , exploring possible issues connected to systemic racism and how this may impact his experience on the micro level . He was first placed with a few different families , all Caucasian , before being placed in a family of same the race , where he was reported to be adjusting well in that environment . He was then placed in his adoptive home with a family of different race and much higher socioeconomic status than his family of origin . Here Otis is reported to struggle with adjustment in all areas ( family , school , peers ) What issues do you imagine he is facing in his new home ?

Macro level concerns could be connected to polices related to foster care and adoption , historical impacts of group experiences , and how discrimination and prejudice can impact marginalized populations . Mezzo level The Social Change Dimension 155 concerns could be connected to interactions with his adoptive family , school , peers , teachers , as well as his family of origin . Micro level concerns could be connected to his mental health needs as he has experienced trauma with removal from his family of origin , adjustments to his foster homes and now adoptive home , possible physical health issues due to chronic stressors , or feeling lack of a support system . Social and Economic Justice perspectives The promotion of social justice is a core value and ethical principle of the social work profession . Social Justice justice in terms of the distribution of wealth , opportunities , and privileges within a society . Distributive Justice concept that addresses the ownership of goods in a society . It assumes that there is a large amount of fairness in the distribution of goods . Equal work should provide individuals with an equal outcome in terms of goods acquired or the ability to acquire goods . Think About It I encourage you to think about these perspectives . Do you believe this is something we can actually achieve ?

Is it fair ?

Why or why not ?

What are barriers that interfere with this ?

Social Change and Social Action perspectives Social Action people coming together to help improve their lives and solve the problems that are important in their communities . Social Movement a type of group action which typically focuses 156 The Social Change Dimension

on political or social issues . Advocacy any action that speaks in favor of , recommends , argues or a cause , supports or defends , or pleads on behalf of others that lack the skills , resources , or power to represent themselves . Advocacy is another foundation intervention utilized in Social Work . Our goal is to teach others the skills of how to advocate for themselves but there are times we as Social Workers must step in and provide this support for our clients that can not do so for themselves . We also support work in Social Action within our communities and across our country to lead to Social Movements to work in making change on the macro level . Community can be defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common or a eeling of fellowship with others , as a result of sharing common attitudes , interests , and goals . Territorial Community geographical type of community . Relational Community people , groups , and organizations whose connections are based upon commonalities or identification and are not limited by place or geography . Community Organization Theory explores Social Workers use to understand community from a perspective . Please see below The Social Change Dimension 157

. as the milieu in which practice actually occurs . Social Workers help define the weaknesses needs of a community , and what resources or interventions may benefit the community . Locality Development Model Social Workers uses the skills of community members to create change . Community members are recruited and organized to discuss issues , possible solutions , and ways to implement interventions . Community as the change target . Assessments and interventions completed by outside parties , rather than members of the community . Social Planning Model Social Workers , or other professionals , take lead on determining community issues , and what interventions should be used . Community members Contract with outside Social Workers . as a mechanism for change . Community members have the skills and abilities to create change the Social Worker helps members identify and use their strengths . Social Action Model Social Workers empower community members to create change . Social Workers organize and guide the community , but the community must effect the desired change in the end . 158 The Social Change Dimension

It is important to explore the needs of the community to determine which course of action is best to provide the supports for their needs . It is also important to remember to utilize the Strength Perspective when working with a community as their strengths will often help determine the supports and solutions needed . Please continue on to Chapter Social and Stereotypes , Chapter In Group Favoritism and Prejudice , Chapter Reducing Discrimination , and Chapter Racism for further exploration and learning . Key Takeaways Theories of Racism , Discrimination , and Oppression explores how people are impacted on each level and within their systems . The promotion of social justice is a core value and ethical principle of the social work profession . Territorial Community geographical type of community . Relational Community people , groups , and organizations whose connections are based upon commonalities or identification and are not The Social Change Dimension 159

limited by place or geography . Community Organization Theory Social Workers use to understand community from a perspective . Check out this case study , Exploring Unintentional Racism The Case of Tim Hanks , designed to help you explore your attitudes about race and learn about the complexity of the concept of racism . References Rogers , A . 2013 ) Human behavior in the social environment ( Fourth Edition . New York . 160 The Social Change Dimension

Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping Describe the fundamental process of social categorization and its influence on thoughts , feelings , and behavior . Define stereotypes and describe the ways that stereotypes are measured . Review the ways that stereotypes our behavior . Thinking about others in terms of their group memberships is known as social natural cognitive process by which we place individuals into social groups . Social categorization occurs when we think of someone as a man ( versus a woman ) an old person ( versus a young person ) a Black person ( versus an Asian or White person ) and so on ( Just as we categorize objects into different types , so we categorize people according to their social group memberships . Once we do so , we begin to respond to those people more as members of a social group than as individuals . Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 161

Imagine for a moment that two college students , John and Sarah , are talking at a table in the student union at your college or university . At this point , we would probably not consider them to be acting as group members , but rather as two individuals . John is expressing his opinions , and Sarah is expressing hers . Imagine , however , that as the conversation continues , Sarah brings up an assignment that she is completing for her women studies class . It turns out that John does not think there should be a studies program at the college , and he tells Sarah so . He argues that if there is a women studies program , then there should be a men studies program too . Furthermore , he argues that women are getting too many breaks in job hiring and that qualified men are the targets of discrimination . Sarah feels quite the that women have been the targets of sexism for many , many years and even now do not have the same access to jobs that men do . You can see that an interaction that began at individual level , as two individuals conversing , has now turned to the group level , in which John has begun to consider himself as a man , and Sarah has begun to consider herself as a woman . In short , Sarah is now arguing her points not so much for herself as she is as a representative of one of her , John is acting as a representative of one of his , men . Sarah feels that her positions are correct , and she believes they are true not only for her but for women in general . And the same is true of John . You can see that these social may create some potential for misperception , and perhaps even hostility . And John and Sarah may even change their opinions about each other , forgetting that they really like each other as individuals , because they are now responding more as group members with opposing views . Imagine now that while John and Sarah are still talking , some students from another college , each wearing the hats and jackets of that school , show up in the student union . The presence of these outsiders might change the direction of social categorization entirely , leading both John and Sarah to think of themselves as 162 I Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

students at their own college . And this social categorization might lead them to become more aware of the positive characteristics of their college ( the excellent basketball team , lovely campus , and intelligent students ) in comparison with the characteristics of the other school . Now , rather than perceiving themselves as members of two different groups ( men versus women ) John and Sarah might suddenly perceive themselves as members of the same social category ( students at their college ) Perhaps this example will help you see the flexibility of social categorization . We sometimes think of our relationships with others at the individual level and sometimes at the group level . And which groups we use in social categorization can change over time and in different situations . I think you would agree that you are more likely to categorize yourself as a member of your college or university when your basketball or football team has just won a really important game , or at your commencement day ceremony , than you would on a normal evening out with your family . In these cases , your membership as a university student is simply more salient and important than it is every day , and you are more likely to categorize yourself accordingly . Spontaneous Social Categorization Social categorization occurs spontaneously , without much thought on our part ( Crisp , 2007 ) Shelley Taylor and her colleagues ( Taylor , 1978 ) showed their research participants a slide and tape presentation of three male and three female college students who had supposedly participated in a discussion group . During the presentation , each member of the discussion group made a suggestion about how to advertise a college play . The statements were controlled so that across all the research participants , the statements made by the men and the women were of equal length and quality . Furthermore , one half of Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 163

the participants were told that when the presentation was over , they would be asked to remember which person had made which suggestion , whereas the other half of the participants were told merely to observe the interaction without attending to anything in particular . After they had viewed all the statements made by the individuals in the discussion group , the research participants were given a memory test ( this was entirely unexpected for the participants who had not been given memory instructions ) The participants were shown the list of all the statements that had been made , along with the pictures of each of the discussion group members , and were asked to indicate who had made each of the statements . The research participants were not very good at this task , and yet when they made mistakes , these errors were very systematic . As you can see in Table 121 Name Confusions , the mistakes were such that the statements that had actually been made by a man were more frequently wrongly attributed to another man in the group than to another woman , and the statements actually made by a woman were more frequently attributed to other women in the group than to a man . The participants evidently categorized the speakers by their gender , leading them to make more than confusions . Interestingly , and suggesting that categorization is occurring all the time , the instructions that the participants had been given made absolutely no difference . There was just as much categorization for those who were not given any instructions as for those who were told to remember who said what . Other research using this technique has found that we spontaneously categorize each other on the basis of many other group memberships , including race , academic status ( student versus teacher ) social roles , and other social categories ( 1991 , Lynch , Glass , 1992 ) Table Name Confusions 164 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

Within race errors Between race errors Memory 578 No memory 657 436 Taylor , and ( 1978 ) demonstrated that people categorized others spontaneously . Even without any instructions to categorize , people nevertheless confused others by their sex . The conclusion is simple , if perhaps obvious Social categorization is occurring all around us all the time . Indeed , social categorization occurs so quickly that people may have difficulty not thinking about others in terms of their group memberships ( see ) Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 165

Figure If you are like most people , you will have 41 strong desire to categorize this person as either male . March , Portland 2015 SERIES . The of Social Categorization The tendency to categorize others is normally quite useful . In some cases , we categorize because doing so provides us with information about the characteristics of people who belong to certain social 166 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

groups ( Lee , 1995 ) If you found yourself lost in a city , you might look for a police officer or a taxi driver to help you find your way . In this case , social categorization would probably be useful because a police officer or a taxi driver might be particularly likely to know the layout of the city streets . Of course , using social categories will only be informative to the extent that the stereotypes held by the individual about that category are accurate . If police officers were actually not that knowledgeable about the city layout , then using this categorization would not be informative . It has been argued that there is a kernel of truth in most stereotypes , and this seems to be the case . There is a correlation between how group members perceive the stereotypes of their own groups and how people from other groups perceive those same stereotypes ( Judd Park , 1993 Swim , 1994 ) This truth may come in part from the roles that individuals play in society . For instance , the stereotypes ( which are held by many people ) that women are nurturing and that men are dominant may occur in part because , on average , men and women find themselves in different social roles within a culture ( 1984 ) In most cultures , men are more likely to be in occupations , such as doctors and lawyers , whereas women are more likely to play the role of homemakers and workers . In this sense , the stereotypes are at least partly true for many of the members of the social category , in terms of their actual behaviors . Because men are more likely to be leaders than are women , they may well be , on average , more dominant and because women are more likely to take care of children , they may , on average , act in a more nurturing way than do men . On the other hand , we sometimes categorize others not because it seems to provide more information about them but because we may not have the time ( or the motivation ) to do anything more thorough . Using our stereotypes to size up another person might simply make our life easier ( 1994 ) According to this approach , thinking about other people in terms of their social category memberships is a functional way Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 167

of dealing with the are complicated , and we reduce complexity by relying on our stereotypes . The Negative Outcomes of Social Categorization Although thinking about others in terms of their social category memberships has some potential benefits for the person who does the categorizing , categorizing others , rather than treating them as unique individuals with their own unique characteristics , has a wide variety of negative , and often very unfair , outcomes for those who are categorized . One problem is that social categorization distorts our perceptions such that we tend to exaggerate the differences between people from different social groups while at the same time perceiving members of groups ( and particularly ) as more similar to each other than they actually are . This makes it more likely that we will think about and treat all members of a group the same way . and Wilkes ( 1963 ) performed a simple experiment that provided a picture of the potential outcomes of categorization . As you can see in Figure Perceptual Accentuation , the experiment involved having research participants judge the length of six lines . In one of the experimental conditions , participants simply saw six lines , whereas in the other condition , the lines were systematically categorized into two comprising the three shorter lines and one comprising the three longer lines . 168 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

No categorization condition Figure al Accentuation Categorization condition Lines and were seen as the same length in the condition , but line was perceived as longer than line when the lines were categorized into two groups . From ( 1970 ) found that the lines were perceived differently when they were categorized , such that the differences between the groups and the similarities within the groups were emphasized . Specifically , he found that although lines and ( which are actually the same length ) were perceived as equal in length when the lines were not categorized , line was perceived as being significantly longer than line in the condition in which the lines were categorized . In this case , categorization into two short lines group and Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 169

the long lines group a perceptual bias such that the two groups of lines were seen as more different than they really were . Similar effects occur when we categorize other people . We tend to see people who belong to the same social group as more similar than they actually are , and we tend to judge people from different social groups as more different than they actually are . The tendency to see members of social groups as similar to each other is particularly strong for members of , resulting in tendency to view members of as more similar to each other than we see members of ( Fischer , 1986 , 1992 , 2001 ) sure you ve had this experience yourself , when you found yourself thinking or saying , Oh , them , they all the same ! Patricia and Edward Jones ( 1980 ) gave research participants a list of trait terms and asked them to think about either members of their own group ( eg , Blacks ) or members of another group ( Whites ) and to place the trait terms into piles that represented different types of people in the group . The results of these studies , as well as other studies like them , were clear People perceive as more homogeneous than the . Just as White people used fewer piles of traits to describe Blacks than Whites , young people used fewer piles of traits to describe elderly people than they did young people , and students used fewer piles for members of other universities than they did for members of their own university . homogeneity occurs in part because we do have as much contact with members as we do with members , and the quality of interaction with members is often more superficial . This prevents us from really learning about the members as individuals , and as a result , we tend to be unaware of the differences among the group members . In addition to learning less about them because we see and interact with them less , we routinely categorize members , thus making them appear more cognitively similar ( Oakes , Turner , 1996 ) 170 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

Once we begin to see the members of as more similar to each other than they actually are , it then becomes very easy to apply our stereotypes to the members of the groups without having to consider whether the characteristic is actually true of the particular individual . If men think that women are all alike , then they may also think that they all have the same all emotional and And women may have similarly simplified beliefs about men ( they re insensitive , unwilling to commit , The outcome is that the stereotypes become linked to the group itself in a set of mental representations ( The stereotypes are pictures in our heads of the social groups ( 1922 ) These beliefs just seem right and natural , even though they are frequently distorted ( 1996 , Rocher , 1994 ) collage Figure opacity oral histories presenter . Stereotypes are the beliefs associated with social categories . The figure shows links between the social category of college professors and its stereotypes as a type of neural network or schema . The Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 171

representation also includes one image ( or exemplar ) of a particular college professor whom the student knows . Our stereotypes and prejudices are learned through many different processes . This multiplicity of causes is unfortunate because it makes stereotypes and prejudices even more likely to form and harder to change . For one , we learn our stereotypes in part through our communications with parents and peers ( Doyle , 1996 ) and from the behaviors we see portrayed in the media ( Brown , 1995 ) Even children have learned cultural norms about the appropriate activities and behaviors for boys and girls and also have developed stereotypes about age , race , and physical attractiveness ( 2006 ) And there is often good agreement about the stereotypes of social categories among the individuals within a given culture . In one study assessing stereotypes , Stephanie and her colleagues ( et , 2001 ) presented US . college students with a list of 84 trait terms and asked them to indicate for which groups each trait seemed appropriate ( Figure Current Stereotypes Held by College Students ) The participants tended to agree about what traits were true of which groups , and this was true even for groups of which the respondents were likely to never have met a single member ( Arabs and Russians ) Even today , there is good agreement about the stereotypes of members of many social groups , including men and women and a variety of ethnic groups . Figure Current Stereotypes Held by College Students 172 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

Americans Blacks Italians Loyal to family Materialistic Musical ties Lazy Pleasure loving 26 Tradition loving Individualistic Loud Passionate 39 Pleasure loving 28 Aggressive Religious Industrious Artistic 138 Quick tempered Germans Jews Chinese Intelligent Very religious Intelligent Industrious Intelligent family Nationalistic Tradition loving Reserved 362 Scientifically . minded Shrewd Loyal to family Methodical ties 31 Once they become established , stereotypes ( like any other cognitive representation ) tend to persevere . We begin to respond to members of stereotyped categories as if we already knew what they were like . Trope and Eric Thompson ( 1997 ) found that individuals addressed fewer questions to members of categories about which they had strong stereotypes ( as if they already knew what these people were like ) and that the questions they did ask were likely to confirm the stereotypes they already had . In other cases , stereotypes are maintained because information that confirms our stereotypes is better remembered than information that them . When we see members of social groups perform behaviors , we tend to better remember information that confirms our stereotypes than we remember information that our stereotypes ( 1994 ) If we believe that women are bad drivers and we see a woman driving poorly , then we tend to remember it , but when we see a woman who drives particularly well , we tend to forget it . This is of course another example of the general principle of tend to Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 173

perceive the world in ways that make it fit our existing beliefs more easily than we change our beliefs to fit the reality around us . And stereotypes become difficult to change because they are so important to become an integral and important part of our everyday lives in our culture . Stereotypes are frequently expressed on , in movies , and in chat rooms and blogs , and we learn a lot of our beliefs from these sources . Our friends also tend to hold beliefs similar to ours , and we talk about these beliefs when we get together with them ( Conway , 1999 ) In short , stereotypes and prejudice are powerful largely because they are important social norms that are part of our culture ( 2000 ) Because they are so highly cognitively accessible , and because they seem so right , our stereotypes easily influence our judgments of and responses to those we have categorized . The social psychologist John Bargh once described stereotypes as cognitive monsters because their activation was so powerful and because the activated beliefs had such insidious influences on social judgment ( Bargh , 1999 ) Making things even more difficult , stereotypes are strongest for the people who are in most need of people who are most prejudiced ( Brown , 1997 ) Because stereotypes and prejudice often operate out of our awareness , and also because people are frequently unwilling to admit that they hold them , social psychologists have developed methods for assessing them indirectly . In the next section we will consider two of these bogus pipeline procedure and the Implicit Association Test ( Research Focus Measuring Stereotypes Indirectly 174 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

One difficulty in measuring stereotypes and prejudice is that people may not tell the truth about their beliefs . Most people do not want to to themselves or to they hold stereotypes or that they are prejudiced toward some social groups . To get around this problem , social psychologists make use of a number of techniques that help them measure these beliefs more subtly and indirectly . One indirect approach to assessing prejudice is called the bogus pipeline procedure ( Jones , 1971 ) In this procedure , the experimenter first convinces the participants that he or he has access to their true beliefs , for instance , by getting access to a questionnaire that they completed at a prior experimental session . Once the participants are convinced that the researcher is able to assess their true attitudes , it is expected that they will be more honest in answering the rest of the questions they are asked because they want to be sure that the researcher does not catch them lying . The bogus pipeline procedure suggests that people may frequently mask their negative beliefs in express more prejudice when they are in the bogus pipeline than they do when they are asked the same questions more directly . Other indirect measures of prejudice are also frequently used in social psychological research , for nonverbal behaviors such as speech errors or physical closeness . One common measure involves asking participants to take a seat on a chair near a person from a different racial or ethnic group and measuring how far away the person sits ( 81 , 2001 Word , Cooper , 1974 ) People who sit farther Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 175

away are assumed to be more prejudiced toward the members of the group . Because our stereotypes are activated spontaneously when we think about members of different social groups , it is possible to use measures to assess this activation and thus to learn about people stereotypes and prejudices . In these procedures , participants are asked to make a series of judgments about pictures or descriptions of social groups and then to answer questions as quickly as they can , but without making mistakes . The speed of these responses is used to determine an individual stereotypes or prejudice . The most popular implicit measure of Implicit Association Test ( frequently used to assess stereotypes and prejudice ( 2007 ) In the , participants are asked to classify stimuli that they view on a computer screen into one of two categories by pressing one of two computer keys , one with their left hand and one with their right hand . Furthermore , the categories are arranged such that the responses to be answered with the left and right buttons either fit with ( match ) the stereotype or do not fit with ( mismatch ) the stereotype . For instance , in one version of the , participants are shown pictures of men and women and also shown words related to gender stereotypes ( strong , leader , or powerful for men and , emotional , or weak for women ) Then the participants categorize the photos ( Is this picture a picture of a man or a woman ?

and answer questions about the stereotypes ( Is this the word strong ?

by pressing either the Yes button or the No button using either their left hand or their right hand . 176 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping When the responses are arranged on the screen in a matching way , such that the male category and the strong category are on the same side of the screen ( on the right side ) participants can do the task very quickly and they make few mistakes . Its just easier , because the stereotypes are matched or associated with the pictures in a way that makes sense . But when the images are arranged such that the women and the strong categories are on the same side , whereas the men and the weak categories are on the other side , most participants make more errors and respond more slowly . The basic assumption is that if two concepts are associated or linked , they will be responded to more quickly if they are classified using the same , rather than different , keys . Implicit association procedures such as the show that even participants who claim that they are not prejudiced do seem to hold cultural stereotypes about social groups . Even Black people themselves respond more quickly to positive words that are associated with White rather than Black faces on the , suggesting that they have subtle racial prejudice toward Blacks . Because they hold these beliefs , it is not they may use them when responding to other people , creating a subtle and unconscious type of discrimination . Although the meaning of the has been debated ( Mitchell , 2008 ) research using implicit measures does suggest we know it or not , and even though we may try to control them when we stereotypes and prejudices are easily activated when we see members of different social categories ( Petty , Brewer , 2004 ) Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 177

Do you hold implicit prejudices ?

Try the yourself , here implicit Although in some cases the stereotypes that are used to make judgments might actually be true of the individual being judged , in many other cases they are not . Stereotyping is problematic when the stereotypes we hold about a social group are inaccurate overall , and particularly when they do not apply to the individual who is being judged ( 1995 ) Stereotyping others is simply unfair . Even if many women are more emotional than are most men , not all are , and it is not right any one woman as if she is . In the end , stereotypes become prophecies , such that our expectations about the group members make the stereotypes come true ( Snyder , 1977 Word , Cooper , 1974 ) Once we believe that men make better leaders than women , we tend to behave toward men in ways that makes it easier for them to lead . And we behave toward women in ways that makes it more difficult for them to lead . The result ?

Men find it easier to excel in leadership positions , whereas women have to work hard to overcome the false beliefs about their lack of leadership abilities ( 2010 ) And prophecies are teachers expectations about their students academic abilities can influence the students school performance ( Cain , 2009 ) Of course , you may think that you personally do not behave in these ways , and you may not . But research has found that stereotypes are often used out of our awareness , which makes it very difficult for us to correct for them . Even when we think we are being completely fair , we may nevertheless be using our stereotypes to condone discrimination ( Chen Bargh , 1999 ) And when we are distracted or under time pressure , these tendencies become even more powerful ( 1991 ) Furthermore , attempting to prevent our stereotype from coloring 178 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

our reactions to others takes effort . We experience more negative affect ( particularly anxiety ) when we are with members of other groups than we do when we are with people from our own groups , and we need to use more cognitive resources to control our behavior because of our anxiety about revealing our stereotypes or prejudices ( Plant , 2006 Shelton , 2003 ) When we know that we need to control our expectations so that we do not unintentionally stereotype the other person , we may try to do doing so takes effort and may frequently fail ( 1994 ) Social Psychology in the Public Interest Stereotype Threat Our stereotypes influence not only our judgments of others but also our beliefs about ourselves , and even our own performance on important tasks . In some cases , these beliefs may be positive , and they have the effect of making us feel more confident and thus better able to perform tasks . Because Asian students are aware of the stereotype that Asians are good at math , reminding them of this fact before they take a difficult math test can improve their performance on the test ( Walton . Cohen , 2003 ) On the other hand , sometimes these beliefs are negative , and they create negative prophecies such that we perform more poorly just because of our knowledge about the stereotypes . One of the puzzles in the area of academic performance concerns why Black students perform more poorly on standardized tests , receive lower grades , and are Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 179

less likely to remain in school in comparison with White students , even when other factors such as family income , parents education , and other relevant variables are controlled . Claude Steele and Joshua ( 1995 ) tested the hypothesis that these differences might be due to the activation of negative stereotypes . Because Black students are aware of the ( inaccurate ) stereotype that Blacks are intellectually inferior to Whites , this stereotype might create a negative expectation , which might interfere with their performance on intellectual tests through fear of confirming that stereotype . In support of this hypothesis , Steele and research revealed that Black college students performed worse ( in comparison with their prior test scores ) on math questions taken from the Graduate Record Examination ( GRE ) when the test was described to them as being diagnostic of their mathematical ability ( and thus when the stereotype was relevant ) but that their performance was not influenced when the same questions were framed as an exercise in problem solving . And in another study , Steele and found that when Black students were asked to indicate their race before they took a math test ( again activating the stereotype ) they performed more poorly than they had on prior exams , whereas the scores of White students were not affected by first indicating their race . Steele and argued that thinking about negative stereotypes that are relevant to a task that one is performing creates stereotype that are caused by the knowledge of cultural stereotypes . That is , they argued that the negative impact of race on standardized tests may be caused , at least in part , 180 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

by the performance situation itself . Because the threat is in the air , Black students may be negatively by it . Research has found that the experience of stereotype threat can help explain a wide variety of performance among those who are targeted by negative stereotypes . For instance , when a math task is described as diagnostic of intelligence , Latinos and particularly perform more poorly than do Whites ( Gonzales , Williams , 2002 ) Similarly , when stereotypes are activated , children with low socioeconomic status perform more poorly in math than do those with high socioeconomic status , and psychology students perform more poorly than do natural science students ( Brown , Payne , 2003 ) Even groups who typically enjoy advantaged social status can be made to experience stereotype threat . White men performed more poorly on a math test when they were told that their performance would be compared with that of Asian men ( Good , Steele , 1999 ) and Whites performed more poorly than Blacks on a task when it was described to them as measuring their natural athletic ability ( Stone , 2002 ) Stereotype threat is created in situations that pose a significant threat to , such that our perceptions of ourselves as important , valuable , and capable individuals are threatened . In these situations , there is a discrepancy between our positive concept of our skills and abilities and the negative stereotypes suggesting poor performance . When our stereotypes lead us to be believe that we are likely to perform poorly on a task , We experience a feeling of unease and status threat . Research has found that stereotype threat is caused by Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping 181

both cognitive and affective factors . On the cognitive side , individuals who are experiencing stereotype threat show an impairment in cognitive processing that is caused by increased vigilance toward the environment and attempts to suppress their stereotypical thoughts . On the affective side , stereotype threat creates stress as well as a variety of affective responses including anxiety ( Johns , Forbes , 2008 ) Stereotype threat is not , however , can get past it if we try . What is important is to reduce the concern that is engaged when we consider the relevant negative stereotypes . Manipulations that affirm positive characteristics about oneself or one group are successful at reducing stereotype threat ( Alter , Rodriguez , Ruble , 2010 et , 2003 , Paulson , Lord , 2003 ) In fact , just knowing that stereotype threat exists and may influence performance can help alleviate its negative impact ( Johns , Martens , 2005 ) 182 Chapter Social Categorization Stereotyping

Summary Beliefs about the characteristics of the groups and the members of those groups are known as stereotypes . Prejudice refers to an unjustifiable negative attitude toward an . Stereotypes and prejudice may create discrimination . Stereotyping and prejudice begin from social natural cognitive process by which we place individuals into social groups . Social categorization influences our perceptions of instance , the perception of homogeneity . Once our stereotypes and prejudices become established , they are difficult to change and may lead to prophecies , such that our expectations about the group members make the stereotypes come true . Stereotypes may influence our performance on important tasks through stereotype threat . Chapter Social Categorization stereotyping 183

. Look again at the pictures in , and consider your thoughts and feelings about each person . What are your stereotypes and prejudices about them ?

Do you think your stereotypes are accurate ?

On which ( if any ) social categories do you categorize others ?

Why do you ( or do you ) categorize ?

Is your behavior fair or unfair to the people you are categorizing ?

Think of a task that one of the social groups to which you belong is considered to be particularly good ( or poor ) at . Do you think the cultural stereotypes about your group have ever your performance on a task ?

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