Psychology GCSE: Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

Aim: to investigate the extent of sex stereotyping across 30 different countries
Method: participants were given over 300 characteristics and asked to state whether they were more likely to be associated with men, women or both sexes

Results: across the 30 countries, the same characteristics tended to be associated with males and females. females were described as ‘understanding’, ‘emotional’, and ‘warm’. males were described as ‘reckless’, ‘hard-headed’ and ‘determined’
Conclusion: the findings of this cross-cultural study suggest there are commonly held stereotypes of males and females

Aim: to find out if new parents stereotype their babies
Method: parents were asked to describe their new babies within 24 hours after the baby was born

Results: parents of baby boys described their babies as being alert and strong, whereas parents of baby girls described their babies as being soft and delicate
Conclusion: parents stereotype their babies from an early age even if no stereotypical behaviour is shown. if parents know the sex of the baby before its born, stereotyping can start even earlier

1. increased awareness that children imitate and observe those around them which has led to a change in the way characters are portrayed in children’s programmes. it is hoped this will prevent children growing up to believe females should stay at home whilst men carry out manual work

2. a reduction in stereotypical views enables males to pursue careers previously only suitable for females such as nursing and child-minding. the same goes for women with jobs such as being a mechanic or fire-fighter

Aim: to investigate the development of prejudice among young children
Method: researchers interviewed 216 English children aged between 5-10 and asked them about their views and opinions of children from different European countries

Results: at this age, children already demonstrated more positive views towards some European groups than others. it was found that Germans were liked the least and French the most, despite the children having no factual information about the countries
Conclusion: by the age of 10, children already held prejudiced views towards other nationalities

Adorno
Aim: to find out if there is a relationship between a person’s personality type and prejudiced beliefs
Method: they interviewed hundreds of people in America and tested their personality type using the F scale

Adorno
Results: they found a relationship between personality traits and prejudiced views. as scores on the F scale increased so did the number of the prejudiced views held
Conclusion: there is an authoritarian personality and people with these characteristics are highly likely to be prejudiced towards others

He found that people with authoritarian personalities were likely to have had parents who were critical and strict and showed little affection

Sherif
Aim: to find out if prejudice develops when groups are in competition for scarce resources
Method: an american summer camp was arranged for 22 white, middle class boys all aged 12. they were randomly split into two teams and kept away from each other. they didn’t know the other groups existed and were given time to settle into their groups and form a group identity. after a while, the two groups discovered each other and the camp staff introduced a series of competitions for the silver cup

Sherif
Results: very quickly, the boys began to call the other group unpleasant names and tried to attack each other
Conclusion: competition is a cause of prejudice

1. clearly demonstrated how quickly prejudice can arise between groups when they are competing for the same thing

2. show how quickly alliances can form when they feel they have something in common. also showed how quickly they can turn against others they see as being different to themselves

Tajfel
Aim: to investigate how easily people discriminate against their out-groups
Method: 14-15 year old boys were randomly assigned to two groups and each was given a game to play where he had to award pairs of points. they were told the points could be swapped for prizes at the end

Tajfel
Results: the boys awarded points by choosing the pairings that created the biggest difference between the groups not the pairings that gave them the most points
Conclusion: people will discriminate against others just because they’re members of an out-group

Aronson
Aim: to eliminate prejudice between black and white students in a school in Texas
Method: jigsaw method was developed which involved students in mixed-race groups, each taking a responsibility for a part of the lesson. they had to become experts on their part and then pass on their knowledge to the other groups of students

Aronson
Results: Aronson then interviewed the students and found:
Their self-esteem was enhanced
They liked their classmates more
Their perceptions of the other racial group within the class were better
Conclusion: this technique led to reduced prejudice in the classroom but positive perceptions of the other racial groups were not generalised outside of the classroom

within schools and workplaces prejudice could be reduced but this may not be generalised to other settings

Harwood
Aim: to investigate children’s views of the elderly
Method: Harwood asked children and their grandparents about their relationships. the children were also questioned about their views of elderly people in general

Harwood
Results: children who had regular contact with grandparents held positive views towards the elderly
Conclusion: contact with grandparents is a good predictor of a child’s attitude towards the elderly

it’s important there is regular contact between children and grandparents

Sherif
Aim: to see if the boys involved in the ‘Robber’s Cave’ experiment could become friends
Method: when arranging trips and meals out failed to get the boys to become friends again, Sherif set up a situation where their truck got stuck in the mud and needed pulling out, otherwise they would all miss dinner

Sherif
Results: this was successful as the task couldn’t be completed without cooperation from all the boys
Conclusion: cooperation on an important task is one way of reducing prejudice between groups

Sherif’s theory is difficult to put into practice in real life. there may be tasks in communities that will need groups to work together to complete, but how do you get the groups to join in?

Elliot
Aim: to teach her class what it felt like to be victims of discrimination
Method: Elliot told her class:

1. blue eyed children are smarter than brown eyed

2. blue eyed are the best in the room

3. brown eyed can't play with blue eyed in the playground

4. brown eyed can't use the water fountain

Elliot
Results: reaction was immediate: blue eyed were delighted, arrogant and vicious. brown eyed were angry, saddened and confused. Elliot found that fights broke out between students who had been best friends the day before. A few weeks later, the experiment was reversed and similar results were found
Conclusion: Elliot believed by getting children to experience first-hand what it felt like to be victims of discrimination and prejudice these children would grow up more tolerant towards others

method worked but you need children to experience this at an early age