Social Psychology Midterm

Stereotyping can be defined as "beliefs aboult social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics they they are deemed to share". With stereotying, it is easier to judge an entire group as all being alike as opposed to viewing one's own group as being the same. While members of the group in question are perceived as all possessing the same traits, one will view his own group as having autonomous members who are all different from each other. The idea of seeing members of the opposing group as all being the same is known as out-group homogeneity. Additionally, viewing members of one's own group as being different and not like one another is known as in-group differentiation. Sometimes, members of the minority group see themselves and other members of their group as being alike since they share common experiences and may seem more similar amongst each other than to the stereotyping group. This is referred to as in-group homogeneity. Stereotyping can be seen as very similar to prejudice in that it involves creating an opinion on another person or group based on ignorance. Prejudice, which is a negative attitude towards a certain group, has been prevalent in society for many years. However, there are differing opinions as to how prejudices are formed and how to combat them. In looking at four theories on the development of prejudice - realistic conflict theory, social learning, social cognition, and social categorization - one can determine the root of this attitude as well as attempt to develop new strategies to combat these negative attitudes.

One way in which prejudice can develop is when two groups, both of which who are competing for the same things, begin to look at the other as an opponent. This concept is best exemplified in Realistic Conflict theory. Realistic Conflict theory suggests that when two groups are both striving for the same desirable items in life such as homes, cars, jobs, and other material possessions to enhance one's fulfillment within their own life, they may tend to look at others who are striving for the same things as competition. By looking at these individuals as opponents, they may label those in competition with them as rivals, and see themselves and their quest for these items as superior to the needs of others. Additionally, this view may cause those who see their quest as being superior will attempt to marginalize other groups as a means to justify why they deserve these things more than others.

Sometimes, one's distorted views of others can come from their experiences in certain situations. The Social learning view states that children develop their prejudice attitudes from observing people who display prejudice attitudes. Further, when these children mimic this behavior and receive positive reinforcement, these prejudices are further engrained in their minds as being acceptable. These attitudes will be carried with these children as they develop into adolescene and adulthood. While the Social Learning view determines that prejudices are developed during crucial learning periods of childhood, individuals who may be shunned later on in life by others as a result of these attitudes will have a tendency to surround themselves with people with similar views. In contrast, the more a person is exposed to differing viewpoints on other people and situations, it is likely that these attitudes can be diminished and changed. Social learning correlates to Social Cognition in that they both deal with how an individual's interactions with the world can affect how one will inevitably view the world. Social cognition can be defined as "the manner in which we interpret, analyze, remember, and use information about the social world." One's social cognition is dependent on his or her daily interactions with the world in which one lives. As we go through our own set of unique experiences daily, we will interpret situations as we see them and, in turn, develop our attitudes and behaviors based on what we see.

In determining one's place within society, we soon realize that we all fall into some kind of social category. Once we begin to categorize ourselves, we may start to view society with an "us" versus "them" mentality. Moreover, by looking at the view with this divisive mindframe, we will start perceive those who are not in the same category as "us" as different and, in turn, our inference of others will be misconstrued and create prejudice. The idea of forming social groupings is also known as Social categorization.

Social categorization is unique in that there are no definite qualifications for in-groups ("us") and out-groups ("them"). For example, to some people, shoes are incredibly important; moreover, an individual who places a high status on the quality of one's shoes may have a distorted view of people who choose to adorn themselves with nice shoes as opposed to those who are more apathetic to shoe branding and quality. To some people, social categorization may seem like a harmless social activity in which everyone participates. However, this process can have negative consequences in that, people have a tendency to create negative viewpoints about those who we see as being different and not in the same category as us.

Some people believe if people were to see themselves as member of a much larger group, it is possible to reduce the amount of prejudice towards others in a perceived minority group. According to the common in-group identity model, as stated on page 245 of Social Psychology, "to the extent individuals in different groups view themselves as members of a single social entity, inter-group bias will be reduced". More generally, if people were to see themselves and others as a member of "the human race" as opposed to member of several different smaller groups, the sense of community would be larger and there would be less need to reach inferences about an individual who is a member of the group to which you also belong.

While the attitudes created by stereotypes and prejudice seem inevitable, some people believe that there are ways to combat these ideas in order to create a more just society. One way in which psychologists believe that prejudice can be combatted is contact hypothesis. Contact hypothesis suggests that by exposing people with prejudices to the people about which they have a prejudice, they can use these interactions to change their opinions about these people. Moreover, they can also see that these people who they have formed these negative attitudes about actually have similarities to themselves. By seeing oneself in another, it can reduce these ideas about members of other groups.

Additionally, another possibly way to change these attitudes is to attach consequences to those who display these beliefs. the idea of collective guilt suggests that when a person is confronted with "the harm that their group's prejudice has had" on another group, they will in turn feel "guilt by association".When the perpetrator of prejudice feels collective guilt for their behaviors, they are less likely to show prejudice behaviors for the sake of not reliving these experiences.

Within my lifetime, I have been a victim of prejudice. Growing up, I have always been an athlete and have played at varsity levels throughout