Theories of prejudice
- Created by: 11pyoung
- Created on: 13-04-17 10:25
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- Theories of prejudice
- Realistic Conflict Theory
- Sherif
- Claimed prejudice towards a group and its individual members occurs because there is conflict between these groups due to them being in competition
- Competition for necessary and limited resources- Intergroup conflict
- Conflict can be reduced if superordinate goals exist and are attempted
- Goals that can be achieved through cooperation
- When a population is small and necessary resources are plentiful, conflict between groups is far less likely
- A large population with limited or scarce resources will lead to competition and therefore, conflict between groups
- Evaluation
- Whether resources are plentiful or not is a matter of perception
- Evidence for this theory comes from Robber's Cave studies
- Strong evidence as they were field studies with high ecological validity
- Evidence from Sherif also makes it seem that hostility towards another group developed as soon as they were aware of the existence of another group before competition was introduces
- Suggests conflict is not necessary for out-group prejudice o occur
- Both talk in terms of inter-group relationships
- Sherif claims that prejudice occurs because there is conflict between groups due to competition
- Both have research findings which support the theory
- Unclear whether can be applied to all cultures
- Social Identity Theory
- Tajfel
- Claims competition and conflict are not necessary for prejudice to arise
- Argues that simply knowing another group exists to which we don't belong is enough to cause prejudice towards that group
- Argues that simply knowing another group exists to which we don't belong is enough to cause prejudice towards that group
- Grouping occurs in three stages:
- Social catergorisation
- Simple act of placing yourself and others into a particular group.
- Every individual belongs to many in-groups at the same time
- Every individual belongs to many in-groups at the same time
- Simple act of placing yourself and others into a particular group.
- Social identification
- As a member of an in-group you absorb and associate yourself with the culture, norms and values of your in-group
- You notice differences with people from your out-groups
- Your in-group forms part of your social identity
- As a member of an in-group you absorb and associate yourself with the culture, norms and values of your in-group
- Social comparison
- To boost your self-esteem you need your in-groups to appear better than your out-groups
- Can lead to people deliberately making their out-groups look bad when compared to their in-groups
- To boost your self-esteem you need your in-groups to appear better than your out-groups
- Social catergorisation
- Evaluation
- Empirical data to support theory from Tajfel's research
- Showed clear favouritism toward in-groups and discrimination towards out-groups
- Study's ecological validity is reduced
- Theory based on study with reduced ecological validity
- Group membership is arbitrary and artificially contrived
- Very different about to how group membership occurs in real life
- Group membership is arbitrary and artificially contrived
- Theory based on study with reduced ecological validity
- It oversimplifies complex situations and relations
- Social identities may involve a range of factors
- Gives a good explanation of real-world behaviour
- Explanations fighting between rival fans as they try to boost their social identity by showing that they are tougher and more loyal
- has useful applications that may improve conflict within society
- Cannot apply to all cultures
- Collectivist cultures are more likely to favour their out-groups
- Empirical data to support theory from Tajfel's research
- Both talk in terms of inter-group relationships
- Tajfel claims that competition is not necessary for prejudice to occur- Simply knowing the existence of another group is enough to cause prejudice
- Both have research findings which support the theory
- Comparison between the theories
- Sherif claims that prejudice occurs because there is conflict between groups due to competition
- Tajfel claims that competition is not necessary for prejudice to occur- Simply knowing the existence of another group is enough to cause prejudice
- Unclear whether can be applied to all cultures
- Realistic Conflict Theory
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