SC4: Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behavior

1. SC4: Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behavior Michael F. Juan_? Deona _?

2. What’s a stereotype and how are they formed? • A stereotype is: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing • Stereotypes are formed through Personal experience with individuals and groups or media, parents, and other members of our affiliated group (culture)

3. How do stereotypes affect behavior? • Stereotypes can affect behavior by showing how a person interacts with a certain person based upon a stereotype they came up with. • Also stereotypes affect behavior in a way of being in a certain group and possibly filling said person’s stereotype and conforming to that idea.

4. The “Grain of Truth” hypothesis (Campbell, 1967) • One explanation for the formation of stereotypes is that they derive, however loosely, from some aspect of social reality. This does not mean that any particular stereotypes of an out group is in some way objectively ‘true’, but rather that a group’s culturally distinctive or different patterns of behavior could provide the seed-bed in which stereotypical perceptions could flourish. • (In quick note form: The grain of truth hypothesis shows how actions of a certain group could be misconstrued as “normal”, when this assumption is not fully true in most cases.) • This hypothesis had problems with it among knowing Attribution errors are common in society.

5. Ford &Stangor (1992) • formation of new group stereotypes. They found that the traits that most objectively distinguished two target groups were most likely to emerge as central to a set of stereotypic beliefs about groups. Ford &Stangor asked psychology students to participate in an experiment in exchange for course credit. They were presented with booklets of behavioural descriptions of 2 fictitious groups (blue group and red group). Descriptions related to either friendly, intelligent or other behaviours. However differences were emphasized in each group – ie. the blue group had more descriptions of friendly but less intelligent behaviours (eg. “ A member of the blue group failed his driving test for the fourth time) and vice versa. • When later asked to give spontaneous characterizations of the groups participants characterized the groups in terms of their differences. Thus supporting the idea that stereotypes therefore originate in experiences of group differences and must contain at least a ‘grain of truth’.

6. Steele and Aronson (1995)Stereotype Threat • African Americans performed worse than European Americans on a verbal test when told that the test genuinely reflected their verbal skill - African performed as well as the European Americans on tests when told that the test was merely to study how problems are generally solved. • -Steele (1997) argues that spotlight anxiety is responsible for stereotype threats because the emotional distress and pressure can undermine performance

7. Illusionary Correlation, Hamilton and Gifford (1976) • We see a relationship between two variables that actually have no relationship and overestimate a link between the two variables (i.e.)A woman who is awful at driving -After the illusory correlation has been made we use confirmation bias to gather more evidence to support our illusory correlation. From this, we will tend to find more bad female drivers but ignore female race drivers.

8. Sources • http://ibpsychologynotes.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/06-explain-the-formation-of-stereotypes-and-their-effect-on-behaviour.pdf • http://ibpsychrevision.blogspot.com/p/sociocultural-level.html • http://www.uswikipedia.com/article92