Social Cognition
Molly Marshall
What is social cognition?
How we think about other people
How we process social information
How we explain other people‟s behavior
How we explain our own behaviour
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice - Allport (1958)
“an antipathy based on a faulty and
inflexible generalisation. It may be felt
or expressed. It may be directed
towards a group or toward an individual
because he or she is a member of that
group”
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice can be seen as part of
the process of ethnocentrism
What is „ethnocentrism‟
Prejudice and Discrimination
Ethnocentrism --- the syndrome
The tendency to undervalue the
products of an OUT GROUP
to which we do NOT belong
Hostility & rejection of out group
members
Prejudice and Discrimination
Ethnocentrism --- the syndrome
The tendency to overvalue the products
of an IN GROUP
to which we do belong
Increased liking for in group members +
pressure for conformity & group cohesion
Prejudice and Discrimination
Ethnocentrism --- the syndrome
Name some groups
to whom we belong IN GROUPS
to whom we do not belong OUT GROUPS
Prejudice and Discrimination
THREE major theories of prejudice
the psychoanalytic (within the individual)
the interaction between groups theory
the social categorisation theory
Prejudice and Discrimination
the psychoanalytic (within the individual)
locates prejudice within the individual
personality - Adorno et al (1950)
caused by unresolved childhood
conflicts - but this cannot explain why
entire societies may be prejudiced
Prejudice and Discrimination
the interaction between groups theory
locates the cause of prejudice in the
struggle between social groups for
scarce social resources (housing, jobs)
Sherif (1956) describes competition
between groups as the cause of
prejudice
Prejudice and Discrimination
the interaction between groups theory
Sherif - the robber‟s cave experiment
Famous study - USA teenagers in a
summer camp
The eagles & the rattlers
Prejudice and Discrimination
Now let us do a VERY small
experiment
YOU will learn more about this in a
minute
You are all allocated a code number
please memorise it!!
Prejudice and Discrimination
You are about to be shown a screen covered
with dots
Very quickly - and IN SILENCE
estimate the number of DOTS on the screen;
write this down, fold up your answer, write
your code number on the fold
Prejudice and Discrimination
l l l l
l l l l l l
lll l l
l l l l ll
l l l ll
l ll
Prejudice and Discrimination
And again
You are about to be shown two more
screens covered with dots
Very quickly - and IN SILENCE
estimate the number of DOTS on each
screen;
write this down, fold up your answer,
write your code number on the fold
Prejudice and Discrimination
l l l l l l
ll l l ll
l l l l l l
l l ll l l
l
l l l
Prejudice and Discrimination
l l l l ll
ll l l ll
l l l l l l
l l ll l l
ll l ll
ll
Prejudice and Discrimination
Sorting it all out !
Prejudice and Discrimination
over estimators
list TWO traits you think over
estimators have in common
then
list TWO traits you think under
estimators have in common
Prejudice and Discrimination
under estimators
list TWO traits you think under
estimators have in common
then
list TWO traits you think over
estimators have in common
Prejudice and Discrimination
both groups note
+ for each positive trait
or
- for each negative trait
Mark your slip O or U
Put your list in the O or U heap
Prejudice and Discrimination
We will look at our
results at the end of
the session …...
Prejudice and Discrimination
the social categorisation theory
TAJFEL (1970)
The minimal group studies
Prejudice and Discrimination
the social categorisation theory
TAJFEL (1970)
What does it take to make you believe
you are a member of a group?
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
What Tajfel did -
EXPERIMENT 1
A laboratory experiment
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The participants
64 school boys from Bristol
Age range 14 - 15
All knew each other well
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Came into psychology „lab‟
in groups of 8
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
They were told:
That Tajfel was investigating
visual judgements
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
40 clusters of dots flashed onto a
screen
The boys asked to estimate how
many dots they had seen each
time
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Experimenters then „pretended‟ to
judge the boys answers
BUT really
The boys were randomly assigned
to one of two groups
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
OVER ESTIMATORS
OR
UNDER ESTIMATORS
How many were there in each
group?
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The boys were given 18 page
booklets - indicating money
(pence)
Choice Number 1 2 3 4
Boy no 1 9 11 12 1
Boy no 2 5 9 11 3
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The boys were asked to make
three types of choice
In group choices - both boys IN
Out group choices - both boys
OUT
Inter group choices - one each
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
INTER GROUP CHOICES
the important choice
Most boys chose a ticket which
would give their own group most
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The second experiment
Another lab experiment
(Still Tajfel)
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Groups of 16 boys tested
Flashed up 12 paintings
Klee or Kandinsky (abstract art)
Afterwards randomly categorised
as preferring Klee or Kandinsky
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The boys again given 18 page
booklets - indicating money
(pence)
Choice Number 1 2 3 4
Boy no 1 9 11 12 1
Boy no 2 5 9 11 3
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Which of THREE variables had the
greatest effect
Maximum joint profit
largest reward to members of both
groups
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
OR
largest reward to member of in
group …. regardless of size of
reward for boy in out group
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
OR
MAXIMUM DIFFERENCE - largest
possible difference - in favour of
the in group
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
For example …
Boy (in group) 9 11 12 16
Boy (out group) 5 9 11 19
Max joint profit = blue row
Largest reward to in group = blue
Max difference = green
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The results
Most boys chose maximum difference
Boys left the study with LESS money
than they would have if they had
awarded maximum joint profit
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The independent variable (IV)
The group of the participant
Over estimator or under estimator
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The dependent variable (DV)
The boys reward decisions
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Tajfel concluded
Out group discrimination is very easy to
trigger off
mere categorisation is enough!
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Ecological validity?
Demand characteristics -
Artificial setting - not like real life
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
The participants?
Teenage boys are competitive
(esp in western culture)
Unrepresentative sample - all boys
same age
all from same school
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
Ethics !!
No informed consent
Right to withdraw?
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
How did our experiment go!
Count up the +s and -s for each group
Did the over estimators give more -s to
under estimators and vice versa?
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
What to do now…
Read a chapter on prejudice &
discrimination
TAJFEL - The minimal group
studies
THE END