Theories of Prejudice
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
TAJFEL (1971)
How many ways are there to
discriminate against people?
List all the ways you can think of.
What problems are caused by
prejudice?
What is the difference between
prejudice and discrimination?
Prejudice
‘PRE’ (MEANING BEFORE) AND ‘JUDICE’ (MEANING
JUSTICE)
AN ATTITUDE – MAKING JUDGEMENTS ABOUT SOMEONE
BASED ON THEIR MEMBERSHIP OF A GROUP RATHER
THAN THEIR INDIVIDUAL NATURE.
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One of the greatest problems of humanity
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Leads to dehumanisation and violence
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Why study prejudice?

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If we understand how it is formed perhaps we can learn how to prevent it
Prejudice- extreme, unfavourable attitude associated with three
components:
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1. Cognitive: Stereotypes:
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Social perception of an individual based on their group membership or
physical attributes
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Overgeneralised belief based on limited information
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Generalisations – applied to all members
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Positive / negative
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2. Affective: Feelings of hostility and hatred
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3. Behavioural: In terms of prejudice can be displayed as avoidance,
assault, joke-making or discrimination.
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Actively excluding an individual or groups from things they are entitled to
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Not all of these components manifest at the same time.
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i.e. someone who is prejudiced may have the cognitive and affective
component but not discriminate
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Why?
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Prevailing social norms or laws perhaps?
Causes of prejudice
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Individual Differences
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Obedience & prejudice down to dispositional factors? I.e. personality?
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How can it explain whole culture and societies being prejudiced?

Anti-Semitism developed over 10 or so years

Look at social factors that can explain how entire populations of people develop
prejudiced attitudes
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Social identity theory

Realistic conflict theory
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Read the article –
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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/16/refugee-crisis-hit-ukworking-class-powerless

Please note this is an opinion piece and not research

We are using it to put the issues we are looking at into context. The issues
brought up in the article are very relevant at the moment
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Application
Social Identity Theory – Tajfel (1970)
The simple act of being grouped
will inevitably lead to prejudice
against another group.
Tajfel classified group as in-groups
or out-groups
There are three stages to the Social
Identity Theory
Tajfel (1970) - SIT
Look up these stages.
In pairs discuss the
definitions
Social
categorisation
Social
identification
Social
comparison
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Social comparison:
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Defining and emphasising in-group characteristics to elevate social identity
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Comparing and derogating qualities of the out-group
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Achieved by
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1. In-group favouritism – members unique and favourable - Heterogeneous
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2. Negative out-group bias – members ‘all the same’ unfavourable - Homogenous
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Example!
Example
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Within a group – each member has a social identity
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Image based on the attributes of the group
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Group success =increases sense of belonging and self esteem
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Example?
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Football team – continued success?

However if they lose several matches?
Tajfel (1971)Minimal group paradigm
experiments
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The Minimal Group Paradigm is a methodology employed in social psychology to investigate the minimal
conditions required for discrimination to occur between groups.
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Experiment 1
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64 Schoolboys ages 14-15 groups of 8 (knew each other)
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Experiment 2 Klee and Kandinsky
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Summary must include:
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Aim
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Procedure
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Results
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Conclusion
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Conclusions:
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Out-group discrimination is present and easily triggered
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In these experiments the act of social categorisation (in/out group) led to
discrimination
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People act according to the social norm they have learnt (I.e. in-group
favouritism)
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In real life the norms of being in a group may override fairness (for example?)

Even if giving more to the other group did not mean giving less to their own,
the still gave more to their own
Tajfel Evaluation - GRAVE
Strengths
Weaknesses
Recap SIT and evaluation
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Supporting research
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Tajfel
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Cialdini (1976)
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US university football scores
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Morel likely to wear their football team sweatshirt after a game had been won than lost
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Interviews – referred to the team they supported as ‘us’ when they won and ‘they’ when they lost
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Personal identity affected by association with a football team (social ID)
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Aronson and Osherow (1980)
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Blue eyes/brown eyes study(Jane Elliott)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx_Lb-5G2Lg
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Opposing research
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Aim of SIT to favour situational factors rather than dispositional is not supported by evidence.
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Individual differences may affect SIT processes
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Platow et al. (1990). Individuals with competitive orientations displayed a greater preference for the rule of relative
ingroup gain compared to that of fairness, whereas those with prosocial orientations preferred the rule of fairness to that
of relative ingroup gain.
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Different theory
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Realist conflict theory Sherif (1966)
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Realistic conflict theory states that whenever there are two or more groups
that are seeking the same limited resources, this will lead to conflict,
negative stereotypes and beliefs, and discrimination between the groups.
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This stands in contrast to SIT
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Not simple act of categorisation but competition for limited resources
Evaluation – write out points and
evidence or complete a table
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Supporting research – Tajfel experiments, Cialdini, Aronson and Oreshow
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Opposing research – Platow (1990)
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Different theories – Realistic Conflict Theory
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Application – useful? Why?
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Reductionism
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By only focusing on groups it does not take other factors into account
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Does not measure how much prejudice
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Some situations with greater prejudice?
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Individual differences – i.e. personality
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Prejudice is complex – unlikely that one theory as an explanation isn’t likely to be
satisfactory
SIT - Evaluation
Point
Supporting research
Opposing research
Different theory
Application (usefulness)
Evidence/explanation
Strength of weakness?
H/W exam practice
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Some tension has arisen at a college because the Principal has allowed Mr
Page’s class to go on a special trip but Mr Wood’s class has not been
allowed to go. The Principal’s decision has caused lots of resentment
amongst staff and students alike. Mr Page and his class are looking
forward to the trip but are getting lots of hostility from the other class.

Use your understanding of prejudice and/or obedience to explain this
situation. (6 marks)