Understanding Intercultural
Communication Second Edition
Chapter 8
What Causes Us to Hold Biases
Against Outgroups?
Stella Ting-Toomey & Leeva C. Chung
Revised by Ron Compton
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
PowerPoint Slides Designed by Alex Flecky and Noorie Baig
TODAY’S MENU
I.
Human Perception Tendencies:
Some General Principles
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables
I. Human Perception Tendencies:
Some General Principles
Human Perception:
• Process of selecting cues quickly from the
environment, organizing them into a coherent
pattern and labeling that pattern, and
interpreting that pattern in accordance with
our expectation.
Quick Three-Step Process:
• Selective Attention
• Selective Organization and Labeling
• Selective Interpretation
Perception Test
Awareness Test - YouTube.com
How many times does the team
wearing white pass the basketball?
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
A. Ethnocentrism and Communication
Ethnocentrism: derived from two Greek
words:
Ethno: “one’s own ethnic or cultural group”
Centrism: “One’s own group should be
looked upon as the center of the world”
Degrees of Ethnocentrism:
• Distance of Disparagement High Ethnocentrism
• Distance of Avoidance
Moderate Ethnocentrism
• Distance of Indifference
Low Ethnocentrism
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)
Developed by Janet Bennett & Milton Bennett
A Popular Intercultural Training Model:
• Three states of ethnocentrism
• Three states in development of
ethnorelativism
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Stereotype Content Model (SCM):
Formed along two dimensions:
• Perception of Warmth Dimension
• Perception of Competence Dimension
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
A Two-Dimensional Stereotype Content Model
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Stereotyping is Inevitable; Key is to
Distinguish between Inflexible and
Flexible Stereotyping.
• Inflexible Stereotyping: Holds onto
negative stereotypes by operating on
automatic pilot.
• Flexible Stereotyping: “Mindfully
minding our mind.”
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Table 8.1
Inflexible Stereotyping
Flexible Stereotyping
Automatic pilot reaction
Mindful of categorization
Rigid categories
Open-ended categories
Premature closure
First best-guesses
Polarized evaluations
Loose interpretations
Information distortion
Information openness
Unwilling to change
categories
Willingness to change
categories
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
Click here to view UCLA student Alexandra
Wallace’s rant on Asian students in the library
• What are your interpretations?
• Apology accepted? Forgive & forget?
Forgive but not forget?
Click here to view Jimmy Wong’s reaction to
Alexandra Wallace
• What did you think of Wong’s response to
Alex?
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
B. Stereotypes and Communication
Stereotypes:
• Exaggerated pictures about a group of people on
the basis of inflexible beliefs and expectations
about the characteristics or behaviors of the
group.
• What are some factors that shape stereotypes?
Clip from The Color of Friendship
[No Longer Available on YouTube]
III. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
Ingroup and Outgroup Attribution Differences
III. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
A. Us versus Them
Social Identity Theory:
Study of ingroup, outgroup
membership, how emotional attachment
to social group plays key role in forming
social/personal identity.
Ingroup: Feel connected to.
Outgroup: Feel emotionally and
psychologically detached.
III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
B. Group Membership Struggle
C. Intergroup Attribution Biases
Attributions: The explanations—the
meanings of why people behave as they do.
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Principle of Negativity
• Favorable Self-Bias and
Other-Derogation Principle
• Self-Effacement Bias
III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
Directed by
Paul Haggis;
Story by
Haggis
Lionsgate
2004
III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
Media Analysis: Crash Film Clip
“Blind Fear,” “Nice Gun” Scenes
5:55 – 14:20
Reflection Questions:
•
•
•
Where did the wife acquire her fear and
biases?
Do you think stereotypes—both negative
and positive—have their place? How so?
Where do we learn our stereotypes?
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
Prejudice:
Describes an individual’s feelings and
predispositions toward outgroup members in a
pejorative or negative direction, but can also
mean the opposite: One can be indiscriminately
for or against members of a particular group.
Four Explanations – Develop. of Prejudice:
•
•
•
•
Exploitation Theory
Scapegoating Theory
Authoritarian Personality Approach
Structural approach
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
B. Prejudiced Remarks . . .or Innocent Jokes?
Click here to watch a clip on how some ingroup
members treat their own members like outgroup
members.*
Where to draw the line question is difficult
to answer. . .
Click here to move toward the conscious
competence stage with respect to stereotyping,
prejudice and discrimination.*
(*Caution – these clips contain offensive language.)
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
C. Four Discriminatory Practices
Discrimination:
Verbal and nonverbal actions that carry
out prejudiced attitudes.
Four Practices:
• Isolate Discrimination:
• Small-Group Discrimination
• Direct Institutional Discrimination
• Indirect Institutional Discrimination
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
D. Different Types of Racism
Racism involves three principles:
• Feelings of superiority based on biological or
racial differences;
• Strong ingroup preferences and the rejection
of outgroups, different in customs or beliefs;
• Doctrine that conveys special advantage to
those in power.
Three Basic Examples of Racism:
• Racial Profiling
• Perpetuating Stereotypic Images
• Hate Crimes
Media Analyses
 “Strangers” (7:06; Nonverbal)
“This short film is inspirational and relevant to
stereotypes and perceptions.”
 Red
House Furniture Store (1:30)
“Can’t We All Just Get Along?!” Commercial
Humor - Stereotyping, Ingroups/Outgroups
 “A
Class Divided” (PBS Documentary)
Broadcast: March 26, 1985
Racism & Exclusion – 3rd Grade Class Activity
1. “The Daring Lesson” (10:27)
2. “Day Two” (9:51)
V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables
•
Be honest about your own biases.
•
Understand where you learn your stereotypes.
•
Seek accurate identity membership knowledge.
•
Get involved in diverse identity communities.
•
Cultivate constructive, intergroup contacts.
•
Work on positive, interdependent task goals.
•
Personalized the relationships & build trust.
•
Learn to listen and share…
Parting Thoughts…
In spite of everything I still believe that people are
really good at heart.
I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation
consisting of confusion, misery and death.
~ Anne Frank