GCSE Psychology
Stereotyping, prejudice and
discrimination
Student: ________________
Tutor: __________________________
Unit 1: Making sense of other people
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What is Stereotyping?
A stereotype is a shared belief about the characteristics of those who belong to a particular
social or physical group.
Activity 1
Complete the table below by selecting three
characteristics from the box below it, which in your
opinion best describe people of each nationality. You
can use the characteristics more than once.
Irish people
English people
German people
American people
Japanese people
Italian people
Eat lots of pasta
Eat lots of fish
Are jolly
Drink Guiness
Are generous
Drink a lot
Watch football
Watch baseball
Do well in business
Have large cars and houses
Are hard working
Are grumpy
Eat a lot
Have dark hair
Are miserable
Have blue eyes
Are intelligent
Are strict
Are friendly
Wear suits
Have blonde hair
Are short
Dress scruffily
Dress smartly
When you have completed Activity 1, compare it with others – did you have
similar ideas about the nationalities listed?
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Activity 2
Can you think of some examples of stereotypes to do with occupation?
List 3, and describe what they are like.
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Activity 3
Imagine you are reading a newspaper and the main headline is that two girls,
aged seven, have been expelled from school for aggressive behaviour. Why
do you think this would cause more controversy than if it were about two
boys of the same age?
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What type of stereotype is shown in each picture?
This is Tiffany. She wants to marry a footballer. What type
of stereotype does she have?
Tracy’s mum tells her not to worry, ‘I will take you to the
doctor, you can tell him how you feel and where it hurts,
he will have a look at you and tell you what is wrong.
What type of stereotype does Tracy’s mum have?
‘Cats!’ says Mrs Grimsdale. ‘They’re a right nuisance, come in your garden
and scratch up your flower beds and scare the birds off the bird table.
They’re trouble, every one of them!’ What kind of stereotype does she
have?
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Activity 4
Imagine you are on holiday. You are in the swimming pool with your
friends/family and you start to splash each other. Another holidaymaker
who is sitting at the edge of the pool, who is foreign but speaks very good
English, does not look happy at you splashing each other. You hear her say
to her friend:
‘Typical English.’
Is this fair? Are you going to be treated fairly?
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Where might this stereotype have come from?
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How can this lead to problems with the use of stereotypes? Is she treating
you as an individual?
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A disadvantage of stereotypes is that they can lead to people not being treated as individuals,
but being treated in a negative way because it is assume that they have characteristics linked
to a group they are a member of, such as ‘English tourists who drink too much and have bad
manners’
More disadvantages include:
 They are usually oversimplified
 They lead us to make assumptions about others when we know very little
about them
 They affect what we remember and forget about other people
 They lead us to view members of out-groups (groups we don’t belong to)
in a negative way, leading to prejudice and discrimination.
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However, stereotypes can have advantages too:
 One advantage of a stereotype is that it can enable us to respond quickly
to situations because we may have had a similar experience before
 Using stereotypes is a simple way of organising and remembering
information about other people
 It reduces the amount of cognitive effort we need to make (for example,
thinking)
 They help us to interpret unknown information about someone else
 They provide us with a sense of belonging to a group, because of our
share beliefs about people in other groups
Holding a stereotype about a person can lead to prejudice, and can allow the
person being stereotyped to be treated unfairly. This can lead to prejudice and
discrimination.
EXAM STYLE QUESTION
Read the conversation below:
Boy A: I was speaking to my granddad the other day on the
telephone and told him that I was going to start supporting my
favourite football team and going to watch them play. He said he
was worried that I would change as a person.
Boy B: Why did he say that, do you think?
Boy A: Because he said he thought that I was going to turn into a
football hooligan.
What is meant by stereotyping? Refer to the example above in your
explanation.
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Activity 5
Can you pick out the positive stereotypes and the negative stereotypes from
the list below?
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All black people are great baseball players
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All immigrants in the UK are on benefits
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All Latinos dance well
What are prejudice and discrimination?
KEY TERMS
Prejudice – an attitude,
which is usually negative,
towards a particular group of
people, based on
characteristics that are
assumed to be common to all
members of the group.
Discrimination – treating
people unfavourably on the
basis of their membership of
a particular group.
AQA Examiner’s Tip
It is important to learn what is
meant by practical implications.
In the exam you are very likely to
be asked to give the practical
implications of a theory at least
once. ‘Practical implications’
means ‘if this research is true,
what does it suggest about
behaviour in real life’.
Prejudice can be positive or negative, but psychologists have mainly
concerned themselves with the negative aspects of prejudice, because
of their damaging effects, such as racism, the holocaust (the Nazis’
mass murder of Jews during World War II) and other more recent
cases of genocide since then
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What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?
Prejudice is a negative attitude, and discrimination as the resultant behaviour.
Give an example of a prejudiced attitude
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Give an example of discrimination
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Hint If you find this difficult, think of the example of the Nazis’ mass murder of the
Jews – what was the attitude of the Nazis, and how did they discriminate against
them?
Explanations of and research into Prejudice and
Discrimination
Key Study: Adorno et al (1950) –
Authoritarian Personality
Aim:
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Method: …………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Results: …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Conclusion: ………………………………………………………………………………………
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Evaluation
Adorno’s identification of child-rearing style does not appear to be widely applicable
because ………………………………………………………………………………………………… , and some
prejudiced people show ……………………………………………………………………………………………....
……………………………………………………………… Also, he found only a …………………………………………..
between child-rearing style and the authoritarian personality.
The authoritarian personality also fails to explain ……….. many people are prejudiced, nor
does it explain why we are …………………………………………………………………………………………….…
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Research Methods
The Adorno study is an example of an interview – a description
of the features and its strengths and weaknesses can be found
on p 178 of the textbook – write this in your Research
Methods workbook. Also fill in the definition of a correlation,
and give one advantage and one disadvantage of using a
correlation.
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Social Identity Theory
We categorise people into our own group (the in-group) and the other
group (the out-group). Henri Tajfel called this social categorisation
and it is the first step in the stereotyping process. He says that we
focus on the differences between our in-group and the out-group.
KEY TERMS
Self-esteem – how we think and feel about ourselves.
Self-image – how you see yourself and how you believe others see you.
Activity 6
There may be a number of groups of which you are, or are not a member.
Decide which of the groups below is an ‘in-group’ and which of the groups is
an ‘out-group’. Tick as many as you like.
In-group
Out-group
Psychology students
Hairdressing students
GCSE students
People who live in
Grimsby
People who live out of
town
Sporty
Not sporty
Trendy
Group of friends
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What’s good about in-groups?
Tajfel says that the groups we belong to are an important source of pride and self-esteem,
they give us our social identity, a sense of belonging in the social world.
In order to increase our self-image, we raise the value of the groups to which we belong – in
other words we believe our own groups are the best, because then we feel better about
being in our group.
When our group is successful, we believe it is because our group is the best. When our group
fails, we believe that was due to some reason outside of our group eg the other group
cheated, or the wind was against us.
basketball players
Gill (1980) studied the reasons people gave for success and failure by asking female
basketball players what they thought caused their wins and losses. The players said wins
were due to the ability of the team, but they blamed failure on the other team. Gill
concluded that people give reasons for failure that protect their self-esteem.
Tajfel explains prejudice as being due to competition between groups, especially when
resources are rare, e.g. when jobs are scarce people are more prejudiced against immigrants.
This can be explained by the idea of inter-group conflict or by scapegoating?
Key Study
Sherif et al (1961) ‘Robbers Cave Study’ – inter-group conflict’
Aim:
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Method: …………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Results: …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Conclusion: ………………………………………………………………………………………
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Evaluation
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EXAM STYLE QUESTION
Using your knowledge of psychology, give one explanation for
prejudice/discrimination.
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Another question might ask you to ‘describe and evaluate one study in which
prejudice and discrimination were investigated’ – which study would you use?
Make sure you know the key studies, and their strengths and limitations.
Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination
Key Study: Aronson et al (1978) ‘Jigsaw
Classroom Study’
Aim:
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Method: …………………………………………………………………………………………..
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Results: …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Conclusion: ………………………………………………………………………………………
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What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to consider the emotions and feelings of another person.n For example
if you saw someone being bullied and you could sense how they feel about being hurt and
humiliated, then you are able to ‘put yourself in their shoes’, and feel empathy.
Jane Elliott wanted her class of American nine-year-olds to experience prejudice and
discrimination, so that they would feel empathy with black people.
Key Study: Elliott (1977) ‘Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes’ – creating empathy
Aim: …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Method:
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Results: …………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Conclusion: ………………………………………………………………………………………
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Who did these key studies?
Without looking back, see if you can match the psychologist’s name to
the study:
Elliott, Aronson, Sherif
Study
Name of psychologist How was prejudice
reduced in this study?
Robbers Cave Study
Blue Eyes, Brown
Eyes’
‘Jigsaw Classroom
Study’
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Test yourself
1. Define what is meant by the terms stereotyping, prejudice and
discrimination.
2. State one example of a positive stereotype and one example of a
negative stereotype.
3. Outline one difference between prejudice and discrimination.
4. What did Adorno say were the characteristics of a person with an
authoritarian personality?
5. What is the difference between an ‘in-group’ and an ‘out-group’
according to Tajfel?
6. What happened in Sherif’s Robbers Cave Study?
7. How can prejudice be reduced? Outline one explanation.
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KEY POINTS TO STRUCTURE REVISION
-Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination
Can you define these terms?
◊ Stereotying
◊ Prejudice
◊ Descrimination
Examiner’s tip: When defining a term, for each extra
mark you should add a new point in your answer.
Can you explain at least one advantage and at least one disadvantage of stereotyping?
Can you describe the following studies of prejudice and discrimination?
◊ Adorno and the authoritarian personality (including the F-scale);
◊ Tajfel and his theory of in-groups and out-groups;
◊ Sherif and his theory of conflict between groups (Robbers Cave);
Examiner’s tip: When asked to describe a study in the exam,
you may be asked for: the reason why the study was
conducted (the aim), the method used, the results obtained
and the conclusion drawn, or you may be asked for a
combination of these components.
Can you evaluate the above-named studies?
Can you describe ways of reducing prejudice and discrimination using the evidence from
studies including the work of the following:
◊ Sherif
◊ Aronson
◊ Elliot
◊ Harwood
Examiner’s tip: You do not need to remember the dates of
studies.
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Can you evaluate the above ways of reducing prejudice and discrimination?
Examiner’s tip: Remember that evaluations can be positive,
negative or both.
Can you explain at least two practical implications of research into stereotyping, prejudice
and discrimination? What are the their benefits and drawback?
Acknowledging: Understanding Psychology, 3rd Edition by Barbara Woods,
Nigel Holt, Rob Lewis and Victoria Carrington, published by Hodder
Education.
GCSE Psychology, Mike Stanley, Karen Boswell, Sarah Harris, Dominic
Helliwell and Joanne McKenzie (23 Jul 2009), published by Nelson Thorne.
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Useful websites
Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination
ChangingMinds.org, the largest site in the world on all aspects of how we change what others
think, believe, feel and do. There are already around 5000 pages here, all free and with much
more to come!
http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/stereotypes.htm
accessed 28/10/10
UnderstandingPrejudice.org, a web site for students, teachers, and
others interested in the causes and consequences of prejudice.
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/
accessed 28/10/10
Information on: discrimination because of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex and
sexuality; when is discrimination lawful or unlawful; taking action; discrimination in providing
goods, services, education and housing.
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/discrimination.htm accessed
28/10/10
Show Racism the Red Card! Welcome to the website of Show
Racism the Red Card, the campaign that uses top footballers to
educate against racism.
http://www.srtrc.org/
accessed 28/10/10
About Equal Opportunites is a website with information on discrimination
linked to age, gender, race, ability, religion, sexuality etc.
http://www.aboutequalopportunities.co.uk/ageism.html accessed 28/10/10
Scapegoating When problems occur, people do not like to blame themselves. They will thus actively seek
scapegoats onto whom we can displace our aggression. These may be out-group individuals or even entire
groups. Like bullies, we will often pick on powerless people who cannot easily resist. Scapegoating increases
when people are frustrated and seeking an outlet for their anger. Once cast as a scapegoat it can be difficult to
shake off the classification http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/scapegoat_theory.htm accessed
28/10/10
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Glossary – write a definition for these key terms
Stereotype
Prejudice
Discrimination
Self-esteem
Self-image
Empathy
Authoritarian personality
Social categorisation
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