Lucia Suquia

15.09.2016

OB Workshop 1
Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination: how they affect the workplace
Any aspect of identity can be labeled
-

Anyone can be targeted

Anyone is part of a stereotype group

Discrimination:
behavioral
Prejudice: affective
Stereotype: cognitive

Stereotypes: generalization about group of people in which a trait is

assigned to everyone

Relatively stable: does not change easily

Culturally shared knowledge

How is a stereotype formed? SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION

-

Limited capacity in brain so we create little chunks of information. Its

our brains way of coping with processing information.

Intra-group heterogeneity: See differences within the members a group

because we are part of the group.
Out-group homogeneity: See all members of a group as the same
because we are not in that group.
Where do we learn stereotypes?
a. Through trusted others
o Teach us implicitly and explicitly what roles people perform in
society
o Through socialization
b. Through social media: shows representations of reality (TV series,
internet)
c. Through limited exposure to other groups: Lack of exposure
o Choices
o Life circumstances
Out group homogeneity effect: we tend to see people who are in other
groups as more similar to one another than the people in the groups we
belong to.

Lucia Suquia

15.09.2016

Stereotyping is a natural human process and it is helpful because:

-

It reduces complexity
Provides information: heuristic value
Makes the world more predictable

When there is emotional involvement with stereotypes = PREJUDICE

Prejudice: Negative attitude towards group of people based solely on their
membership in that group.
Why do stereotypes turn into prejudices?
1. Social identity theory: We categorize and define ourselves through
group membership because it gives us self-esteem in group bias.
a. Group bias: positive feeling and special treatment for ingroup people.
b. Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate
against the out-group to enhance their self-image
Social identity is a persons sense of who they are based on their group
membership(s).
Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football
team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and
self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging
to the social world.
In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to
which we belong. For example, England is the best country in the world!
We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice
views against the out group (the group we dont belong to). For example,
the Americans, French etc. are a bunch of losers!
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
2. Realistic conflict theory: roles reflect social, political and
environmental factors and changes
a. Limited resources give rise to conflict between groups and
result in prejudice and discrimination
b. Especially pronounced in case of competition and/or tension
between groups (scarce jobs for example)
Implicit association test: measures implicit prejudices (IAT)

Measures attitudes that people might be unwilling/unable to report

Are we at mercy of our associations? The brain either works automatically or

through controlled processes, so we either rely on:
A. Automatic information (stereotypes)
B. Controlled processes (we willingly try to ignore stereotypes)

Lucia Suquia

15.09.2016

We automate when:
-

Pressed for time

Preoccupied
Tired
Emotionally aroused

Factors that bias our perception:

1. Attention: we can only store so much information
2. Illusory correlations: judgmental brains
3. Confirmation bias: resistant to change
How to revise our biased stereotypical beliefs?: Presenting disconfirming
information.
-

Bookkeeping model: each piece of information gradually modifies a

persons beliefs
Conversion model: powerful, salient piece of information that radically
changes beliefs
Subtyping model: new subtype stereotype is create to accommodate
beliefs

How prejudice affects us:

-

Influence behavior of people who do not necessarily believe in them

Influence behavior of people in stereotyped group

Stereotype threat: Anxiety that ones behavior might confirm a negative

cultural stereotype.
-

Creates performance deficits

Depends on activated mind-set
Pronounced when domain is important to self.

How to reduce prejudice:

The contact hypothesis: bringing members of different groups into
contact (must be pleasant and positive.)
Six conditions when contact reduces prejudice:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Mutual independence
Common goal
Equal statues
Informal interpersonal contact

Discrimination: negative, unjustified action towards a member of a group

(racism, sexism)
Can be institutional:

Lucia Suquia
-

15.09.2016

Where stereotypical information abounds and discriminatory behavior

is the norm
o Normative conformity: try to conform to rules of
organization

Best workplace practices to avoid discrimination:

-

Monitor statistics
Broaden recruitment base
Multiple/ diverse interviewers
Transparency and norms.

Take aways:

Stereotypes are generalizations about people based on their

membership in certain groups
They stem from our need to categorized and reduce complexity, but
they can result in prejudice.