Ib Psychology Sociocultural Notes
SAQ OUTLINE: Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behavior.
• Definition: Stereotypes assign similar characteristics to all members of a group, despite the fact that the group members may vary widely from one another.
• Characteristics:
• social-cognitive theories:
• our social world is very complex and presents us with too much information
• since our capacity to process information is limited, there is a need to simplify our social way
• one of the way to avoid information overload is social categorization
• these are stereotypes
• Stereotypes simplify information processing in social perception
• stereotypes are schemas as they: are energy-saving devices, automatically activated, stable and resistant to change, affect behavior.
• Not stable across cluture
Studies
COHEN
Cohen presented participants with a videotape showing a woman having dinner with her husband. Half the participants were told that the woman was a waitress and the rest that she was a librarian. At a later memory test, participants showed better recall for stereotype- consistent information. Those who thought she was a waitress remembered her beer drinking. Participants who thought she was a librarian were more likely to remember that she was wearing glasses and was listening to classical music. Like the studies on the effects of schemas, Cohen’s study shows that we are likely to notice and subsequently remember information which is consistent with our stereotypes.
FISKE AND DYER
Like all schemas, stereotypes are formed over time on the basis of relevant experiences. For Fiske and Dyer (1985), stereotype formation begins with the learning of independent schema elements. For example, the formation of a gender schema for ‘female’ begins with isolated elements such as ‘girls dress in pink’ and ‘girls play with dolls’ whereas, ‘boys dress in blue and play with cars’. With advancing age additional elements are added, such as information about
• Definition: Stereotypes assign similar characteristics to all members of a group, despite the fact that the group members may vary widely from one another.
• Characteristics:
• social-cognitive theories:
• our social world is very complex and presents us with too much information
• since our capacity to process information is limited, there is a need to simplify our social way
• one of the way to avoid information overload is social categorization
• these are stereotypes
• Stereotypes simplify information processing in social perception
• stereotypes are schemas as they: are energy-saving devices, automatically activated, stable and resistant to change, affect behavior.
• Not stable across cluture
Studies
COHEN
Cohen presented participants with a videotape showing a woman having dinner with her husband. Half the participants were told that the woman was a waitress and the rest that she was a librarian. At a later memory test, participants showed better recall for stereotype- consistent information. Those who thought she was a waitress remembered her beer drinking. Participants who thought she was a librarian were more likely to remember that she was wearing glasses and was listening to classical music. Like the studies on the effects of schemas, Cohen’s study shows that we are likely to notice and subsequently remember information which is consistent with our stereotypes.
FISKE AND DYER
Like all schemas, stereotypes are formed over time on the basis of relevant experiences. For Fiske and Dyer (1985), stereotype formation begins with the learning of independent schema elements. For example, the formation of a gender schema for ‘female’ begins with isolated elements such as ‘girls dress in pink’ and ‘girls play with dolls’ whereas, ‘boys dress in blue and play with cars’. With advancing age additional elements are added, such as information about