A Setting Of A Jungle Gym

The author of this piece is Dr. Gordon Allport. He is the former head of Harvard’s Department of Psychology as well as the founding father of social psychology. Allport published many books including The Nature of Prejudice (1954). The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that in-groups are everywhere and identity is based on our in-groups. This essay is an excerpt from the book The Nature of Prejudice in 1954 and is a credible source because the principles Allport discussed are still studied by psychologists and researchers today. In the essay, Allport speaks of reference groups and how it relates to in-groups. According to Allport reference groups are the group that an individual wishes to be apart of, but an in-group is

The social identity theory (SIT) was proposed by Taifel and later on established by Taifel and Turner (1971) to better understand the intergroup relations and group processes. The SIT is based on the assumption that people may try to improve their self-image by trying to boost their self-esteem, based on either personal or social identities that may be caused by either in-groups or out-groups. Several studies have investigated the social identity theory, including experiments such as the Tajfel (1970), Howarth (2002), and Cialdini et al. (1976). These studies show how they have demonstrated the minimal group model created by in-group bias; investigated the tendency to associate one’s self publicly with successful others; and showed how social representations of where you live can affect the social identity juvenile girls. This essay will evaluate the strengths and limitations of the social identity theory by using the studies above.

Devine, P. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5-18.

Social identity is a theory which explains how people develop a sense of belong and membership to a group. Individual’s social identity is part of their self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership of a social group together with the emotional significance attached to that membership (Forsyth, 13). People are influenced on the group they belong to. Belonging to the in-group makes a person feel good because they belong somewhere in this group and allows them to feel important. The out-group is where people feel to be, they do not belong to a group and have feeling of exclusion and are often times treated more harshly than someone who belongs to the ingroup. This bias of favoring the ingroup relative to the outgroup leads to false impressions being made and stereotypes forming. Stereotypes help us navigate the world around us by providing a quick representation of what we think a person is like. This does not mean our perceptions are always correct and occasionally, this quick mental shortcut can get us into trouble. For example, the film 12 Angry Men stereotyping was rampant among the jury. When a stereotype is used it can cause a disruption of procedures. Instead, of inspecting all the evidence with an objective eye a bias can allow for systematic

Unfortunately, we are constantly being judge in the eyes of others that we begin to judge ourselves in a negative way. Each racial group has their own stereotypes being given whether they are each positive or negative. In this essay, I will examine the negative effects stereotypes create and how they lead into racism, discrimination and social identity. When a person discovers their identity the individual will begin stereotyping themselves and others which creates negative issues such as racism and discrimination. Stereotypes are developed when people are incapable of obtaining all the information being needed to make unbiased judgments

It has been demonstrated by previous research that the illusory correlation in stereotype formation is to separate groups in a meaningful way (Ford & Tonander, 1998). Attributes can become strongly associated in memory when the difference of groups is high. Stereotypes are used to maximize self-esteem by differentiating into an in-group and an out-group as

The acknowledgment of group conformity dates back at least to the 17th century all the way to the present, including psychologists who conducted series of social psychology experiments such as the Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, Solomon Asch, Phillip Zimbardo, James A. F. Stoner and many more. It is important to have an understanding of group dynamics and how they can hinder the ability and willingness of a group to think critically of itself, to look outside itself for help, and to act in ways that might compromise the equilibrium or status-quo. Solomon Ash, Phillip Zimbardo, James stoner and Stanley Milgram studies show how shows how group identification and pressure can override realistic assessment of different courses of thought and action; leading to conformity.

The Problem with society is that we cannot accept that we are all different. Many people have seen others as different from themselves but feel that they are in the majority of people that are alike. This can be called social discrimination. Stereotypes are prevalent in society. Stereotypes are inevitable and unpreventable. As we accept that we are always under scrutiny in others eyes we begin to examine ourselves. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of stereotyping and discover how they lead to greater social identity. Once they learn their identity they find themselves stereotyping themselves and others.

Much of the research available focused on the psychological effects and findings related to SJT as well as the effects this theory can have within the legal system. It can be understood that the continued justification of inequalities can alter ones psyche. Researchers have examined the degree to which SJT can alter ones psyche in regard to self-esteem, the effects of stereotyping, ambivalence toward groups and cognitive dissonance. Jost and Burgess (2000) studied the degree to which in-group ambivalence could be felt dependent on which group the member was a part of. According to their findings, ambivalence within group members was higher for members of low status groups as opposed to those in high status groups. This finding was associated

Cognitive Bases of StereotypingThe Relationship between Categorization and Prejudice Shelley E. Taylor & Hsiao-Ti Falcone

Research has shown that groups display tendencies to benefit members their own group, often at the expense of others. Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini (2015) state, “Unfortunately, the tendency to favor the members of one’s own group and dislike outsiders is universal” (p. 441). This tendency oftentimes leads to discrimination. Jane Elliot dramatically portrays this in a dubious classroom experiment. Ms. Elliot divided her third graders into two groups, those with blue eyes, and those with brown eyes. She then favored one group and denigrated the other. The negative environment created by Ms. Elliot affected he children who almost immediately began to display in-group bias. Those who were in the “superior” position, the blue-eyed children, favored their group and disparaged the “out-group.” The children began teasing the out-group and even suggested a yard-stick be used if a member of the out-group got “out-of-hand” (Peters, 1985, para

In the text “Cultural Stereotypes and the Self: A Closer Examination of Implicit Self-Stereotyping, the authors show research which attempts to show that individuals may unknowingly associate in-group stereotypes with themselves as well as unknowingly associating themselves with group stereotypes. Two experiments were conducted to help support this theory. Experiment one was conducted with all women, while experiment two was conducted with both men and women; all white and all using a sequential subliminal priming task to capture the results. Both experiments showed that “women and White Americans implicitly self-stereotype on both positive and negative traits” (Cogburn, Lun, Sinclair, 2009, page 125). However, they did not find a consistent

Stereotyping can be a useful tool in how human beings navigate the world, however it can have negative impact on our social lives. Stereotyping was an important evolutionary tool for our ancestors to learn to adapt and survive. Stereotyping creates general rules that we can access through memory when we are presented with something that we need to interact with, and people use stereotypes to interpret their surroundings. However, when people use stereotyping against groups of people who may be different from them, it can create negative prejudices. Many social psychologists have studied prejudices and what types of psychological tools that can be used to bypass prejudices.

Generally speaking, bias comes in three forms: 1) prejudice, or generally negative feelings and evaluations of individuals because of their group membership; 2) stereotypes, which are overgeneralized beliefs about the characteristics of group members; 3) discrimination or inequitable treatment. Bias may also be conscious and intentional (explicit) or unconscious and automatically activated (implicit). 25 It is understood that people “acquire stereotypes to help them satisfy the goal of processing and storing information in a manner that is efficient and economical in terms of the mental energy and time

The Robbers Cave Experiment was developed by famous social psychologist, Muzafer Sherif. Back in the 50th Sherif asked himself the question, what is it exactly about groups that makes for such tension between them and what can be done to reduce that tension. Well, Sherif and his collies decided to take this question outside the lab and outside to the ‘’real world’’ using preadolescent boys of age 11 and 12. He put on a fake summer camp with two different groups of boys containing about 20 boys each. The first week of this camp they separated the boys and the boys didn’t know the existence of the other group. They focused on group bonding and as expected about a week of activities brought these individuals together as a group. AT the second