PSYC12H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Kwadukuza, Cognitive Dissonance, Contact Hypothesis
Document Summary
Chapter 2: origin and maintenance of stereotypes and prejudice. Kurt lewin: suggest social science ought to have strong applied focus w/ aim of addressing social problems and informing social policy and legislation w/ goal of improving welfare of humanity. Stereotyping was once regarded as a sign of moral deficiency of the stereotyper/ even as an indicator of repressed unconscious hostility. Cognitive psychologists found that human brain seems to almost automatically classify/ categorize similar obj in the environ: pervasive and shown in 6 year olds. Reason: humans have a limited- capacity cognitive system that cant simultaneously process all available info in our social environment. Assumptions suggest hair colour will lead to some similarity in behavior, personality/ attitudes among category members. More likely to be involved in fun activities/ any combo of the 3 in social perception process, there are many factors that bias the way we perceive and evaluate other ppl. Outgroup: group to which we do not belong.
