Psychology 2070A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: English Canadian, Mass Media, Ambivalent Sexism

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2070A/B
• Professor: o

Document Summary

The key element in the cognitive view of prejudice is stereotypes: stereotypes are individuals" beliefs that members of a group share particular attributes. Stereotypes efficiently provide us with information about target persons that can guide behavior; they allow us to make rapid inferences about target persons. We may assume too much uniformity or similarity within groups of people, especially with respect to large collections such as ethic groups, genders and occupations. When we rely on stereotypes to categorized and draw inferences about targets, we frequently make assumptions about them that are wrong: excessive negativity. Often unfavorable because stereotypes may refer to groups that are believed to be competing with the perceiver"s group for desired resources. People may be unfamiliar with members of the targeted group and feel anxious or uncomfortable when interacting with them. Stereotypes can distort information processing in several ways: one way is by affecting what perceivers notice about members of the stereotyped group.