Direct and Indirect Measurements of Stereotypes
Analyzing the use of Direct and Indirect Measurements of Stereotypical Behaviors
In the direct measurement of stereotypes, such as the free response, scientists must ask if it is a reliable measurement of stereotypes. Many people may answer a free question regarding a particular group, but answers may be given to the tester of what the tested may what the tester to hear. For example, if a behavioral scientist were to ask a student his or hers feelings regarding African Americans, the student may state what is perceived as the ‘right’ answer at the time, so the scientist does not project the student as a bigot, racist, discriminatory or stereotypic. Therefore, according to David J. Schneider (2004), “free responses are not ideal measures” (35). In another explanation with free response measurements, educated college students may experience direct associations with groups, thus being less stereotypical or will not produce stereotypic answers because of the understanding of cultural differences or denying negative feelings of stereotypes, i.e. believing that “African Americans […] get more than they deserve and deny individual responsibility rather than negative qualities per se” (as cited in Schneider, 2004, p35). However, in situations such as the above aforementioned, analysis on stereotypical behaviors is difficult to measure without falsifying or manipulating data.
Another example in the Katz and Braly (1933) study of direct measure is the use of cultural experiences of certain group types. However, being suggestive, is this plausibly a direct measure of stereotypes? If the author was given a survey asking if Asian males were 1. Smart in mathematics; 2. Short 3. Pushy, 4...
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... took approximately six months, but shows that explicit measure, according to Schneider (2004), “is more prone to recall information that is associated with the stereotype” (p. 60), and thus “can be taken as measures of existence of stereotypes” (Schneider, 2004, p. 60), which the subject revealed – and the original reason for the direct association with the subject and study by the author.
References
Bing. (2014, May 14). Defintion of Black. Retrieved from Bing Dictionary: http://www.bing.com/search?q=defintion+of+black&qs=n&form=QBRE&pq=defintion+of+black&sc=8-13&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=ee530a0c2bd9434b8322824359f6f4a7
Monteith, M. J., & Spicer, C.V. (2000). Contents and Correlates of Whites' and Blacks' Racial Attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 125-154.
Schneider, D. J. (2004). The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York: The Guilford Press.
perpetuate in different social groups. Stereotype threat, as defined by Steele, is “being at risk of
The IAT test follows chapter 13 in the realms of stereotyping, self-fulfilling prophecies, and dispositional attributions. Each assessment forced me to categorize words and symbols, following the definition of stereotyping (categorizing people). Along th...
Stereotypes are everywhere and can often create problems for people, however they become even more detrimental with teens, especially at schools. Writer and science correspondent for the NRA, Shankar Vedantam, in his article, “How a Self-Fulfilling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance,” explains that stereotypes can hurt the performance of the one that it is associated with. He supports his claim by first explaining that how well people do on tests are determined on who administers the questions, then he explains that studies show that when people take tests and they are reminded of negative stereotypes that associate with them, then they don’t do as well, and finally he states that the studies are being widely ignored by all the people which should take heed of the findings, such as test makers and college acceptance people. Vedantam’s purpose is to tell you about the research conducted by Huang in order to inform you that stereotypes can affect performance on tests.
Steele, C. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 6, 613-629.
The method primarily used throughout research was the Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test is a measure used in the study of social psychology that is used to predict a person’s first association between different mental representations in one’s memory. In these particular studies the IAT is used to detect one’s behaviors, judgements, and decisions suggestive of ethnic and racial discrimination (Oswald, Mitchell, Blanton, Jaccard, & Tetlock, 2007). This test is usually done through technology. In the race IAT, participants would sit in front of the computer and be shown a variety of black faces and white faces. They were also told that one button on the keyboard is associated with the word “old” (negative),
A stereotype can have multiple meanings, but one of the most prevailing definitions is that it assumes that groups are representable through a consolidated
Inzlicht, Michael. Stereotype threat: theory, process, and application. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
If we look at stereotyping in terms of sociology and psychology we can get a clearer look what stereotyping is and its types, in which people engage in naturally. People form stereotypes based on social interactions. We can also see how non-thoughtful and thoughtful stereotyping happens. How does it affect human relationships and how customers in a restaurant or a hotel setting affect the customer service that is received. As well as how to manage the guest expectations to understand their values and reduce problems.
Numerous research and investigations were conducted on the topic of stereotype threat. In the articles connected to this paper, experiments were performed to see how stereotype threat affected test results. During tests some participants were exposed to variables that activated a negative stereotype while others were not. Those exposed to the negative stereotype had lower results. Therefore stereotype threat resulted in weaker performance. It is proven the threat exists but so...
The first characteristic of stereotyping is over-generalisation. A number of studies conducted found that different combinations of traits were associated with groups of different ethnic and national origin (Katz and Braly, 1933). However, stereotyping does not imply that all members of a group are judged in these ways, just that a typical member of a group can be categorised in such judgements, that they possess the characteristics of the group. Still, when we talk of a group, we do so by imagining a member of that group.
The term “stereotype” originally referred to a stamp used in the printing industry to make multiple copies from one single block. The first one to adopt this notion, to describe the way society categorized people, was social psychologist Walter Lippmann in 1922, in his book on media democracy, Public Opinion. He described the term as “the picture (of the world) that a person has in his/her head”. He was convinced that a picture it is definite, and reduces the world to simple characteristics which are represented as permanent by nature (Lippmann, 1997 [1922], p. 233).
“Stereotypes unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account” (Schaefer 40). Stereotypes can be positive, but are usually associated with negative beliefs or actions such as racial profiling.
According to Baron, Byrne & Suls in their book Attitudes: Evaluating the social world. (1989) they defined the term Social Psychology as “the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations”. (p. 6). There are many concepts of social perception, two of these that will be looked at in this essay are Implicit Personality Theory and stereotypes. Implicit personality theory describes the beliefs, biases and assumptions, that an individual uses when he or she forms impressions on a stranger based on limited information. The way we form impressions and the different conclusions we make about other people based upon our individual impressions is also part of this theory. One of the first people to investigate how people form impressions was Solomon Asch in the 1940’s in his experiment ‘Forming Impressions of Personality' he was interested in how people form impressions and if certain traits affected peoples impressions. A good example of Implicit personality theory is if someone who is considered unpredictable they may be considered dangerous. The second Concept of Social Psychology that will be considered is stereotypes. Cardwell (1996) described stereotypes as “...A fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” may have beliefs and thoughts on different social groups and individual people and how they should act, and believe that all people in that group conform and have the same characteristics as the rest. By using stereotypes, it helps us simplify how we think of the social world as having a stereotype reduces our thinking process when we meet new people. An example of stereotyping is saying that all French people wear berets and have garlic a...
Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping are important topics at the cause of debating within social psychology. A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people, in which certain traits cling to all members, regardless of actual individual variation (Akert, Aronson, & Wilson, 2010). As humans, people assign objects and individuals into categories to organize the environment. Individuals do this for not only organization, but also survival. Is stereotyping inevitable? That is the question; according to Devine (2007), it is, but Lepore and Brown (2007) have to disagree. Devine believes that “stereotyping is automatic, which makes it inevitable.” On the other hand, Lepore and Brown are not convinced that stereotyping is automatic, and have claimed, after observation, that it depends on the individual.
In understanding how people come to stereotype, through social psychology, specifically social identity theories, understanding how people perceive things may aid In tackling the problem visually. Being prejudice is not something that is embedded in us at birth, but a trait that is later acquired as we grow older. Defined by Allport, Prejudice is “an antipathy based on a faulty and inflexible generalization” (1949). When meeting someone for the first time, the first things to be noticed are many in number, making our understanding of them quite complicated. As a result, we inevitably categorize them into a group based on the first things we see, namely sex, race, and clothing (Allport, 1954). This being the case however, how has the hijab, for example, been associated with stereotypes such as not being educated, or able to speak English (Rashid, 2015)? According to studies conducted by Michael Savelkoul, countries that have a high Muslim population showed less disrespect for Muslims, compared to countries where the Muslim population was lower, and therefore exposure to the religion was little (2009). This in mind, it would seem that the main trigger when categorising or stereotyping is memory a notion that has been further justified through the research experiment conducted by Dovidio, Evans, and Tyler in 1989