MODULE 2 Topic 3 - reculm.eu · Topic 3:Theory of the social representaons: stereotypes and prejudices 2 Social Representaons MODULE 2. Cultural diversity and interethnic relaons

Theoryofthesocialrepresenta1ons:stereotypes

andprejudices

MODULE2Topic3

CONTENT

I.Socialrepresenta;ons II.Stereotypes

III.Prejudices

MODULE2.Culturaldiversityandinterethnicrela;ons.Topic3:Theoryofthesocialrepresenta;ons:stereotypesandprejudices2

SocialRepresenta;ons

MODULE2.Culturaldiversityandinterethnicrela;ons.Topic3:Theoryofthesocialrepresenta;ons:stereotypesandprejudices

SocialRepresenta;on

Concept Theory

Polysemic

Jodelet’sDefini;on

Moscovici’sDefini;on

As

Social theory of knowledgethat allows us to explaincogni;veandsocialprocesseswithwhichrealityisbuilt.

“It is easy to no,ce the reality of socialrepresenta,ons, it is not easy tounderstand the concept” (Moscovici, inIbáñez,1988)

Others(Farr,

Branchs,etc.)

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SocialRepresenta;ons


“Larepresentaciónsocialesunamodalidadpar,culardeconocimiento,cuya funcióneslaelaboracióndeloscomportamientosylacomunicaciónentrelosindividuos.La representaciónesuncorpusorganizadode conocimientos yunade lasac1vidadespsíquicas gracias a las cuales los hombreshaceninteligiblelarealidad<sicaysocial,seintegran en un grupo o en una relaciónco,diana de intercambios, liberan lospoderesdesuimaginación”

(Moscovici,1979)

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Aswehavehighlighted,definingtheconceptofsocialrepresenta;onisadifficulttaskduetothecomplexityoftheterm.Twoofthebestdefini;onsproposedaretheonesofJodelet(1968)andMoscovici(1973):

Thesestructureshelpustounderstandandinterpretwhatwedointheworld.

“The concept of social representa,onentails an specific knowledge, commonsense,whichhascontents thatmanifestgenera,veandfunc,onalprocessesthatare socially characterised. In a widersense,wecantalkaboutsocialthinking.Social representa,ons createmodali,esof prac,cal thinking that are orientedtowardscommunica1on,understandingand control of the social environment,materialaswellasideal”.

(Jodelet,1968)

“A social representa,on is a system ofvalues, ideasandprac,ceswitha twofoldfunc,on: first, to establish an orderwhichwill enable individuals to orientatethemselves in their material and socialworld and to master it; and secondly toenable communica,on to take placeamong members of a community byproviding them with a code for socialexchange and a code for naming andclassifying unambiguously the variousaspects of theirworld and their individualgrouphistory”

(Moscovici,1973)

Peoplesociallyinteractaccordingtothesocialrepresenta;onstheyhaveoftheobjectsthatsurroundthem.

Characteris;csofthesocialrepresenta;onsTheymakereference

toobjectsTheycanmakepresentsomethingthatisonlyatamentallevelandthatismateriallyabsentinreality.

Theyhavefigura;veandsymbolicaspects

Theyarepsychologicalconstruc;onsof

reality

Theyhaveasocialcharacter

Theyareawayofnaturalthoughtorcommonsense

Theyhaveanaffec;vedimension

Theyareaguideforourbehaviour

Knowledgebecomesanimage,towhichasenseandameaningisgiven.

The subject does not copy reality but ac;vely elaborates, interprets andreinterprets it. This perspec;ve of reality is built upon social interac;on andknowledge.Ittransgressesgenera;onsthroughsocialisa;on,duringwhichtheinforma;onisreinterpretedandtransformed.

Theyareelaboratedandsharedbythegroupwith theaimofclassifyingandknowingasocialobjectinordertoaddittotheirdailylife.

Itisnotaboutins;tu;onalisedknowledgebutknowledgethatisdailycreatedin the community. By sharing informa;on between members and thedivulga;oninmassmedia,newelementsareaddedthatwith;mewillbecometruthstothecommonsense.

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Emo;onsandaffec;onsofapersonthatinfluencehis/herperspec;veandelaboratenewknowledgeaboutreality.


ElementsinSocialRepresenta;ons


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Socialrepresenta;on

Informa)onaboutthe

socialobject

Object(Situa;on,event,

character,place,etc.)

Subject(individual,family,

group,etc.)

It has a figura;ve, symbolic andaffec;vedimension.D ifferent sources : cu l ture ,ideology, previous experiences,socialcondi;ons,etc.

Itelaboratesasocialrepresenta;onfromt h e r e l a ; o nbetween the socialobject and anothersubject.

Social representa,ons have a socialobject that is formed in the rela,onbetweendifferent subjects.On theseobjects,contentsandinforma,onarecreated and shared between theelements of the group and areinheritedbyfollowinggenera,ons.

The social object is the centrale l e m e n t o f t h e s o c i a lrepresenta;on.This representa;on is created fromthe informa;on that the contactwiththeobjectprovides.

Func;onsofsocialrepresenta;ons


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Integra,ng the novelty to the set of knowledge that one has, makingfamiliarwhatisunknowntous.

Interpre,ng and building reality: understanding the world impliesinterpre;ng what is known to us and elabora;ng our own interpretedreality(representa;ons)

Guidingtheconducts:thedecisionsthatpeoplemakeareinfluencedbytherepresenta;onscreatedaboutthesocialobject.

Crea,onofpersonalandgroupiden,,es

AccordingtoJodelet(1989)andIbañez(1988):

•  When a group shares social representa;ons about certain social objects (elaborated from theinterac;onofmembers in apar;cular cultural, social andhistorical context) these representa;onsaredifferentfromtheonesofothergroupsthatliveunderdifferentcircumstances.

•  This fosters a sense of belonging and highlights the difference between the endogroup and theexogroup,whichisessen;alforthecrea;onofthegroupandourpersonaliden;ty.

StereotypesASTEREOTYPEisdefinedas“ageneralbeliefaboutgroupsofpeople,speciallyabouttheirpsychologicalandpersonalityfeatures“(Matsumoto&Juang,2012).


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Elabora)ng stereotypes means labelling the members of a group, crea;ng thendifferencesbetweenmembersofothergroups.Ithelpsustouseinforma;onaboutothergroups.

Thefunc)onofstereotypes

• Individualfunc;onSimplifyingrealityanddefendingpersonalvalues.

• Socialfunc;onExplaininggroupeventsthatoccuratabigscale.Jus,fyingac,onsagainstothergroups.Differen,a,ngfromothersinaposi,veway.

Keepingtherela;onships

betweengroups

9MODULE2.Culturaldiversityandinterethnicrela;ons.Topic3:Theoryofthesocialrepresenta;ons:stereotypesandprejudices

THEADAPTIVEVALUEOFTHESTEREOTYPE

Essen;altothesocialisa;onofaperson

Ithelpstoreachabekerunderstandingoftheworld

Itarisesasenseofsocialbelongingwhenweiden;fy

ourselveswiththestereotypesofagroup

Itfacilitatessocialiden;ty Itsimplifiesrealityandsavesustheeffortand;meof

analysingit

Itallowsustomakefuturepredic;ons

Stereotypes

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CHARACTERISTICSOFSTEREOTYPES

Theyimplyvalua;ons(posi;ve

ornega;ve)

Theyareautoma;callyac;vated

Theyuseincompleteinforma;on

Theycanbemodified,butthiscanbedifficult

Peoplemaydevelopbiases:


• Endo-groupfavouri;sm• Equalisa;onoftheexo-group• Afundamentalmistakeofakribu;on

“Muslimsareterrorists”

“Japanese are good atmaths”

We are not able to make themdisappearbutwecanfocusontheirmanifesta;onandtrytoconfrontit

Reasons• Theyarecreatedthroughsocial learningorintergenera;onaltransmission.• Theyarebeliefssharedbyabignumberofpeople= it isdifficult tomakechangesintheindividual’scogni;veprocesses.

Stereotypes


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CHANGINGSTEREOTYPES

Models Itconsistsin

Breakingthestereotypes

chain

• Stereotypesaretransmikedtotheindividualsofagroupthroughsocialisa;on.• Strategy:- Make the socialisa;on agents (parents, school, etc.) see the stereotypes theyhaveandtheconsequencesderivedfromtheirtransmission.- Counterac)ngthemessagesthatappearinmassmedia.

Hypothesisofgroupcontact

• Contac;ngpeoplefromothergroupshelpstodiminishstereotypes.

• Strategy:- The stereotype is not erased only by contac)ng the other culture; they areconsideredas“excep;onalcases”andarenotrepresenta;veofthegroup.-Condi)onsinwhichthecontactmusttakeplace:*Thegroupsincontactmustbesimilar(social,workoreconomicstatus)*Thesitua,onmustleadtocoopera,onandworkinordertoachieveacommongoal.*Informalcharacterofthecontact * A non discrimina,ng context nor a context from which one of the groups maybenefit.*Duringtheinterac,on,therehastobeadiscussionofmistakenbeliefs.*Thepeopleinvolvedinthecontactmustfitinaprototypeprofileoftheirgroup.

• Strategylimita;on:Itisdifficulttomeetwithallthecondi;onsrequired.


Stereotypes

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CHANGINGSTEREOTYPES

Models Itconsistsin

Recategorisa)on

•  Stereotypes are created, specially, when one perceives a person as amemberofothergroup/category.Thesepercep)onscanbemodified.

•  “Model of the common endo-group iden;ty” Strategy: if subjects fromdifferent groups start to see each other as members of the same group,theiraqtudescanbemoreposi;ve;itpromotesgroupcontact.

• It is different from theHypothesis ofGroup Contact because subjects seethemselvesasmembersofasuperiorcategoryorendo-group(intheothermodel they see each other as members of the same category) => Biggergeneralisa;on.

• Limita;ons:-In situa;ons where a new difference appears (us-them), a newcategorisa;onoccursandthesocialiden;tyoftheendo-groupisrecovered.-It ispossible that in specific situa;ons, thecrea;onofa superior categorythatinvolvesallthesubjectisnotachievable.


Stereotypes

PrejudicesPREJUDICESareaFtudesthatimplynega)vevalua)ons(some;mestheycanbeposi;ve)aboutthemembersofagroup(LópezZafraetal.,2008).

Thejudgementsarenotbasedonprevious,directorrealexperienceswiththeelementsofa group. Many of the prejudicial behaviours, as well as stereotypes, are originated ortransmikedduringthesocialisa;onprocessinchildhood.

Therela;onbetweenprejudicesandstereotypes isnot inevitable,whichmeansthat theexistenceofstereotypesisnotnecessarilythecauseofaprejudicialaqtude.

Whilst stereotypes are automa;c results of the daily cogni;ve process, prejudices anddiscrimina;onaren’t,andsotheycanbemanaged.


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Thepercep;onofothersiscreatedaccordingtothestereotypeswehaveofthem.

Me?Prejudices? DON’TBESILLY!! When have I said something badabout those filthy negros, eh? Tellme!,When?!

Typesof(morecommon)prejudices

Physicalappearance Age Gender

Cultural/ethnicorigin

Na;onality/region

Disability/disease

Ideology Economicstatus Sexualorienta;on


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Prejudices


Rela;onshipstereotype-prejudice-discrimina;on

Prejudice Stereotype

Discrimina)on

Nega)vevalua)onofapersonorgroup

BeliefSocioculturalrepresenta;onofagroup

Nega)veAFtude/conduct

towardsagrouporaperson

i.e.«IdonotlikePolishpeople».

i.e.«Polishpeopledrinkalot,theyareverycold

andserious»

i.e.«IhatePolishpeopleandIdonotwanttovisittheircountryorknowtheir

culture»

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ResourcesFilmsaboutprejudices

• «Europa,Europa»,byAgnieszkaHolland• «ShophieScholl»,byMarcRothemund• «HotelRwanda»,byTerryGeorge• «LaOla»,byDennisGansel.Seetrailer:h[p://www.videosurf.com/video/la‑ola‑die‑welle‑trai‑ler‑espa‑ol‑75590863?vlt=ffext&vlt_posi,on=inline• “ColorPurple”byStevenSpilberg,USA1985• “Crush.”PaulHaggis,RobertMoresco,USA,Germany,2004

Readings• Stereotyping and impression forma,on: How categorical thinking shapes person percep,on:h[p://kimberlyquinn.net/QuinnEtAl_SAGEHandbook_2003.pdf• SusanT.FiskeandMichaelS.North.MeasuresofStereotypingandPrejudice:BarometersofBias,inpdf:h[p://sta,c1.1.sqspcdn.com/sta,c/f/1605966/24201752/1389641568813/North_Measures.pdf?

token=Lu71xAD0WIDflesEMjrPiFLnr6A%3D• Stereotypesinmassmedia:§ The Impact of Media Stereotypes on Opinions and Aptudes towards La,nos: h[p://www.la,nodecisions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/RevisedNHMC.Aug2012.pdf§ PaulMar;n Lester, SusanDente Ross, Images that Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in theMedia,GreenwoodPublishingGroup,2003,e-book:h[p://qaidecuwy.ru/totasudywy.pdf§ Stereotypes in media, presenta,on: hkp://www.slideshare.net/feelgoodinc2024/stereotypes-in-media-45357129§ StereotypesintheMedia–thenandnow,prezipresenta,on:h[ps://prezi.com/mwhacmlosn-a/stereotypes-in-the-media-then-and-now/§ Common Stereotypes of Minori,es in Film and Television, ar,cle: hkp://racerela;ons.about.com/od/hollywood/tp/Common-Stereotypes-Of-Minori;es-In-Film-And-Television.htm


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BibliographyandreferencesReferences•  Ibáñez,T.(1988).Ideologíasdelavidaco,diana.Barcelona,Spain:Sendai.

•  Jodelet,D.(1986):Larepresentaciónsocial:fenómenos,conceptoyteoría.InMoscovici,S.(Ed.):PsicologíaSocial,II.Pensamientoyvidasocial.Psicologíasocialyproblemassociales(pp.469-494).Barcelona,Spain:Paidós.

•  LópezZafra,E.,Berrios,P.,&Augusto,J.M.(2008).IntroducciónalaPsicologíaSocial.Jaén,España:EdicionesdelLunar.

•  Matsumoto,D.,&Juang,L.(2012).CultureandPsychology(5taEd.).Belmont,UnitedStates:WadsworthPublishing.

•  Moscovici,S.(1973).Foreword.InC.Herzlich(Ed.):HealthandIllness.ASocialPsychologicalAnalysis.London,England:AcademicPress.


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Bibliography•  Allport,G.W.(1954).TheNatureofPrejudice.Oxford,England:Addison-Wesley.

•  Brown,R.J.(1995).Prejudice:Itssocialpsychology.Oxford,England:Wiley-Blackwell.

•  Mikulincer,M.,&Shaver,P.R.(2015).APAHandbookofPersonalityandSocialPsychology.Vol.2:GroupProcesses.Washington,D.C.,UnitedStates:AmericanPsychologicalAssocia;on.

•  Navas,M.,GarcíaM.,Rojas,A.J.,Pumares,P.,&Cuadrado,I.(2006).Ac;tudesdeaculturaciónyprejuicio:laperspec;vadeautóctonoseinmigrantes.Psicothema,18(2),187-193.

•  Navas,M.,Pumares,P.,Sánchez,J.,García,M.C.,Rojas,A.J.,Cuadrado,I.,Asensio,M.&Fernández,J.S.(2004).Estrategiasyac,tudesdeaculturación:laperspec,vadelosinmigrantesydelosautóctonosenAlmería.Seville,Spain:JuntadeAndalucía,DirecciónGeneraldeCoordinacióndePolí;casMigratorias.

•  Nelson,T.D.(Ed.)(2016).HandbookofPrejudice,Stereotyping,andDiscrimina,on.(2ndEd.).NewYork,UnitedStates:PsychologyPress.

•  Oakes,P.J.,&Haslam,S.A.(1994).StereotypingandSocialReality.Oxford,England:Wiley-Blackwell.

•  Swin,J.K.&Stangor,C.(Eds.)(1998).Prejudice:TheTarget’sPerspec,ve.SanDiego,CA,UnitedStates:AcademicPress.

•  Tajfel,H.(1969).Cogni;veaspectsofprejudice.JournalofSociologyIssues,25(4),79-97.

•  Tajfel,H.(1982).Socialpsychologyofintergrouprela;ons.AnnualReviewofPsychology,(33),1-39.


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Bibliographyandreferences

Documents

MODULE 2 Topic 3 - reculm.eu · Topic 3:Theory of the social representaons: stereotypes and prejudices 2 Social Representaons MODULE 2. Cultural diversity and interethnic relaons