Explain prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination, social identity theory, and strategies to reduce intergroup conflict, with reference to Tajfel, Sherif and Allport

What this dot point is asking

SCSA asks you to define prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination, explain social identity theory, describe Sherif's and Allport's work, and outline strategies to reduce intergroup conflict. The marked skill is distinguishing the attitude, belief and behaviour and naming the right reduction strategy.

Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination

These three terms are related but distinct, mapping onto the tri-component view of attitudes.

• A stereotype is a generalised, often oversimplified belief about the members of a group (the cognitive component).
• Prejudice is a negative attitude or feeling toward a group based on membership alone (the affective component).
• Discrimination is unfair behaviour or treatment directed at a group or its members (the behavioural component).

Stereotyping can lead to prejudice, which can lead to discrimination, though they do not always occur together.

Social identity theory

Henri Tajfel's social identity theory explains why prejudice arises so readily. People derive part of their self-concept from the groups they belong to (their social identity), so they are motivated to see their own group, the in-group, favourably compared with other groups, the out-groups.

Three processes drive this.

• Social categorisation: we sort people into groups, including ourselves.
• Social identification: we adopt the identity of our in-group.
• Social comparison: we compare our in-group favourably against out-groups to boost self-esteem.

Tajfel's minimal group studies showed that simply dividing people into arbitrary groups was enough to produce in-group favouritism, even with no competition or prior contact.

Sherif's Robbers Cave study

Muzafer Sherif studied intergroup conflict at a boys' summer camp. Two groups of boys, initially unaware of each other, developed strong in-group identities. When the researchers introduced competition for prizes, hostility, name-calling and aggression quickly developed between the groups.

The conflict was reduced not by mere contact, which made things worse, but by superordinate goals: tasks that required both groups to cooperate, such as restarting a stalled truck. Working toward shared goals that neither group could achieve alone reduced hostility and built friendships across groups.

Allport's contact hypothesis

Gordon Allport proposed the contact hypothesis: contact between groups reduces prejudice, but only under certain conditions. The groups must have equal status in the situation, share common goals, cooperate rather than compete, and have the support of authorities, laws or customs. Without these conditions, contact alone can entrench prejudice.

Strategies to reduce intergroup conflict

Drawing these together, prejudice and conflict can be reduced by:

• Superordinate goals that require cooperation (Sherif).
• Equal-status, cooperative contact with institutional support (Allport).
• Education and increasing intergroup knowledge to challenge stereotypes.
• Promoting a shared, superordinate identity so out-group members are recategorised as part of a larger in-group.

Why this matters

Understanding prejudice informs anti-discrimination programs, reconciliation, multicultural policy and conflict resolution. It draws together attitudes, group influence and cross-cultural psychology into one applied problem.