Expression Of Prejudice Research Articles

Suppressing the expression of prejudice and prejudice reduction from childhood to adolescence: the view of genetic social psychology

Suppressing the expression of prejudice and prejudice reduction from childhood to adolescence: the view of genetic social psychology

Perceived authenticity as a vicarious justification for prejudice

When is the expression of prejudice seen as authentic? Perceived authenticity refers to how much one judges another’s behavior to reflect the beliefs, attitudes, goals, and desires of that person. We investigate whether perceived authenticity can operate as a vicarious justification for prejudice—a way for prejudiced people to defend the prejudiced statements of others. In six studies, prejudice was positively related to perceived authenticity of similarly prejudiced statements: People are more likely to label prejudiced statements they agree with as authentic. We develop a vicarious justification account of “authentic prejudice.” People need not justify what is socially acceptable; if authenticity serves as a justification for prejudice, it will be reported only when the prejudice is nonnormative. Three studies demonstrate that the positive relationship between prejudice and perceived authenticity is heightened when the expressed prejudice is seen as unacceptable. People call “authentic” what they agree with but feel they cannot express.

Disparagement humor: Could laughter dissolve hostility?

<p id=C6>Disparagement humor refers to communication that derogates or denigrates a certain target but elicits amusement. Blending two contradictory elements in terms of social approvability, the paradox of disparagement humor has sparked three major questions: how does amusement arise from disparagement? What determines whether an attempt at disparagement humor is perceived to be funny or offensive? What are the unique aftereffects of this fusion? Four major theoretical frameworks have been proposed to understand the psychological mechanism of disparagement humor. From a psychoanalytic perspective, relief theory suggests that the entertainment of humor comes from the catharsis of hostility. From an intergroup perspective, superiority theory suggests that the feeling of superiority generated by the disparagement of others leads to humorous experiences. From a cognitive perspective, incongruity-resolution theory suggests that humor derives from the resolution of incongruencies. Additionally, from a cognitive perspective, to provide a more accurate and universal explanation for humor than incongruity-resolution theory, benign violation theory suggests that humor comes from appraising something as both a violation and benign. Among the theories, the former two address the unique motivational factors underlying disparagement humor, while the latter two provide universal cognitive models to explain all humor, including disparagement humor. Thus, a motivational cognition model proposed later in the article could effectively depict an integrated picture of the psychological mechanism of disparagement humor. However, people do not necessarily find disparagement humor funny; sometimes it is offensive. Factors influencing the reception of disparagement humor include group identities and attitudes, psychological distance between the recipient and the object of derogation, and personal and cultural differences. The social effects of humor and derogatory comments are usually opposite, but the fusion of the two can produce unique outcomes. First, it can serve as a prejudice releaser by creating a social norm that allows the expression of prejudice, which is normally forbidden in modern society. In addition, the use of disparagement humor can serve to reinforce social hierarchies by functioning as a legitimizing myth that justifies expressions of social dominance motivations. Conversely, when disparagement humor is used by a disadvantaged social group to subvert an inequitable social hierarchy, the strategy of covering an insubordinate message with humor may encourage the expression of subversion and thus promote social equity. Finally, the impacts of disparagement humor on interpersonal interactions are inconsistent due to the contradictory effects of disparagement and humor. After reviewing the relevant theories and studies, we propose an integrated process model of disparagement. The model takes benign violation theory as its fundamental framework, dividing the completion of disparagement humor into three parts: first, the expresser delivers disparagement; second, the audience evaluates the disparagement as benign; and third, a sense of humor is produced. The model also integrates the motivational perspectives of relief theory and superiority theory by addressing motivational factors in the delivery and evaluation process. In addition, the model displays the retroaction of disparagement humor’s aftereffects on its delivery and evaluation by combining the prejudice-releaser and legitimizing-myth role of disparagement humor. As it depicts a comprehensive process and captures the dynamism of disparagement humor, the model can hopefully serve as a scaffold for future research. It is also important for future research to explore the negative effects of disparagement humor. Moreover, the potentially positive effects of disparagement humor on intergroup relations and social justice when used by disadvantaged groups to fight social injustice merit investigation. Finally, it could be rewarding to study the cultural distinctiveness of disparagement humor in certain aspects of Chinese culture, such as its essential foreignness and prosperous localization, the commercialization trend of disparagement jokes, and the specifically Chinese content conveyed and popularized by disparagement humor.

Authoritarianism, prejudice and COVID-19: the moderating role of cultural liberalism

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an enormous challenge in medical, economic, and political terms during the past months. The threat of disease, the more or less authoritarian biopolitics of the states, the concept of social distancing, dictate the need to examine the consequences of the pandemic on an ideological level. Making use of data collected before the pandemic (N = 82) as a point of reference, the aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that right-wing authoritarianism (Authoritarianism – Conservatism – Traditionalism; ACT; Duckitt et al., 2010) increases under conditions of threat salience (Adorno et al., 1950; Sales, 1973), while appraising the possible moderating role of cultural liberalism. Furthermore, the hypothesis that threat predicts prejudice (e.g., Florack et al., 2003) was examined. Data were collected during three phases of the pandemic in Greece: the first weeks (N = 85), the lockdown (N = 131) and the lifting of the lockdown measures (N = 126). Results confirmed our hypotheses. An increase was found in Conservatism and Traditionalism, especially among less liberal participants, whereas more liberals appeared to express reduced levels of right-wing authoritarianism during the lifting of lockdown measures compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. A progressive expression of prejudice was also found, with cultural liberalism playing a limited but still moderating role in all three phases. Implications of the pandemic for the ideological level are discussed.

Blatant and subtle prejudice, and the role of teachers in conveying tolerance and respect for the Other

ABSTRACT In this paper, we discuss the role that teachers play in preventing the expression of blatant and subtle prejudice among students. Using a self-reported survey conducted in the south of France, we investigated the attitudes of 1,858 middle and high school students. Multivariate analyses show that when students see their teachers addressing issues about racism, discrimination and cultural diversity in the classroom, their attitudes of intolerance decrease. Nevertheless, mediation and moderation models highlight the existence of external factors, such as the parents’ educational attainment, that affect the students’ capacity to internalise their teachers’ discourse. Contrary to our expectations, the students’ level of trust in the education system has no significant influence on their perception of the effectiveness of teacher interventions.

Vivências e desafios enfrentados pelos profissionais de enfermagem na assistência a pacientes com COVID-19

Understand the perception during the care work of nursing professionals who work in inpatient units in the care of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and describe the experience and challenges of their work in this area of work. Exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study. The interviews were individual, carried out in person. Socio demographic data were previously collected through a self-applied questionnaire. The sample consisted of 25nursing professionals, 84% nurses and16% nursing technicians. From the analysis of the content of the participants' speeches, six thematic categories were constructed:Uncertainty and fear of anything new and of the unknown; Personal and social challenges working with COVID-19; The relevance of human and material resources, linked to permanent in-service education for coping; Ambiguity of feelings of the participants in the face of expressions of support or prejudice on the part of the community; Reactions of health professionals to non-compliance with the recommendation of social distancing by the population; Insufficient professional training to face the pandemic. The experiences and challenges that emerged in this research unfold in different ways, such as fear of the unknown, social and personal challenges to be overcome, as well as the impact of social behavior on the lives of nursing professionals and even the issue of training and professional preparation to face the pandemic.

“Are there Racists in Yugoslavia?” Debating Racism and Anti-blackness in Socialist Yugoslavia

This article examines debates, scholarly studies, and literary representations of the phenomenon of racism in socialist Yugoslavia and Yugoslavs’ relationship to whiteness in the 1960s and 70s. I argue that the persistent activism of black African students helped provoke official, scholarly, and public discussions about the thorny question of racism in Yugoslav society during this time. The salience of black students’ accusations eventually made something that was taboo in the 1950s and early 1960s—namely, entertaining the prospect that anti-black racial prejudice existed in non-aligned, socialist, and anti-racist Yugoslavia—into an active subject of debate by the end of the decade. Importantly, the relative candidness with which academic studies and popular literature addressed racism indicates a reflexivity about “racial” questions on the part of socialist Yugoslav society, something that scholarship has largely neglected in favor of focusing on the suppression or elision of race and the inadequacy of state socialist responses to the problem of domestic expressions of prejudice.

The effect of gender and male distinctiveness threat on prejudice against homosexuals.

Positive distinctiveness threat is central for understanding ingroup bias, but its role in gender differences in the expression of sexual prejudice is not yet satisfactorily elucidated. We analyzed this issue by proposing that sexual prejudice is a defensive reaction to ensure intergroup distinctiveness, so that heterosexual men are more prejudiced against homosexuals than heterosexual women because they strive more for positive distinctiveness. In Study 1 (N = 232), we found that men exhibited more prejudice against gay men than lesbians, while women did not significantly differentiate their prejudice against these target groups. In Study 2, we manipulated the target group of prejudice (gay men vs. lesbians) in a sample of heterosexual men (N = 79) and confirmed that they differentiated more between heterosexual men and gay men than between heterosexual women and lesbians. In Study 3 (N = 177), we manipulated the threat to the distinctiveness between the ingroup (i.e., heterosexual men and heterosexual women) and the outgroup (i.e., gay men and lesbians) and demonstrated that the perceived distinctiveness mediates the relationship between gender and sexual prejudice in men but not in women. Finally, in Study 4 (N = 75), we manipulated the distinctiveness threat for men and women and measured sexual prejudice by using an implicit measure. The results showed more implicit prejudice in men than in women when intergroup distinctiveness was threatened (vs. affirmed). Our results have important implications for understanding sexual prejudice by shedding light on the role played by the distinctiveness threat of gender differences in expressing homophobia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating the role of group-based morality in extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice

Understanding motivations underlying acts of hatred are essential for developing strategies to prevent such extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice (EBEPs) against marginalized groups. In this work, we investigate the motivations underlying EBEPs as a function of moral values. Specifically, we propose EBEPs may often be best understood as morally motivated behaviors grounded in people’s moral values and perceptions of moral violations. As evidence, we report five studies that integrate spatial modeling and experimental methods to investigate the relationship between moral values and EBEPs. Our results, from these U.S. based studies, suggest that moral values oriented around group preservation are predictive of the county-level prevalence of hate groups and associated with the belief that extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice against marginalized groups are justified. Additional analyses suggest that the association between group-based moral values and EBEPs against outgroups can be partly explained by the belief that these groups have done something morally wrong.

Three clusters of content-audience associations in expression of racial prejudice while consuming online television news.

It is well investigated that the expression of racial prejudice is often induced by news coverage on the internet, and the exposure to media contributes to the cultivation of long-term prejudice. However, there is a lack of information regarding the immediate effects of news delivered through television or television-like media on the expression of racial prejudice. This study provides a framework for understanding such effects by focusing on content-audience associations using the logs of an "online television" service, which provides television-like content and user experiences. With these logs, we found an association between the news-watching and comment-posting behaviors. Consequently, logs relevant to two distinct forms of racism, modern and old-fashioned racism, were extracted. Using mathematical modeling, which considers the different levels of program inducements to racist expression, personal inclinations of audiences to racism, and certainty of prediction of audience behaviors, we found three associative patterns between the news programs and audiences. The relevance of the topics covered to the basic beliefs of each form of racism was characterized into three clusters: expression as a reaction to news that is directly relevant to the basic beliefs of racism with weak inducements by non-bigots, minority abuse by distorting the meanings of news content indirectly relevant to the beliefs but with strong inducements by audiences with a strong bias, and racial toxic opinions independent of the news content by clear bigots. Our findings provide implications for inhibiting the expression of online prejudice based on the characteristics of these patterns.

Language patterns of outgroup prejudice

Although explicit verbal expression of prejudice and stereotypes may have become less common due to the recent rise of social norms against prejudice, prejudice in language still persists in more subtle forms. It remains unclear whether and how language patterns predict variance in prejudice across a large number of minority groups. Informed by construal level theory, intergroup-contact theory, and linguistic expectancy bias, we leverage a natural language corpus of 1.8 million newspaper articles to investigate patterns of language referencing 60 U.S. minority groups. We found that perception of social distance among immigrant groups is reflected in language production: Groups perceived as socially distant (vs. close) are also more likely to be mentioned in abstract (vs. concrete) language. Concreteness was also strongly positively correlated with sentiment, a phenomenon that was unique to language concerning minority groups, suggesting a strong tendency for more socially distant groups to be represented with more negative language. We also provide a qualitative exploration of the content of outgroup prejudice by applying Latent Dirichlet Allocation to language referencing minority groups in the context of immigration. We identified 15 immigrant-related topics (e.g., politics, arts, crime, illegal workers, museums, food) and the strength of their association and relationship with perceived sentiment for each minority group. This research demonstrates how perceived social distance and language concreteness are related and correlate with outgroup negativity, provides a practical and ecologically valid method for investigating perceptions of minority groups in language, and helps elaborate the connection between theoretical positions from social psychology with recent studies from computer science on prejudice embedded in natural language.

Migrant Inflows and Online Expressions of Regional Prejudice in China

China started market-oriented reforms in the late 1970s, and a fundamental social change in post-reform China has been massive migration. The primary purpose of this research is to examine the effect of migrant inflows on online expressions of regional prejudice, which is defined as expressions of antipathy toward migrants. In particular, we examine the dynamics of expressions of regional prejudice on Weibo, a popular Twitter-like social media site in China. Furthermore, we explain online expressions of regional prejudice through the lens of the group-threat and contact theories, and seek potential conditions that facilitate the development of a positive relationship between local residents and migrants. Our findings lend strong support to the group-contact argument that migrant inflows reduce online expressions of regional prejudice in China. The contact effect is larger when migrant inflows are measured in terms of migrant labor and interprovince migrants, who represent China’s typical migrants. Furthermore, the contact effect is only observed in relatively small cities, while a small threat effect is observed in mega and super-mega cities where the population-control system is strictly maintained.

Perception of threat as a mediator of the relationship between stereotypes and prejudice towards Venezuelan migrants in Peru

Objectives: The present study aims to explore the relationship between stereotypes (morality, warmth, and competence) and prejudice (subtle and blatant) towards Venezuelan immigrants in Peru. In addition, the role of threat perception as a mediator in the relationship between stereotypes and prejudice towards this social group is analyzed. Method: A correlational research design was conducted, using the Subtle and Blatant Prejudice Scale, the National Stereotypes Scale, and the Out-Group Threat Perception Scale. The sample consisted of 115 participants of Peruvian nationality between 18 and 60 years old (M = 29.6; SD = 11.77). Results: The results confirm the inverse relationship between positive representation and ambivalent prejudice. In other words, when Venezuelans are represented as more competent, warm and moral, there are fewer expressions of subtle and blatant prejudice towards this social group. The regression coefficient of the relationships between stereotypes and prejudice tends to decrease when perceived threat is incorporated as a mediating variable in the partial mediation model. Conclusions: The relationships between the studied variables are confirmed. Furthermore, their importance for the implementation of interventions that promote intergroup contact, social inclusion, and questioning of social agents that reinforce a threatening representation of the Latin American immigrant is discussed.

Prejudice in disguise: Which features determine the subtlety of ethnically prejudicial statements?

In current immigration debates ethnic prejudice is often expressed in a subtle manner, which conceals its xenophobic content. However, previous research has only insufficiently examined the specific features that make certain ethnically prejudicial statements subtler, i.e., less readily identifiable as xenophobic, than others. The current study employs an experimental factorial survey design and assesses the subtlety of systematically manipulated prejudicial statements. Our data from a German random population sample (N = 895) indicate that the subtlety of ethnically prejudicial statements is manipulable along the dimensions of topic, linguistic (essentialist) phrasing, and target group: Prejudicial statements that refer to culture, that are phrased weakly essentialistically, and that target Muslims were subtlest, in being evaluated as least xenophobic by the respondents. Moreover, with an increasing internal and a decreasing external motivation to respond without prejudice, individuals reacted more strongly to the variation of the statements’ topic and linguistic phrasing and were thus more sensitive to features determining subtler and more blatant ways of ethnic prejudice expression. These findings contribute to a better understanding of current migration discourses, in demonstrating that the specific manner in which ethnic prejudice is communicated can camouflage the xenophobic nature of a statement, so that it is less readily recognized as prejudicial.

Authoritarians Go with the Flow: Social Norms Moderate the Link between Right‐Wing Authoritarianism and Outgroup‐Directed Attitudes

This research aimed to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relations between social norms, right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), outgroup‐directed prejudice, and hostile behavioral intentions toward outgroups. Three correlational studies, conducted in two countries and three different intergroup contexts (n1 = 997; n2 = 1011; n3 = 1992), investigated the moderating role of social norms (both positive and negative) on the relation between RWA and expression of prejudice as well as behavioral intentions toward outgroups. We found that in the presence of positive (i.e., tolerant) social norms, the previously well‐established positive relation between RWA and prejudice is reduced or even reversed, whereas in the presence of negative (i.e., intolerant) social norms, this relation is strengthened. Additionally, the lower (vs. higher) prejudice of high‐RWA individuals in the presence of positive (vs. negative) social norms mediated the link between RWA and behavioral intentions toward outgroups. The present research constitutes the first comprehensive demonstration of authoritarians' potential to be less prejudiced in response to prevailing tolerant social norms.

Empathy and the ability to experience one's own emotions modify the expression of blatant and subtle prejudice among young male adults

Prejudices can lead to discrimination, social exclusion, and violence particularly among young male adults. Previous findings suggest that the degree of holding prejudices is linked to low levels of empathy, while low levels of empathy have been associated with alexithymia, the inability to experience one's own feelings. We tested the hypothesis that the impact of a lack of empathy on reporting blatant and subtle prejudices is moderated by the inability to identify one's own feelings. In a sample of n = 136 young male adults aged 21 years (mean = 21.5 years; sd = 0.3), we conducted correlation and moderator analyses to determine possible relationships between prejudices, empathy, and alexithymia as assessed by self-report questionnaires. Prejudices were assessed by the Blatant and Subtle Prejudice Scale (BSPS), empathy was assessed by the German modified version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and alexithymia by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Self-reported empathy levels were correlated with the strength of subtle and blatant prejudices. The moderation analyses revealed that the negative association between empathy and subtle prejudice increased with decreasing alexithymia. The negative association between empathy and blatant prejudice, on the other hand, was significant only for participants with low levels of alexithymia. These results suggest that empathy can limit the expression of blatant and to some degree also subtle prejudice when subjects are capable to identify their own feelings in a group of young males.

From Insult to Hate Speech: Mapping Offensive Language in German User Comments on Immigration

In recent debates on offensive language in participatory online spaces, the term ‘hate speech’ has become especially prominent. Originating from a legal context, the term usually refers to violent threats or expressions of prejudice against particular groups on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation. However, due to its explicit reference to the emotion of hate, it is also used more colloquially as a general label for any kind of negative expression. This ambiguity leads to misunderstandings in discussions about hate speech and challenges its identification. To meet this challenge, this article provides a modularized framework to differentiate various forms of hate speech and offensive language. On the basis of this framework, we present a text annotation study of 5,031 user comments on the topic of immigration and refuge posted in March 2019 on three German news sites, four Facebook pages, 13 YouTube channels, and one right-wing blog. An in-depth analysis of these comments identifies various types of hate speech and offensive language targeting immigrants and refugees. By exploring typical combinations of labeled attributes, we empirically map the variety of offensive language in the subject area ranging from insults to calls for hate crimes, going beyond the common ‘hate/no-hate’ dichotomy found in similar studies. The results are discussed with a focus on the grey area between hate speech and offensive language.

PROTOCOL: Online interventions for reducing hate speech and cyberhate: A systematic review.

PROTOCOL: Online interventions for reducing hate speech and cyberhate: A systematic review.

Why public health framing matters: An experimental study of the effects of COVID-19 framing on prejudice and xenophobia in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a notable increase in the expression of prejudicial and xenophobic attitudes that threaten the wellbeing of minority groups and contribute to the overall public health toll of the virus. However, while there is evidence documenting the growth in discrimination and xenophobia, little is known about how the COVID-19 outbreak is activating the expression of such negative attitudes. The goal of the current paper therefore was to investigate what aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be contributing to this rise in expressions of prejudice and xenophobia. More specifically, this study used an experimental design to assess the effects of using stigmatized language to describe the virus as well as the threat to physical health and economic wellbeing posed by the virus on COVID-19 prejudice. Data were collected from a national sample of 1451 adults residing within the United States. Results from 2×2 x 2 between-subjects analyses of covariance demonstrated that emphasizing the connection between China and COVID-19, rather than framing the virus neutrally, increased negative attitudes toward Asian Americans, beliefs that resources should be prioritized for Americans rather than immigrants, and general xenophobia. Emphasizing the severity of the economic impact of the virus also increased beliefs that Asian Americans are a threat to resources and general xenophobia. In contrast, messages which emphasized the serious health risks of COVID-19 did not increase bias toward Asian Americans or xenophobia. Our findings suggest that specific types of public health messaging related to infectious diseases, especially framing the virus in terms of its country of origin or its likely economic impact, may elicit prejudice and xenophobia. Public health campaigns that emphasize the severity of the virus, however, are not likely to trigger the same negative attitudes. Implications for public health responses to health crises are discussed.

DIVERSIDADE SEXUAL NA EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR

Esta pesquisa inova ao focalizar as percepções da diversidade sexual numa instituição de educação superior, com comportamentos de acolhimento, respeito e rejeição em face de jovens e adultos gays e lésbicas. Adotou-se em especial a perspectiva sociológica durkheimeana em um estudo de caso realizado com estudantes de graduação, em diferentes períodos, por meio da análise de conteúdo de entrevistas semiestruturadas em profundidade, com amostra do tipo bola de neve. As(os) participantes revelaram sentimentos de liberdade em ambiente adulto face às agressões de colegas e de professores sofridos na educação básica. Não verificaram bullying ou assédio, mas expressões implícitas de preconceitos de alunas(os) e de raras(os) professoras(es). Pressões sociais foram mais intensamente captadas por gays que lésbicas. A religião institucionalizada e a família constituíram os maiores obstáculos relatados em sua vida.