Source: Social Psychology (NYU) | Chapters 9–10
Tags: prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, racism, sexism, implicit bias, aggression, frustration-aggression, social learning theory, media violence
Difficulty: Intermediate | Prerequisites: Chapters 7–8 (persuasion and group influence help with understanding how prejudice spreads and amplifies in groups).
Chapter 9 examines prejudice from three angles: where it comes from socially (status, socialisation, institutions), what motivates it (frustration, social identity, the desire to feel superior), and how ordinary cognitive shortcuts sustain it (categorisation, distinctiveness, attribution errors). Chapter 10 turns to aggression, covering biological, frustration-based, and social-learning theories, then the situational triggers (pain, heat, media, weapons, groups) and strategies for reducing aggression. Together these chapters show how attitudes toward outgroups and harmful behaviour arise from an interplay of social context, motivation, and cognition.
Prejudice is a preconceived negative judgement sustained by stereotypes and expressed through discrimination; it has social, motivational, and cognitive roots and can operate outside conscious awareness. Aggression is physical or verbal behaviour intended to cause harm, driven by biology, frustration, and learned behaviour; situational cues (weapons, media violence, group dynamics) amplify it, and the catharsis hypothesis ("venting helps") is not supported by research.
Prejudice
A preconceived negative judgement of a group and its individual members. In simple terms, disliking someone before you know them, based on the group they belong to.
Stereotype
Beliefs about the personal attributes of a group of people. Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralised, inaccurate, and resistant to new information (though sometimes they contain a kernel of accuracy).
Discrimination
Unjustified negative behaviour toward a group or its members. Where prejudice is a negative attitude, discrimination is the negative behaviour that follows.
Implicit prejudice
Automatic, unconscious prejudiced attitudes that can exist even when a person's explicit (conscious) attitudes are egalitarian. Think of it as: what your gut does before your brain catches up.
Social dominance orientation
A motivation to have one's group dominate other social groups; being in a high-status position tends to promote this orientation.
Authoritarian personality
A personality disposed to favour obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status.
Realistic group conflict theory
The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources.
Social identity
The "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.
Ingroup bias
The tendency to favour one's own group, which supports a positive self-concept.
Ingroup / Outgroup
Ingroup ("us"): a group of people who share a sense of belonging. Outgroup ("them"): a group perceived as distinctly different from one's own.
Outgroup homogeneity effect
The perception that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to each other. "They are alike; we are diverse."
Own-race bias
The tendency to more accurately recognise faces of one's own race.
Group-serving bias
Explaining away outgroup members' positive behaviours while attributing their negative behaviours to dispositions (and doing the opposite for one's own group).
Just-world phenomenon
The tendency to believe the world is just and that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
Stereotype threat
The stress and impaired performance that comes from awareness that one might be judged through the lens of a negative stereotype about one's group.
Prejudice targets many groups: racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBT people, the obese, immigrants, religious groups, and political opponents. The terms prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, racism, and sexism overlap but are distinct: prejudice is an attitude, stereotypes are the beliefs that support it, and discrimination is the behaviour.
Implicit vs. explicit prejudice
We can hold different explicit (conscious) and implicit (automatic) attitudes toward the same group (dual attitude system)
Even when explicit attitudes shift with education, implicit attitudes may linger
Brain activity in the amygdala (a region linked to fear) facilitates automatic prejudiced responding
Racial prejudice
Overt racial prejudice has declined sharply, but subtle forms persist: employment discrimination, platform-based favouritism (e.g., Airbnb), traffic stops, and patronisation (overpraising successes, overcriticising mistakes)
Implicit racial bias can have life-or-death consequences (e.g., shoot/don't-shoot studies)
Gender prejudice
Strong gender stereotypes exist and are often accepted even by members of the stereotyped group
Sexism takes both hostile and benevolent forms; benevolent sexism ("women need protection") can still impede gender equity
LGBT prejudice
Anti-gay prejudice in Western countries is diminishing but endures through job discrimination, mixed support for same-sex marriage, harassment, and family rejection
Discriminatory policies and community attitudes predict poorer health outcomes for LGBT people
Social sources
Unequal status breeds prejudice: dominant groups justify the status quo (e.g., historical justification of slavery)
Social dominance orientation: people in high-status positions develop a motivation to keep their group on top
Socialisation: children's prejudices often mirror their parents'; authoritarian personalities are especially prone
Religion: the relationship is complex. White church members and fundamentalists show more racial prejudice on average, but faithful attenders, intrinsically religious people, and clergy tend to show less. Correlation does not prove causation.
Conformity: if prejudice is socially acceptable, many people will conform to it; as norms change (e.g., attitudes toward interracial and same-sex marriage), prejudice can diminish
Systemic supports: institutions can promote prejudice through overt policies or by passively reinforcing the status quo (e.g., lending practices, media portrayals that frame men's faces but women's bodies)
Motivational sources
Frustration and scapegoating: blocked goals breed hostility, which is often redirected at a convenient outgroup (displaced aggression). Economic frustration, for instance, can fuel hostility toward immigrants.
Realistic group conflict theory: competition for scarce resources (jobs, housing) increases prejudice
Social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner): we categorise people, identify with our ingroup, and compare our group favourably to outgroups. This produces ingroup bias (favouring "us"), which supports self-esteem. Despising the outgroup further strengthens ingroup identity.
Ingroup bias is less about hating "them" than about preferring "us," though the line blurs under threat
Status is relative: one psychological benefit of prejudice is a feeling of superiority
Cognitive sources
Categorisation: we simplify the world by clustering people into groups, relying more on stereotypes when pressed for time, tired, or emotionally aroused. Ethnicity and sex are especially powerful categories.
Outgroup homogeneity effect: we perceive outgroup members as more alike than ingroup members ("they are all the same")
Own-race bias: people more accurately recognise faces of their own race
Distinctiveness: conspicuous people (minorities in a group) attract extra attention, are credited or blamed for whatever happens, and feed illusory correlations between group membership and rare behaviours
Attribution errors: the fundamental attribution error leads us to attribute outgroup members' negative behaviour to their dispositions rather than their situations (group-serving bias). The just-world phenomenon compounds this by suggesting people get what they deserve.
Motivation to avoid prejudice
Breaking the prejudice habit is difficult; unwanted thoughts and feelings can persist, especially under alcohol's influence or with ageing
Internal motivation to avoid prejudice (wanting to be fair) is more effective than external motivation (wanting to appear fair)
Awareness of the gap between how one should feel and how one does feel can drive genuine change
Self-perpetuating prejudgements: stereotypes guide what we notice and remember, confirming themselves
Discrimination as self-fulfilling prophecy: treating people according to a stereotype can elicit the expected behaviour
Stereotype threat: awareness of a negative stereotype about one's group creates stress that impairs performance on the very tasks the stereotype targets
Biased interpretation of events: the same ambiguous behaviour is read differently depending on who performs it
Aggression
Physical or verbal behaviour intended to cause harm.
Physical aggression
Hurting someone else's body.
Social aggression
Hurting someone's feelings or threatening their relationships (also called relational aggression); includes cyberbullying.
Hostile aggression
Aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to injure.
Instrumental aggression
Aggression used as a means to some other end (e.g., terrorism, robbery).
Frustration
The blocking of goal-directed behaviour.
Frustration-aggression theory
The theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress.
Displacement
The redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of frustration.
Relative deprivation
The perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself. In simple terms, frustration comes not from what you lack but from the gap between what you have and what you see others having.
Social learning theory (of aggression)
Bandura's theory that we learn aggression not only by experiencing its payoffs but also by observing others.
Catharsis hypothesis
The idea that the aggressive drive is reduced when aggressive energy is "released" (e.g., through venting or violent games). Research does not support this; expressing aggression tends to breed more aggression.
Weapons effect
The finding that the mere presence of weapons increases aggressive thoughts and behaviours.
Prosocial behaviour
Positive, constructive, helpful behaviour. Media portrayals of prosocial behaviour can promote it, just as violent media can promote aggression.
Biological influences
Freud and Lorenz proposed that aggressive energy is instinctive, building up until it is released. Modern research does not support aggression as a true instinct, but biology does play a role.
Brain neural systems in both animals and humans can facilitate aggression; abnormal brain function can contribute to abnormally aggressive behaviour
Genetics influence the neural system's sensitivity to aggressive cues
Biochemical factors: testosterone correlates with aggressiveness; alcohol unleashes aggression when people are provoked; poor diet (sweetened drinks, trans fats, low omega-3) has been implicated
Biology and behaviour interact: aggressive behaviour itself can raise testosterone levels
Frustration-aggression theory
Original version: frustration always produces some tendency to aggress
Berkowitz's revision: frustration produces aggression primarily when others' actions seem unjustified and when aggressive cues are present
Frustration grows when motivation is strong, gratification was expected, and the blocking is complete
Displacement: aggression is redirected toward a safer target when the source of frustration is intimidating or unknown (scapegoating)
Relative deprivation: the gap between expectations and attainments, not absolute deprivation, fuels frustration
Social learning theory (Bandura)
We learn aggression by experiencing its payoffs (it often "works") and by observing aggressive models
Models appear in the family (physically punitive parents), in peer culture (gangs, "macho" norms), and in media
Bandura's key point: aversive experiences (frustration, pain, insults) create emotional arousal, but whether that arousal leads to aggression depends on the anticipated consequences and the learned behavioural repertoire
Situational influences
Aversive experiences: pain, heat, offensive odours, crowding, and personal attacks all heighten aggressiveness
Arousal: sexual arousal, anger, and other forms of arousal can amplify one another. Arousal combined with hostile thoughts and feelings is a recipe for aggression.
Aggression cues: the weapons effect shows that the mere presence of guns increases aggressive thoughts and behaviour. Weapons also create psychological distance from the victim, which facilitates cruelty.
Media influences
Violent TV, films, and online videos: over 100 experiments confirm that viewing violent media amplifies aggression. The link is strongest when viewers already have aggressive tendencies and when the violence is depicted as justified, realistic, and unpunished.
Cognitive effects of media violence: desensitisation (less emotional response), distorted perceptions (heavy viewers overestimate real-world violence), and priming of aggression-related ideas
Violent video games: large-sample research shows increases in aggressive behaviour, thoughts, and feelings; decreases in empathy and helping; habituation in the brain. More violent and more realistic games produce bigger effects.
The catharsis hypothesis is not supported: "venting" through violent media or aggression tends to breed further aggression, not reduce it
Prosocial media: just as violent games promote aggression, prosocial games promote helping behaviour
Group influences
Groups amplify aggressive tendencies by diffusing responsibility
Social contagion magnifies aggression (e.g., youth gangs, soccer hooliganism)
Group decisions tend to be more aggressive than individual ones (group polarization applied to aggression)
Predictors of increased aggression
Being male, aggressive or anger-prone personality, alcohol use, violence viewing, anonymity, provocation, presence of weapons, group interactions.
Reducing aggression
Expressing aggression breeds more aggression, contrary to the catharsis hypothesis
Strategies: reward cooperative, nonaggressive behaviour; teach conflict-resolution skills; model sensitivity and cooperation; reduce brutal media portrayals; teach non-negotiable rules and moral reasoning
Culture change is possible: all forms of violence are less common in recent years than in past eras; societal norms can and do shift
Broader approaches: infuse culture with nonviolent ideas, make lethal weapons less available, challenge social toxins that corrupt youth, renew moral roots of character
Students often think prejudice is only overt hostility. Much modern prejudice is implicit, automatic, and operating outside awareness.
The just-world phenomenon is frequently tested. Students sometimes confuse it with victim-blaming as a deliberate choice; the point is that the belief operates as an unconscious cognitive shortcut.
Frustration-aggression theory does not claim that frustration always leads to aggression. Berkowitz's revision says it leads to aggression primarily when the frustration feels unjustified and aggressive cues are present.
The catharsis hypothesis is intuitively appealing but wrong. Exams often test whether students know the research contradicts it.
⚠️ Be able to define prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination and explain how they relate.
⚠️ Know the three sources of prejudice (social, motivational, cognitive) and at least two findings under each.
⚠️ Social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner) and ingroup bias are heavily tested. Know the three steps: categorise, identify, compare.
⚠️ Distinguish hostile from instrumental aggression with examples.
⚠️ Know Berkowitz's revision of frustration-aggression theory and how it differs from the original.
⚠️ The weapons effect and the catharsis hypothesis are common exam items. State each clearly.
⚠️ Understand how media violence relates to aggression: correlation, risk factor, mechanisms (arousal, disinhibition, imitation, desensitisation, priming).
True or False: Discrimination refers to negative attitudes toward a group.
Fill in the blank: The ______ effect is the perception that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members.
True or False: Berkowitz's revised frustration-aggression theory says frustration always leads directly to aggression.
Fill in the blank: The ______ hypothesis, which says that venting aggression reduces the aggressive drive, is not supported by research.
True or False: Social identity theory says we gain self-esteem partly from the groups we belong to.
Answers: 1. False (discrimination is negative behaviour; prejudice is the negative attitude). 2. Outgroup homogeneity. 3. False (only when the frustration is unjustified and aggressive cues are present). 4. Catharsis. 5. True.
Q: Explain the difference between implicit and explicit prejudice, and why the distinction matters.
A: Explicit prejudice is conscious and self-reported; implicit prejudice is automatic and can operate outside awareness. The distinction matters because a person may report egalitarian beliefs (low explicit prejudice) while still showing biased behaviour driven by implicit attitudes, such as quicker association of negative words with outgroup faces.
Q: Using social identity theory, explain why sports fans sometimes become hostile toward rival teams' supporters.
A: Social identity theory says people categorise others into ingroups and outgroups, identify with their ingroup, and compare their group favourably to outgroups. Sports fandom creates a strong ingroup identity. Fans boost their self-esteem by seeing their team as superior, and hostility toward the rival outgroup reinforces that ingroup pride.
Q: A student argues that playing violent video games helps angry people "blow off steam." What would research say?
A: Research contradicts the catharsis hypothesis. Playing violent video games does not reduce aggression; it increases aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and decreases empathy. Expressing aggression tends to breed more aggression, not less.
Q: How does the just-world phenomenon contribute to prejudice against disadvantaged groups?
A: The just-world phenomenon leads people to believe that people get what they deserve. When applied to disadvantaged groups, it produces the conclusion that their suffering must be their own fault, which justifies the status quo and reduces motivation to address inequality.
Prejudice connects back to Chapter 8's coverage of group polarization and groupthink, which explain how prejudiced attitudes can intensify in like-minded groups.
Scapegoating (Chapter 9) and displacement (Chapter 10) are two expressions of the same underlying mechanism: redirecting hostility from an intimidating or unknown source to a safer target.
Aggression's social learning theory connects forward to Chapter 12 (Helping), where the same observational learning mechanism explains how prosocial models promote altruism.
Prejudice, stereotype, discrimination, racism, sexism, implicit bias, explicit attitudes, dual attitude system, social dominance orientation, authoritarian personality, realistic group conflict theory, scapegoat theory, social identity theory, Tajfel, Turner, ingroup bias, outgroup homogeneity, own-race bias, group-serving bias, just-world phenomenon, stereotype threat, aggression, hostile aggression, instrumental aggression, frustration-aggression theory, Berkowitz, displacement, relative deprivation, social learning theory, Bandura, catharsis hypothesis, weapons effect, media violence, desensitisation, prosocial behaviour, video game violence