Outgroup

As Americans, we hold value over our democratic traditions, but how far does that value extend? Roberts-Miller writes a detailed article discussing democracy’s intricacies and how demagoguery holds an immense impact on democracy. She begins by claiming that an effective democracy requires its constituents to engage in thorough and intelligent deliberation and discussion of the problems in that democracy, thus creating possible pathways towards solutions (Roberts-Miller 459). Behind this claim is…

1) What did you already know that was a part of the readings? While reading Arron Beck’s Prisoners of Hate (1999), I encountered a great deal of information that I have previously learned. For example, Beck stated that people frequently frame outgroups unfavorably, whether if that means to engage in prejudice, stereotypes, or intolerance towards the other. He further enforces this point by noting the contrasts in the ways people treat others based on if they are perceived as the other or…

As social psychological theories are meant to explain phenomenon, it is relatively easy to identify these theories and concepts in daily life. Events in the news are also subject to social psychological analysis. In the CNN article “Could Grisly Murder of College Student Have Been Stopped?” by Scott Glover, Glover details the events surrounding the murder of a University of California, Los Angeles student. Sarah Muhr, a student at UCLA, called the police after she heard screams coming from…

mechanism of social grouping has become the predominant means of social intercourse. John Teehan, in his article entitled “Islam, Violence and the Religious Mind”, clarifies the meaning of social grouping by making a distinction between ingroups and outgroups; the social capacity to create mental categories (groups) has evolved as an adaptive trait to ensure social bondage, to the effect that the human species becomes dominant. An equally important feature of social grouping is that placement of…

Anticipating aggressiveness How understanding inter-group processes can help us anticipate and manage violence in prisons Violence within prisons is a serious problem we are facing now in this day and age. The number of riots in a prison have drastically increased since the 19** to *** and has severe consequences as it can lead to harm coming to many prisoners and guards also. It is through understanding inter-group processes that we can then understand why this level of violence within prisons…

in the outgroups of society. Not exactly in isolation, but still lesser than the other groups. They were mean to be a metaphor for the outgroups of society, such as middle to lower class white men. Not many are able to move into the ingroup of society, but they are not entirely isolated from society. Typically, they will create their own category rather than be isolated by the rest of society due to their lower-middle class status. They were used as a stepping stone between the outgroups and the…

Gender is always a starting ground to point out differences in life and the same goes for communication. Gender roles are a subculture of modern day society. “Although very few actual differences in the communication of males and females are empirically documented, stereotypical assumptions, perceptions, and expectations concerning the linguistic behavior of the sexes persist” (1986, p.42). Women are more likely to go ask others what they think about an idea whereas men like the idea and run…

studies demonstrated a connection between primed invulnerability and a change in responses toward outgroups. The authors concluded that physical invulnerability does not simply increase positive emotions, but instead it stops the compensatory responses when being excluded from social groups. Current research proves that mental experiences can relieve physical threat and decrease reactions towards outgroups. The data from the first study is consistent with the author’s hypothesis because it…

On the surface, social dominance theory paints a bleak picture of the nature of human social behavior. It takes as a given that inequality necessarily arises from society’s tendency to categorize people into their social groups and perpetuate hierarchies on which the power relations between these groups are founded. While other theories would explain intergroup biases and discriminatory behavior as a consequence of subjective misattribution, resource competition, or ingroup positive…

level, a person has beliefs and perceptions that a group is threatening or non-threatening (Parillo, 2014). Ethnocentrism is defined as a person’s rejection of all outgroups because they are focused on their own in-group only; in contrast to prejudice which is a rejection of certain people because of their membership in a particular outgroup. On an emotional level, a person experiences intense feelings, positive or negative, that are aroused because of their beliefs about a group. On the…