Understanding Intercultural Understanding Intercultural Communication Communication Second EditionSecond Edition

Chapter 8

What Causes us to Hold Biases Against Outgroups?

Stella Ting-Toomey & Leeva C. Chung

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

PowerPoint Slides Designed by Alex Flecky and Noorie Baig

MENUMENU

I. Human Perception Tendencies: Some General Principles

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup Membership Boundaries

IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism

V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables

I. Human Perception Tendencies: Some I. Human Perception Tendencies: Some General Principles General Principles

Human perception: • Process of selecting cues quickly from the

environment, organizing them into a coherent pattern and labeling that pattern, and interpreting that pattern in accordance with our expectation.

Quick three-step process: • Selective attention• Selective organization and labeling• Selective interpretation.

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

A. Ethnocentrism and Communication Ethnocentrism: derived from two Greek

words:Ethno: “one’s own ethnic or cultural group”

Centrism: “One’s own group should be looked upon as the center of the world”

Degrees of ethnocentrism:• Distance of disparagement (high ethnocentrism) • Distance of avoidance (moderate ethnocentrism) • Distance of indifference (low ethnocentrism)

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)

Developed by Janet Bennett & Milton Bennett

A Popular Intercultural Training Model: • Three states of ethnocentrism• Three states in development of ethnorelativism

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

Stereotype content model (SCM):

Formed along two dimensions:

• Perception of warmth dimension• Perception of competence dimension

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and StereotypesA Two-Dimensional Stereotype Content Model

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

Stereotyping is inevitable; key is to distinguish between inflexible and flexible stereotyping.

• Inflexible stereotyping: holds onto negative stereotypes by operating on automatic pilot.

• Flexible stereotyping: “mindfully minding our mind.”

Automatic pilot reaction

Rigid categories

Premature closure

Polarized evaluations

Information distortion

Unwilling to change categories

Mindful of categorization

Open-ended categories

First best-guesses

Loose interpretations

Information openness

Willingness to change categories

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes

Flexible StereotypingInflexible Stereotyping

Table 8.1

B. Stereotypes and Communication Stereotypes: • Exaggerated pictures about a group of people on

the basis of inflexible beliefs and expectations about the characteristics or behaviors of the group.

• What are some factors that shape stereotypes?

II. Biased Intergroup Filters: II. Biased Intergroup Filters: Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes and Stereotypes

III. III. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup Marking Ingroup-Outgroup Membership Boundaries Membership Boundaries

Ingroup and Outgroup Attribution Differences

III. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup III. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup Membership Boundaries Membership Boundaries A. Us versus Them

Social identity theory: Study of ingroup, outgroup membership,

how emotional attachment to social group plays key role in forming social/personal identity.

Ingroup: feel connected to. Outgroup: feel emotionally and psychologically detached.

III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup Membership Boundaries Membership Boundaries B. Group Membership Struggle

C. Intergroup Attribution BiasesAttributions: the explanations—the meanings of why people behave as they do. • Fundamental attribution error• Principle of negativity• Favorable self-bias and other-derogation

principle• Self-effacement bias

IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism Discrimination, and RacismPrejudice:

Describes an individual’s feelings and predispositions toward outgroup members in a pejorative or negative direction, but can also mean the opposite: One can be indiscriminately for or against members of a particular group.

Four explanations for development of prejudice:• Exploitation theory• Scapegoating theory• Authoritarian personality approach• Structural approach

IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism Discrimination, and Racism

C. Four Discriminatory Practices

Discrimination: Verbal and nonverbal actions that carry out prejudiced attitudes. Four practices:

• Isolate discrimination: • Small-group discrimination• Direct institutional discrimination• Indirect institutional discrimination

IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism Discrimination, and RacismD. Different Types of Racism Racism involves three principles:

• Feelings of superiority based on biological or racial differences;• Strong ingroup preferences and the rejection of

outgroups, different in customs or beliefs; and• Doctrine that conveys special advantage to those in

power.

Three basic examples of racism:• Racial profiling• Perpetuating stereotypic images• Hate crimes

V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-AblesV. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables

• Be honest about your own biases.• Understand where you learn your stereotypes.• Seek accurate identity membership knowledge.• Get involved in diverse identity communities.• Cultivate constructive, intergroup contacts.• Work on positive, interdependent task goals.• Personalized the relationships & build trust.• Learn to listen and share…

Parting Thoughts…Parting Thoughts…

In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.

I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.

~ Anne Frank