Deck 3: Reducing Prejudice: How Achievable? How Important?

Question 1

Under the right conditions,contact can be an important force for reducing prejudice.Which of the following is one important condition that must be met in order for contact to be effective?

A) Contact must take place such that status difference is obvious
B) Contact must be more than superficial
C) Contact must be threatening to force people to change
D) The groups must work separately on common goals

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The addition of the internet has broadened the range of antiprejudice communications available:

A) But prejudiced people don't use the internet
B) But people tend to seek out views and material they already find appealing
C) But very few extreme views, whether antiprejudiced or hate speech are available on the internet
D) And there are tight controls about hate speech on the internet

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The city of Boston experienced intense conflict and a number of violent incidents during the implementation of a school desegregation plan in the 1970s.Which of the following is a characteristic of neighborhoods where the conflict was most intense?

A) They were mostly middle to upper-middle class
B) Most of the people there had secure jobs
C) They were well-represented in the city's power structure
D) There was intense job competition with the other race

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A problem with the use of education to reduce prejudice,in terms of self-selection is that at the college level people who take courses in majority-minority relations or related topics are probably:

A) More prejudiced than others to begin with
B) Smarter than those who do not take such courses
C) More ignorant than those who do not take such courses
D) Less prejudiced than others to begin with

Question 5

To be effective,intergroup contact must meet all the following conditions EXCEPT:

A) Contact must be on an equal status basis
B) Contact must be more than superficial
C) Contact must be nonthreatening
D) Contact must be competitive within the group

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT one of the possible ways of reducing racial and ethnic prejudice?

A) Persuasive communication
B) Shock therapy
C) Intergroup contact
D) Simulation exercises

Question 7

Fishbein (1996)in a review of studies of the effects of media messages against prejudice on schoolchildren found:

A) Media messages did not reduce racial and ethnic prejudices in children
B) Children were less likely than adults to change their beliefs based on these messages
C) Regardless of race, age, or gender of children, these media messages did reduce racial and ethnic prejudices
D) Media messages reduced prejudice against people with disabilities but no other groups in children

Question 8

Sherif and his colleagues divided a group of boys attending scout camp into two groups and then placed the groups in difficult and frustrating situations.Eventually the two groups became very hostile toward each other.How did the experimenters get the hostility between the two groups to dissipate?

A) They set up a situation where the two groups were interdependent and had to cooperate
B) They brought the group together in noncompetitive situations
C) They continued to put the two groups in difficult situations until one group emerged as clearly superior
D) The experimenters could not undo the hostility between the two groups

Question 9

Requiring the same course on diversity for all students at colleges and universities:

A) Has been added to the curriculum at only a few schools
B) Is supported as a requirement by a majority of the American public
C) Has been found to be least effective when combined with service learning requirements
D) Has little impact on students' prejudice levels

Question 10

Research exploring the intergroup contact hypothesis has sought to identify the conditions under which contact is likely to reduce prejudice.Which of the following is an essential condition?

A) Open-mindedness on the part of minority and majority members
B) An unprejudiced facilitator
C) Equal status between the minority and majority members
D) Prolonged contact

Question 11

Which of the following may limit the potential of intergroup-relations when used in educational settings?

A) Minority group members are frequently over-represented in the teaching profession
B) There are fewer men than women elementary school teachers
C) Teachers, like other people, are sometimes prejudiced
D) School text books that are free of stereotypical portrayals of minorities

Question 12

The effectiveness of persuasive communication in reducing prejudice depends upon all of the following except one.Which is NOT true?

A) How well the speaker can "shame" the listeners into admitting guilt
B) Who is giving the message
C) How prejudiced the person receiving the message is
D) Why the person receiving the message is prejudiced in the first place

Question 13

The potential of persuasive communication appears to be greatest in influencing

A) Those with strong prejudices
B) Blacks
C) Whites
D) Those who are relatively unprejudiced

Question 14

People assigned to integrated settings in public housing and to integrated troop units and military barracks:

A) Showed reductions in prejudice or became less prejudiced than comparable people in segregated settings
B) Showed increases in prejudice or became more prejudiced than comparable people in segregated settings
C) Showed no effect on prejudice as compared to comparable people in segregated settings
D) Were more likely to be hostile to their neighbors than comparable people in segregated settings

Question 15

Which of the following is an advantage of required college courses in intergroup relations?

A) It may bury latent racial tensions
B) It may avoid the problem of self-selection
C) It may mean that the university will hire more minority professors
D) It assures that instructors will be free from prejudice themselves

Question 16

Research suggests that the most important factor for bringing about long-term attitude changes through the use of persuasive communication is the:

A) Credibility of the source
B) Strength of the conviction of the source
C) Personal attractiveness of the source
D) Personableness of the source

Question 17

For the most part,research indicates that well-designed educational programs are:

A) An effective means of reducing prejudice
B) An ineffective means of reducing prejudice
C) Most effective in changing the minds of adults
D) Always best when confrontational strategies are used to bring prejudice into the open

Question 18

Which of the following is one of the minimum conditions necessary for a persuasive communication to be successful?

A) The communication must be presented whether it is heard or not
B) The message must be heard, even if it is misunderstood
C) Receiving the communication must be a positive experience
D) The message need only be retained for a few minutes

Question 19

If a person is prejudiced mainly as a result of social learning or pressure for conformity what would be the best way to change that prejudice?

A) Education and a change in the environment
B) Personal therapy
C) Group therapy
D) Aversion therapy

Question 20

What is the main difference between persuasion and education?

A) Persuasion does not attempt to change people's attitudes
B) Education does not attempt to change people's attitudes
C) The purpose of persuasion is to impart information
D) The purpose of education is to change people's attitudes

Question 21

1.Persuasive communication can be defined as any communication-written,oral,audiovisual,or whatever-that is specifically intended to influence attitudes,beliefs,or behaviors.

Question 22

According to Merton's topology of prejudice and discrimination which type of person is unprejudiced and does not discriminate?

A) The timid bigot
B) The all-weather liberal
C) The all-weather bigot
D) The fair-weather liberal

Question 23

When whites,who generally deny the existence of black disadvantage,are pressed to account for whatever disadvantage blacks experience,they usually maintain that _________ mainly responsible.

A) The culture is
B) Blacks themselves are
C) Institutional racism
D) Whites are

Question 24

3.Persuasive communication is effective when prejudice is meeting some personality need.

Question 25

5.Studies have shown that people living in integrated housing projects are more prejudiced even though they interact more regularly with persons of the opposite race than people who live in racially segregated housing projects.

Question 26

7.Attitudes do not always determine behavior.

Question 27

10.A recent study found that those people who are least likely to stereotype minorities as lazy were the most likely to be opposed to welfare programs.

Question 28

8.Most of the white respondents to Gallup polls as recently as 1997,express a desire to live in all white neighborhoods.

Question 29

6.Contact that intensifies fear often makes prejudiced people even more prejudiced.

Question 30

9.While whites are more likely to see prejudice in terms of individual behavior,blacks are more likely to see prejudice in terms of institutional behavior.

Question 31

4.Education about intergroup relations is most effective in reducing prejudice when it minimizes the stress associated with admitting previous error.

Question 32

According to Merton's typology of prejudice and discrimination which type of person is prejudiced but does not discriminate?

A) The timid bigot
B) The all-weather liberal
C) The all-weather bigot
D) The fair-weather liberal

Question 33

Exercises that set up a situation in which people experience discrimination and learn about the feelings that result from being discriminated against,and that point out the irrationality of prejudice and discrimination are called:

A) Contact exercises
B) Persuasion exercises
C) Simulation exercises
D) Mirror exercises

Question 34

In trying to figure out how important prejudice is as a cause of discriminatory behavior,La Pierce (1934),traveled around the United States with a Chinese couple.Later he sent questionnaires to the establishments they had visited asking if they would serve Chinese guests.What was the response of most of the businesses?

A) They said that they would not serve Chinese guests
B) They said that they would serve Chinese guests
C) They said that they would serve Chinese only if a white was present
D) They said that they would serve Chinese only if there were no whites present

Question 35

When prejudice arises from personality needs,many social psychologists feel that the best remedy is:

A) Persuasion
B) Education
C) Intergroup contact
D) Individual or group therapy

Question 36

The rate of theft is high in a department store and a clerk has been warned that it must stop or the clerk could lose his job.The boss has also told the clerk that Mexican Americans are likely to shoplift and are probably responsible for most of the thefts in the store.So the clerk follows Mexican Americans around the store.This behavior is best explained by:

A) The clerk's own prejudice
B) The role expectation of the boss
C) The personality issues of the clerk
D) Lack of intergroup contact

Question 37

2.The prospect for changing a strongly prejudiced person through persuasion is usually very good.

Question 38

The trend in Southern racial attitudes since segregation laws were declared unconstitutional,suggest that:

A) Passing laws can't change people's minds
B) People behave in a way consistent with their attitudes
C) People develop attitudes consistent with their behavior
D) People have few problems with acting in ways different from their beliefs

Question 39

This form of prejudice appears to be based on the belief that blacks are getting unfair advantages that violate basic American norms such as individualism and self-reliance.A key element of this form of prejudice appears to be denial of the presence of racial inequality in society.What is this called?

A) Symbolic racism
B) Cognitive prejudice
C) Individual racism
D) Equal opportunity racism

Question 40

Which theory says that we want to believe our behavior is consistent with our attitudes?

A) The contact hypothesis
B) Cognitive dissonance theory
C) Authoritarian personality theory
D) Psychoanalysis

Question 41

2.How have racial attitudes in this country changed from the 1940's to the most recent polls?

Question 42

3.What is cognitive dissonance theory? Why could someone using this theory argue that changing laws can change attitudes about race relations?

Question 43

1.A common belief among whites and a fairly large number of blacks is that blacks and Hispanics are responsible for their own disadvantages.How does this belief tie into the American ideology of individualism and what impact does it have on support for public policy on race relations?