In sociology,socialization or socialisation is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained".
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's perceived personal characteristics,such as political affiliation,sex,gender,gender identity,beliefs,values,social class,age,disability,religion,sexuality,race,ethnicity,language,nationality,culture,complexion,beauty,height,body weight,occupation,wealth,education,criminality,sport-team affiliation,music tastes or other perceived characteristics.
In sociology,a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily),age,background,or social status. The members of this group are likely to influence the person's beliefs and behaviour.
In the psychology of self,one's self-concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally,self-concept embodies the answer to the question "Who am I?".
Sex differences in psychology are differences in the mental functions and behaviors of the sexes and are due to a complex interplay of biological,developmental,and cultural factors. Differences have been found in a variety of fields such as mental health,cognitive abilities,personality,emotion,sexuality,and tendency towards aggression. Such variation may be innate,learned,or both. Modern research attempts to distinguish between these causes and to analyze any ethical concerns raised. Since behavior is a result of interactions between nature and nurture,researchers are interested in investigating how biology and environment interact to produce such differences,although this is often not possible.
In psychology and other social sciences,the contact hypothesis suggests that intergroup contact under appropriate conditions can effectively reduce prejudice between majority and minority group members. Following WWII and the desegregation of the military and other public institutions,policymakers and social scientists had turned an eye towards the policy implications of interracial contact. Of them,social psychologist Gordon Allport united early research in this vein under intergroup contact theory.
In social psychology,a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary;it can be,for example,an expectation about the group's personality,preferences,appearance or ability. Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralized,inaccurate,and resistant to new information,but can sometimes be accurate.
Gender typing is the process by which a child becomes aware of their gender and thus behaves accordingly by adopting values and attributes of members of the sex that they identify as their own. This process is important for a child's social and personality development because it largely impacts the child's understanding of expected social behavior and influences social judgments.
An implicit bias or implicit stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a member of some social out group.
Melanie Killen is a developmental psychologist and Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology,and Professor of Psychology (Affiliate) at the University of Maryland,and Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Kent,Canterbury,UK. She is supported by funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD),and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her research. In 2008,she was awarded Distinguished Scholar-Teacher by the Provost's office at the University of Maryland. She is the Director of the Social and Moral Development Lab at the University of Maryland.
Moral development focuses on the emergence,change,and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. The theory states that morality develops across a life span in a variety of ways and is influenced by an individual's experiences and behavior when faced with moral issues through different periods of physical and cognitive development. Morality concerns an individual's reforming sense of what is right and wrong;it is for this reason that young children have different moral judgment and character than that of a grown adult. Morality in itself is often a synonym for "rightness" or "goodness." It also refers to a specific code of conduct that is derived from one's culture,religion,or personal philosophy that guides one's actions,behaviors,and thoughts.
The imagined contact hypothesis is an extension of the contact hypothesis,a theoretical proposition centred on the psychology of prejudice and prejudice reduction. It was originally developed by Richard J. Crisp and Rhiannon N. Turner and proposes that the mental simulation,or imagining,of a positive social interaction with an outgroup member can lead to increased positive attitudes,greater desire for social contact,and improved group dynamics. Empirical evidence supporting the imagined contact hypothesis demonstrates its effectiveness at improving explicit and implicit attitudes towards and intergroup relations with a wide variety of stigmatized groups including religious minorities,the mentally ill,ethnic minorities,sexual minorities,and obese individuals. Researchers have identified a number of factors that influence the effectiveness of the imagined contact hypothesis including vividness of the imagery and how typical the imagined outgroup individual is. While some researchers question the effectiveness of the imagined contact hypothesis,empirical evidence does suggest it is effective at improving attitudes towards outgroups.
Internalized sexism takes the form of sexist behaviors and attitudes enacted by women toward themselves or other women and girls. On a larger scale,internalized sexism falls under the broad topic of internalized oppression,which "consists of oppressive practices that continue to make the rounds even when members of the oppressor group are not present." Internalized sexism can cause a wide range of effects,for instance problems with one's mental health and body image. Modes of internalization of sexism include early childhood inculturation and consumption of media,while language can also moderate power imbalances between groups and perpetuate internalized sexism.
Gender roles are culturally influenced stereotypes which create expectations for appropriate behavior for males and females. An understanding of these roles is evident in children as young as age four. Children between 3 and 6 months can form distinctions between male and female faces. By ten months,infants can associate certain objects with females and males,like a hammer with males or scarf with females. Gender roles are influenced by the media,family,environment,and society. In addition to biological maturation,children develop within a set of gender-specific social and behavioral norms embedded in family structure,natural play patterns,close friendships,and the teeming social jungle of school life. The gender roles encountered in childhood play a large part in shaping an individual's self-concept and influence the way an individual forms relationships later on in life.
The study of the relationship between gender and emotional expression is the study of the differences between men and women in behavior that expresses emotions. These differences in emotional expression may be primarily due to cultural expectations of femininity and masculinity.
Race-based traumatic stress is the traumatic response to stress following a racial encounter. Robert T. Carter's (2007) theory of race-based traumatic stress implies that there are individuals of color who experience racially charged discrimination as traumatic,and often generate responses similar to post-traumatic stress. Race-based traumatic stress combines theories of stress,trauma and race-based discrimination to describe a particular response to negative racial encounters.
Intergroup relations refers to interactions between individuals in different social groups,and to interactions taking place between the groups themselves collectively. It has long been a subject of research in social psychology,political psychology,and organizational behavior.
In social psychology,a metastereotype is a stereotype that members of one group have about the way in which they are stereotypically viewed by members of another group. In other words,it is a stereotype about a stereotype. They have been shown to have adverse effects on individuals that hold them,including on their levels of anxiety in interracial conversations. Meta-stereotypes held by African Americans regarding the stereotypes White Americans have about them have been found to be largely both negative and accurate. People portray meta-stereotypes of their ingroup more positively when talking to a member of an outgroup than to a fellow member of their ingroup.
Christia Spears Brown is an American psychologist and author. She is a professor of psychology and associate chair of development and social psychology at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Brown is the author of several books. Her research interests include gender stereotypes,children and adolescents perception of gender and ethnic discrimination,gender and ethnic identity development,and social inequality.
Lynn S. Liben is developmental psychologist known for her research on effects of gender and racial stereotypes on child development. Liben is an Evan Pugh University Professor of Psychology,Human Development and Family Studies,and Education at Pennsylvania State University.
