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Unit 1a - Development of Diversity Theories

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11 views18 pages

Unit 1a - Development of Diversity Theories

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Dhanielle Mamucod
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Development of Diversity

Theories
Social Categorization Theory
• Henri Tajfel – a Jew who
survived the Nazi Holocaust.
Due to his tragic moments
of his family not spared by
the Holocaust, he spent his
time studying Psychology.
He became a Social
Psychology professor and
dedicated all his efforts to
studying why various
groups grow to dislike and
even hate each other. He,
along with his student, John
Turner, developed the
theory of social
categorization.
Social Categorization Theory

• Social categorization – refers to grouping people into


categories based on demographic characteristics
including age, sex, and race among others. People
desire to perceive members of their own category as
superior and engage in stereotyping, distancing, and
disparaging treatment of people in the out-group.
Because of this, categorization can lead to bias,
prejudice and discrimination.
Social Categorization Theory
• Muzafer Sherif – his works on
realistic group conflict theory
explains that there are scarce
resources such as power,
prestige, land, money and other
resources which create
intergroup conflict.
• He conducted the famous
Robber’s Cave Experiment
• Introduced the idea of
superordinate goals or goals
that the two different groups
have in common to reduce
hostility and promote
cooperation.
Social Identity Theory

• It describes the cognitive origins of group


identification.
• According to Hogg and Terry, the major
motivations for social identity processes are to
reduce uncertainty and
self-enhancement of one’s own self-concept.
Similarity Attraction and
Relational
Demography
• Similarity Attraction theory – predicts that at the
individual level, people are more attracted to others
who are similar to themselves.
• Theory of Relational Demography – proposes that
the more similar an individual employee’s demographic
characteristics are to the work groups, the more
positive his or her attitudes and behaviors toward
that group will be.
Modern Racism and Sexism
Theories
• It argues that people have deep-seated prejudice but
nevertheless behave in socially desirable ways because
they are aware that old fashioned prejudice is socially
unacceptable. Therefore, they exhibit biased behavior in
subtle ways that are not blatant.
• Aversive Racism Theory – people have deep-seated
prejudice but feel it is wrong to have and express such
feelings with other groups.
• Symbolic Racism Theory – prejudice against minority
groups such as African-Americans is driven by anti-
Black emotions and political views.
Social Dominance Theory

• Developed by Sidanius and Pratto (1999) to understand


how social hierarchies are formed.
• The theory suggests that societies generate and sustain a
trimorphic system and that these systems are typically
observed universally across the world.
Social Dominance Theory
• AGE SYSTEM – explains status
that older people have more
social
Gende power as compared to children.
r
Age
Syste
Syste • GENDER SYSTEM –
m represents status such
that men typically have
Arbitra
y an unequal amount of
Syste political and collective
power compared to
women.
• ARBITRARY SYSTEM of
social values based on
things like race, class and
religion is typically
present and represents
levels of
Societie social status.

s
Social Dominance Theory

• Social Dominance – the degree to which


individuals desire and support a group-
based hierarchy and the domination of
inferior groups by superior groups.
Critical Race Theory

• In the global concept, this theory maintains


that dominant groups within the society can
racialize people of other groups in different
ways at different times.
• It further describes that progressive change
around race will only occur when the interests
of the powerful majority happen to converge
with those of the racially oppressed.
Status Construction Theory
• It was developed by Cecilia Ridgeway in 1991. The theory asks
the question “How do characteristics of individuals such as
sex or race acquire status
value in society?”
• It argues that the terms in which people interact across
social groups can cause shared status beliefs to form and
spread throughout the population.
• It relies heavily on the foundation of expectation-states
theory which maintains that status hierarchy is formed
among members of a group or organization and that the
status of each other person’s contributions to their shared
goals.
• It also proposes that inequalities develop in the distribution
of resources among the population.

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