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How do we reduce hatred and the motivation to harm others?
How do we reduce hatred and the motivation to harm others?
We have seen the human potential for evil, and we have learned about many of the psychological processes that lead normal people to good and evil alike. But can psychologists leverage science to actually reduce prejudice, discrimination, and even terrorism? What can we do to create a better, kinder world?
09-A: Minimal Groups, The Contact Hypothesis, and The Jigsaw Classroom
09-A: Minimal Groups, The Contact Hypothesis, and The Jigsaw Classroom
How do psychologists create "minimal groups" to study the effect of membership on attitudes, beliefs, and behavior? What do we tend to see emerge once someone considers themselves a member?
What did Allport’s "contact hypothesis" suggest about reducing prejudice and discrimination? How might a jigsaw experience help reduce existing prejudice? In your discussion of the link between contact and liking, be sure to address:
The mediating role of recategorization
The moderating role of:
Cooperation
Equality
Individualized
Endorsement of Authority
Explain how cognitive accessibility might mediate the link between intergroup competition and intergroup tension.
LOCATE: A study by Devon Williams' (2004) entitled "Improving race relations in higher education: The jigsaw classroom as a missing piece to the puzzle."
READ: The introduction section can provide you with a bit more context that you may find helpful, so I encourage you to read from the beginning. That said, to address our learning outcomes for this section you can skip to the section on the implications of social psychological findings (pg. 332) and continue reading through the end of the article.
STUDENTS - The full paper is in the file section of our Canvas course page
PUBLIC - It appears you can access the full paper here.
OPTIONAL: A former student sent me this cartoon, which relates nicely to the concept of a "minimal group" and the resulting psychological bias. Warning: explicit language.
A key takeaway from this unit is the psychological process of recategorization, and how it can serve as the mediator between contact and liking. What if we stopped thinking about another group of people as "them" and started thinking about what makes us "we" instead?
WATCH: I am NOT Black, You are NOT White
Recently this video gained some viral traction as a passionate plea to transcend the labels that divide people into racial groups and recognize that we are all part of one larger group. Watch the 4-minute video and relate its content to the concept of recategorization.
Come prepared to discuss...
Come prepared to discuss...
How can we, in our every day lives, increase the accessibility to superordinate identities?
09-B: Why Do People Become Terrorists?
09-B: Why Do People Become Terrorists?
Describe the conceptual role of radicalization and deradicalization in terrorism and the fight against it.
What are some of the common misconceptions about terrorism (e.g., psychopathology, poverty, education)?
How does the need for significance drive the willingness to sacrifice love of self for self-love? In what way are the two "loves" negatively correlated?
How do goals and means interact with social processes to foster the motivation to kill innocent civilians?
How might gains, losses, and threats inspire terroristic ideologies?
How do radicals recruit others with a semantic approach? A rhetorical approach?
How do these relate to ideology (the belief in a “good” goal) and depersonalization?
How could you use these approaches when attempting to deradicalize?
How would you approach deradicalization with a focus on goal shift? Means shift? Be prepared to provide several examples for each category.
Humans have faced the use of fear to influence behavior since the beginning of recorded history, but the threat of terrorism has become a daily topic of conversation and a reality in our lives. What do we know about the psychological processes by which humans become determined to kill others? Is there any hope to fight terrorism with science? We will now look at an article written by researchers who have been studying the psychological processes behind the threat of terrorism.
LOCATE: A study by Kruglanski et al. (2011) entitled "Terrorism - A (self) love story. Redirecting the significance quest can end violence."
READ: Start by reading the introduction and the sections on modern terrorism and how we can define the concept, and continue through the section entitled "Quest for Significance" (pgs. 1-7). Then skip ahead to the short section on the sacrifice effect (pg. 9-10) and then to the section on deradicalization (pgs. 11-13, stop at section on rehabilitation).
STUDENTS - The full paper is in the file section of our Canvas course page
PUBLIC - It appears you can purchase the full paper here.
Come prepared to discuss...
Come prepared to discuss...
Reflect on the three elements of an ideological structure and relate that to what we learned about the patterns of distortions in memories of victims and perpetrators. In what ways may the biases observed when we think of ourselves as victims play into the psychological narrative used to justify radicalization and terrorism? In what way do the factors that Ariely found to influence dishonesty relate to these violent and hateful acts? That is, how can someone hurt and kill others and still view themselves as a "good" person?
09-C: Lessons from the Dark Side
09-C: Lessons from the Dark Side
How does Amaryllis Fox's point about how everyone views themselves relate to the various cognitive biases that we have learned about?
What, from this CIA officer's perspective, do we have to do to reduce conflict?
How would you analyze Christian Picciolini's case study in terms of...
Quest for significance
Depersonalization
Radicalization
Empathy
Goal shift vs. means shift
WATCH: Think about all of the groups in conflict with each other right now, and then hear from one person who purportedly spent a lot of time as an undercover CIA officer. Consider how her perspective relates to what you've learned so far.
WATCH: Is it really possible to go from hatred to kindness? As you listen to the story of one person's experience, relate it to what you have learned about a quest for significance, radicalization, and recategorization.
Come prepared to discuss...
Come prepared to discuss...
How does Christian Picciolini's comment about "identity, community, and purpose" relate to what we know about extremism? How did his story about the teenager and his mother's diagnosis relate to what you learned about empathy?
Closing Thoughts...
Closing Thoughts...
It is so easy to brand the enemy as evil monsters, but as we consider the psychological process that leads to the thoughts and feelings that motivate such destructive behavior, we can find hope. If we see each other as equally human, and address the weaknesses in the narrative we have been fed for why we should hate each other, we can overcome hate with empathy and hope.
In-Class Learning Objectives
In-Class Learning Objectives
After participating in our class meeting or an interactive online presentation you will be able to answer the following questions:
How was reaction time used to demonstrate the cognitive ability to quickly categorize out-group members (e.g., Zhao & Bentin, 2008)?
What is the out-group homogeneity effect? Be prepared to describe the research evidence that group categorizations lead to basic perceptual differences (e.g., Tajfel & Wilkes, 1971).
Considering the case study we watched where students were divided by eye color, in what way was aggressive behavior or prejudice encouraged or caused by:
Instrumentality?
Threatened egotism?
Confirmation bias?
Out-group homogeneity?
How would you apply everything you have learned to influence the affect, behavior, and cognition of someone who currently feels a great deal of hate towards another group of people?
If you're interested in learning more...
If you're interested in learning more...
More coming soon. Have suggestions? Email evil@umd.edu
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