Mitigating Stereotypes and Heuristics - Essay Example

?Mitigating biases, stereotypes, and heuristics Introduction Attitudes refer to the beliefs and opinions that people form about everything that is in their environment including other people and the events in their vicinity. Attitudes are relative and therefore change during subsequent interactions with the people and the events. Attitudes therefore influence the relationship of people for the perceived people or events. People form attitudes about other people and other environmental elements depending on the predisposing environmental factors around them. In short, they are often assumptions about the other people that subsequently influence the interaction among people. Attitudes have three primary components including cognitive, behavioral and effective components each influencing the interaction among people differently (Heider, 1946). While cognitive attitude relates to the predispositions about the objects of the attitude thereby influencing the general overview of such subject group, the behavioral components often formulate a certain behavioral reaction pattern to a certain subject group. The following discussion evaluates the methods used to measure inherent biases, stereotypes as well as heuristics. An Evaluative Summary Of The Properties Of Psychometrically Sound Measures Bem, (1967) asserts that attitudes influence the formation of stereotypes, biases and heuristics. Stereotypes are conventional or formulaic oversimplified conceptions and opinions about others and events. From the definition of stereotypes, it becomes evident that the different opinions and perceptions about other people often lead to the formation of stereotypes held over the other by a group of people or even an individual. Stereotypes are creations of individuals who thereafter spread the thoughts to other people of similar thoughts. They thus become conventional. Biases on the other hand are inclinations towards something or someone. They are often predispositions that show either prejudices or perceptions. Additionally, biases arise occur from the different attitudes of people. Unlike the other two, heuristics are formulas of solving relational problems. People interact differently with people especially those against whom they hold attitudes and stereotypes. Through time when the two begin interacting, then some of the stereotypes become valid at the expense of others (Roest, Dubas, Gerris & Engels, 2009). People therefore slowly change their attitudes against their victims systematically resulting in the formation of working relationships between people with previous divergent views about each other. Different theories explain the systematic behavioral patterns and therefore the attitude that people form differently. Among the most common, applicable theories are resistance and cognitive behavioral theories. The two theories both postulate their theories in relations to the influence of attitudes in determining the behavior. Additionally, in measuring the levels of biases, stereotypes and heuristics, it becomes appropriate to measure the influence of attitudes and the factors that result in the formation of different attitudes among people therefore determining the manner in which attitudes influences the formation of the biases and stereotypes. Among the most common, used methods in measuring these are the value relation between parents and their children. One of such methods is the value-oriented method, which investigates the different behavioral aspects of behavior. The scientific method identifies different aspects of the behavior relationship as variables and therefore investigates the relationship between such variables. The theory investigates the relationship between each of the two parents and their adolescent children or the children among themselves (Festinger, 1957). In doing this, the theory incorporates the role of cultures in determining the behavior and attitudinal patterns among people of different ages. While some of the attitudes are perceptions shared by their parents and any other adult closely related to the children, the children most of who are adolescent break the convention immediately they overcome their parental controls and therefore acquire their own attitudes and stereotypes about the different aspects of their society. An Evaluation Of The Methods Used To Measure The Biases, Stereotypes, And Heuristics The method considers the influence of the cultural stereotypes, which it is therefore treated as a measurable variable. Culture is a definite formula or pattern of people’s way of life. Different people habiting different ecosystems present different cultural inclinations (Pennebaker & Sanders, 1976). Additionally, the different age groups in the current urban population present different cultural inclination thereby living different lives. The measurement approach therefore earns some relevance in the decision to investigate the effects of cultural stereotypes in the determination of subsequent attitudes. Nevertheless, the relativity of culture impairs the effectiveness of the formula since people currently live solitary lives and rarely interact outside their job or school environment. It thus becomes difficult to determine particular conventional cultural patterns in different people. To overcome this cultural dimension, the theory employs the use of assumptions, which therefore impair the effectiveness of the method in measuring the value similarities among parents and their children. Another method investigates the impacts of social in mitigating mindsets. Mindsets are conventional reasoning patterns that people assume when relating to different classes of people. The mindset is therefore a product of personal attitudes and often influence the creation of biases and stereotypes. Humans are social beings portraying extensive interaction with each other. The modern society presents different social interaction platforms, which conveniently converge people thereby enabling them to share ideas and thoughts. This implies that the nature of the society influences the formation of particular stereotypes and mindsets. The invention of the internet and the subsequent development of the social networking sites enables people to interact with others of diverse backgrounds (Higgins, Rholes & Jones, 1977). Through their social exchanges, people change their attitudes about others thereby pacifying the social differences resulting from attitudes. The research investigates the impacts of social factors in reversing the racial mindsets among people. Racial segregation was a product of conventional attitudes shared among the society. It portrayed certain races superior to others. However, with the liberalization of the society, it became evident that with the provision of similar and equal resources both races perform equally with the previous poor performers often competing favorably against the superior races. The social values and beliefs therefore influence the formation of attitudes thus biases and stereotypes factors, which eventually influence the relationship between, people of different backgrounds. Social structures influence people’s interactions thereby possibly influencing the formation of the mindsets. The liberalization of the social structures results in the creation of a fair society in which everyone is essential thereby reversing some of the negative mindsets and attitudes (Barden, Maddux, Petty & Brewer, 2004). Conclusion In retrospect, different people exhibit different behaviors that result in the formation of stereotypes, biases and mindsets about them. While the first two are always negative, mindsets are at times positively. Attitudes are therefore not always permanent and changes concurrently with the changes in the social structures. While some approaches assert that the attitudes are values that different generations inherit from their parents, the social impact approach which presents a more valid argument differs by asserting that the different factors in the society often result in the creation of the different attitudes about others (Roest, Dubas, Gerris & Engels, 2009). Social factors include the cultural practices, the modern society is liberal with no conventional culture among, this permits increased interaction thereby resulting in the relativity of the attitudes and stereotypes. References Barden, J., Maddux, W. W., Petty, R. E., & Brewer, M. B. (2004). Contextual moderation of racial bias: The impact of social roles on controlled and automatically activated attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 5-22. doi:10.1037/0022 3514.87.1.5. Bem, D. J. (1967). Self-perception: The dependent variable of human performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 2(2), 105-121. Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Heider, F. (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal of Psychology, 21, 107-112. Higgins, E. T., Rholes, W. S., & Jones, C. R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141-154. Roest, A. C., Dubas, J., Gerris, J. M., & Engels, R. E. (2009). Value similarities among fathers, mothers, and adolescents and the role of a cultural stereotype: Different measurement strategies reconsidered. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 19(4), 812-833. doi:10.1111/j.1532 7795.2009.00621.x. Pennebaker, J. W., & Sanders, D. Y. (1976). American graffiti: Effects of authority and reactance arousal. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2(3), 264-267. Read More