93508 - Social Prejudice

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will know the theoretical models, the fundamental methods of investigation and the practical course of actions leading to social discrimination, stereotypes and social prejudice

Course contents

The course is designed to provide advanced knowledge of fundamental issues of the human experience, such as the origins and persistence of old and new forms of social prejudice and their link with stereotyping and discriminative behaviours. A comprehensive summary and critical analysis of the state of theory and research on the causes and consequences of intergroup prejudice will be illustrated. Moreover, similarities and differences among distinct types of prejudice will be addressed.

The course involves 2 modules, whose specific contents are the following:

Social Prejudice I (Prof. Rubini):

· Basic processes and definitions of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination (e.g., cognitive, affective and motivational processes)

Social Prejudice II (Prof. Prati):

· Causes of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination (e.g., individual, social and contextual factors)

· Different measures, methodological challenges and tools for studying prejudice

· Extreme forms of discrimination (e.g., dehumanization, social exclusion, hate crimes)

· Specific types of biases (e.g., ethnocentrism, sexism, hetero-sexism, ageism, anti-immigration bias, weight bias)

· The social impact of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination (e.g., bias in mass media, bias in organizations, health care disparities)

Readings/Bibliography

Scientific articles illustrating current research on specific topics will be made available in Virtuale.

Teaching methods

The course will be taught through frontal lessons.

Video-clips will be used to further explain and deep the different psychological processes that will be the main objects of the course.

Work groups and discussions will be strongly encouraged in order to understand how social-psychological process explain daily life phenomena, and facilitate the links with other psychological domains.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of an individual essay (max 2500 words) on a specific topic illustrated during the course.

The structure of the essay should include the following parts:

• The general cognitive, motivational, affective and social factors underlying stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination
• A focus on a specific type of prejudice (i.e., anti-immigration bias, hetero-sexism, sexism, ageism, weight bias)
• Methods and measures to capture the chosen prejudice
• Your reflections and observations on the illustrated topic

This work will be evaluated on criteria such as appropriateness and relevance of the material (e.g., references) and argumentation (i.e., use of own words), clarity and completeness of exposition, critical understanding of the topic and coherence of the argumentation.

During the course, students will be also asked to work in teams and prepare:

• A presentation of a scientific article
• A research study scheme
• A report of a case study

These group activities will be evaluated and will contribute to students' final mark.

Teaching tools

Teaching materials will be made available in the platform Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Prati

See the website of Monica Rubini