1. Understanding InterculturalUnderstanding Intercultural
CommunicationCommunication Second EditionSecond Edition
Chapter 8
What Causes us to Hold Biases Against
Outgroups?
StellaTing-Toomey & Leeva C. Chung
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
PowerPoint Slides Designed by Alex Flecky and Noorie Baig

2. MENUMENU
I. Human Perception Tendencies: Some
General Principles
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes
III. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership Boundaries
IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and Racism
V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables

3. I. Human Perception Tendencies: SomeI. Human Perception Tendencies: Some
General PrinciplesGeneral Principles
Human perception:
• Process of selecting cues quickly from the
environment, organizing them into a coherent
pattern and labeling that pattern, and
interpreting that pattern in accordance with
our expectation.
Quick three-step process:
• Selective attention
• Selective organization and labeling
• Selective interpretation.

4. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
A. Ethnocentrism and Communication
Ethnocentrism: derived from two Greek
words:
Ethno: “one’s own ethnic or cultural group”
Centrism: “One’s own group should be
looked upon as the center of the world”
Degrees of ethnocentrism:
• Distance of disparagement (high ethnocentrism)
• Distance of avoidance (moderate ethnocentrism)
• Distance of indifference (low ethnocentrism)

5. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
Developmental Model of Intercultural
Sensitivity (DMIS)
Developed by Janet Bennett & Milton Bennett
A Popular Intercultural Training Model:
• Three states of ethnocentrism
• Three states in development of ethnorelativism

6. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

7. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
Stereotype content model (SCM):
Formed along two dimensions:
• Perception of warmth dimension
• Perception of competence dimension

8. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
A Two-Dimensional Stereotype Content Model

9. II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
Stereotyping is inevitable; key is to distinguish
between inflexible and flexible stereotyping.
• Inflexible stereotyping: holds onto negative
stereotypes by operating on automatic pilot.
• Flexible stereotyping: “mindfully minding our
mind.”

10. Automatic pilot reaction
Rigid categories
Premature closure
Polarized evaluations
Information distortion
Unwilling to change
categories
Mindful of categorization
Open-ended categories
First best-guesses
Loose interpretations
Information openness
Willingness to change
categories
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
Ethnocentrism and StereotypesEthnocentrism and Stereotypes
Flexible StereotypingInflexible Stereotyping
Table 8.1

11. B. Stereotypes and Communication
Stereotypes:
• Exaggerated pictures about a group of people on
the basis of inflexible beliefs and expectations
about the characteristics or behaviors of the
group.
• What are some factors that shape stereotypes?
II. Biased Intergroup Filters:II. Biased Intergroup Filters:
EthnocentrismEthnocentrism
and Stereotypesand Stereotypes

12. III.III. Marking Ingroup-OutgroupMarking Ingroup-Outgroup
Membership BoundariesMembership Boundaries
Ingroup and Outgroup Attribution Differences

13. III. Marking Ingroup-OutgroupIII. Marking Ingroup-Outgroup
Membership BoundariesMembership Boundaries
A. Us versus Them
Social identity theory:
Study of ingroup, outgroup membership,
how emotional attachment to social group
plays key role in forming social/personal
identity.
Ingroup: feel connected to.
Outgroup: feel emotionally and psychologically
detached.

14. III. Marking Ingroup/OutgroupIII. Marking Ingroup/Outgroup
Membership BoundariesMembership Boundaries
B. Group Membership Struggle
C. Intergroup Attribution Biases
Attributions: the explanations—the meanings
of why people behave as they do.
• Fundamental attribution error
• Principle of negativity
• Favorable self-bias and other-derogation
principle
• Self-effacement bias

15. IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and RacismDiscrimination, and Racism
Prejudice:
Describes an individual’s feelings and
predispositions toward outgroup members in a
pejorative or negative direction, but can also
mean the opposite: One can be indiscriminately
for or against members of a particular group.
Four explanations for development of prejudice:
• Exploitation theory
• Scapegoating theory
• Authoritarian personality approach
• Structural approach

16. IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and RacismDiscrimination, and Racism
C. Four Discriminatory Practices
Discrimination:
Verbal and nonverbal actions that carry out
prejudiced attitudes. Four practices:
• Isolate discrimination:
• Small-group discrimination
• Direct institutional discrimination
• Indirect institutional discrimination

17. IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,IV. Shattered Lens: Prejudice,
Discrimination, and RacismDiscrimination, and Racism
D. Different Types of Racism
Racism involves three principles:
• Feelings of superiority based on biological or racial
differences;
• Strong ingroup preferences and the rejection of
outgroups, different in customs or beliefs; and
• Doctrine that conveys special advantage to those in
power.
Three basic examples of racism:
• Racial profiling
• Perpetuating stereotypic images
• Hate crimes

18. V. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-AblesV. Intercultural Reality Check: Do-Ables
• Be honest about your own biases.
• Understand where you learn your stereotypes.
• Seek accurate identity membership knowledge.
• Get involved in diverse identity communities.
• Cultivate constructive, intergroup contacts.
• Work on positive, interdependent task goals.
• Personalized the relationships & build trust.
• Learn to listen and share…

19. Parting Thoughts…Parting Thoughts…
In spite of everything I still believe that people are
really good at heart.
I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation
consisting of confusion, misery and death.
~ Anne Frank