Running head: prejudice and discrimination activities for Teaching about Prejudice and Discrimination

Section E:

_________ A heavily obese person is working out in the gym next to you.

_________ You are sitting next to an obese woman on a plane.

_________You notice a coworker who is obese is holding up the cafeteria line because she/he

wants to fill the tray.
_________ You watch an obese man get stuck trying to sit in a desk in a classroom.

_________You friend sees an overweight person and makes a joke about him/her.

Total: _________

Section F:

_________There is a 30 year age difference between you and your lab partner.

_________Your internship coordinator assigns you to an assisted care facility.

_________Your senior citizen landlord wears a hearing aid and often has difficulty

understanding you.

_________Your grandmother often asks you for help with her computer.

_________Your 70-year-old next door neighbor can never remember your name.

Total: _________
Results: Compute your total for each section by adding up the numbers from your responses. If you marked an item “N/A,” score it as a “3” before computing your total score for that section. Higher numbers indicate greater discomfort with social situations in that section.

_________ Section A: Race

_________ Section B: Gender

_________ Section C: Sexuality

_________ Section D: Disability

_________ Section E: Weight

_________ Section F: Age
Discussion Questions

1. 
   On which section did you score the lowest? Highest? Or are all your scores similar? Why do you think that happened? Do you feel surprised, disappointed, or satisfied by your results? Why?
   

2. 
   Think about your own social group memberships. How do you think the answers for each section would be different for dominant group members (e.g., a White person answering the questions in Section A or a heterosexual answering the questions in Section C) compared to minority group members (e.g., a disabled person answering the questions in Section D)? Explain your reasoning.
   

3. 
   Think about your friends and family and how they might have completed the questionnaire. Do you think their responses would be similar to or different from yours? Why?
   

4. 
   What experiences have you had that may have contributed to the way you answered the questions?
   

5. 
   What does it mean if someone reports feeling uncomfortable in the situations described on the questionnaire? Does it suggest that the person is biased against certain social groups? Why or why not?
   

Module 4

Identity Star Activity
Authors: Stephen A. Gabourel, Samantha M. Ellison, and William T. Stuller
Objectives: The purpose of this activity is to explore the oppressive nature of United States policy regarding race and biological sex. The goals of this activity are to (a) shed light on the historical treatment of racial minorities and women and their struggle for civil rights; (b) introduce discussion of social dominance and the conferral of privilege, and (c) increase awareness of the parallels between discriminatory practices of the past and today.
Materials:

• 
  Activity page (Pages 18-20)
  
• 
  Discussion questions (Page 21)
  
• 
  Blue, green, yellow, and red construction paper and a pair of scissors to cut the desired number of stars of each color.
  

Estimated time: 30-40 minutes

Group Size: Optimal class size is 12-16 students (3-4 students for each possible star color). This module can be completed successfully with fewer or more students as long as each star color is equally represented.
Instructions: Give each student a single 5-pointed star cut out of blue, green, yellow, or red construction paper. Distribute the star colors as evenly as possible. Each star color represents a combination of race and gender. Blue = White man, Green = White woman, Yellow = Black man, Red = Black woman. During the activity, inform the students about the corresponding identity that their star color represents. You might want to write this information on the stars themselves. Let the students know that it is their prescribed identities need not match their students’ actual group membership.
Have students stand in a circle while you read aloud the scenarios listed on the activity page. When some participants are prompted to tear off or fold over points of their stars depending on the color of their star, they should place their ripped star points in the center of their circle.
Background Research: Social dominance theory proposes that societies advantage dominant groups objectively, with laws and public allocation systems that suit dominant group ways of being better than subordinate group ways of being (Pratto & Stewart, 2012). This implies that members of powerful groups do not realize that they are privileged because it is difficult to recognize acts of discrimination not personally experienced (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Because dominance seems more normal and acceptable for members of dominant groups than for members of subordinate groups, people expect dominant groups to more openly accept hierarchy-enhancing social policy (Johnson, 2006; Pratto & Stewart, 2012). Examples are norms, policies, and practices associated with a social institution that result in different outcomes for certain social group members, such as the outcomes of court cases or laws enacted by local, state, or national legislatures (Benokraitis & Feagin, 1995; Jones, 1997).

References:

Benokraitis, N. V., & Feagin, J. R. (1995). Modern sexism: Blatant, subtle, and covert discrimination (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Johnson, A. G. (2006). Privilege, power, and difference (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Jones, J. M. (1997). Prejudice and racism (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Pratto, F., & Stewart, A. L. (2012). Group dominance and the half-blindness of privilege. Journal of Social Issues, 68, 28-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01734.x
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Identity Star Worksheet

1. 
   The year is 1701 and many African Americans are being enslaved or working as indentured servants to provide labor for the colonies. White women and African Americans are unable to vote, and for the most part, only White men are able to own property or hold office.
   

• 
  If you have a BLUE star, you are a respected and privileged member of society. Your voice is heard and your rights as a citizen are protected. The revenue from your properties keeps you and your family quite comfortable. You even own a few slaves to help tend your estates. For you, life is fulfilling and you have many opportunities for success. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  
• 
  If you have a GREEN star, you are a stay-at-home mother of three. In many aspects, notably intelligence, you are not seen as an equal counterpart to a man. It is believed that your gender’s primary role is nurturing children and caregiving and because you are a woman, you cannot vote. You do not feel in total control of your life. Often the men around make important decisions for you. (FOLD OVER A POINT OF YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a YELLOW star, you are muscular and strong—an excellent piece of property to be sold at a high price and put to work in back-breaking conditions. You can’t protect yourself or your family. Nobody cares about whether or not you want to do the work. You are rarely treated like a human being. (TEAR A POINT OFF YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a RED star, you are nothing but an object. You are worked, beaten, and raped by an unforgiving owner. Your close family members have been sold to another plantation. Hope is a distant feeling. (TEAR A POINT OFF YOUR STAR.)
  

2. 
   It is now 1790 and the U.S government passes the Naturalization Act. For the most part, only Whites are eligible to become naturalized citizens. For non-Whites progress toward citizenship is often stalled.
   

• 
  If you have a BLUE star, your family has been in the United States for generations. Your father tells you that his great-great-grandparents were from Scandinavia. The Naturalization Act does not affect you. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  
• 
  If you have a GREEN star, you are also a European-American and benefit from this legislation. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  
• 
  If you have a YELLOW or RED star, you are considered “colored” in this country so you will more than likely be denied citizenship. (TEAR A POINT OFF YOUR STAR.)
  

3. It is now 1865, the end of the Civil War. The Union triumphed over the Confederacy, slavery was abolished and the United States is now in a period of Reconstruction. Although this is initially a period of promise, much of both the White South and the White North is deeply resentful of the changes Reconstruction has brought, causing the federal government to largely abandon Reconstruction after only a few years. Newly freed slaves now experience a wave of hostility, discrimination, and violence.

• 
  If you have a BLUE or GREEN star, you are anxious about what the end of slavery means for the nation’s future, but you lose nothing besides a little sense of security. Although others believe this is a step in the right direction, you personally believe ending slavery is a debilitating mistake. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  
• 
  If you have a YELLOW star you are now a free man. You believed that the satisfaction of being released from your shackles would bring a lifetime of happiness. However, as is true for many others, you personally have no assets and nowhere to turn for work or shelter. You have little choice but to return to the plantation where you once were forced to work as a slave. You agree to work as a sharecropper and this perpetually keeps you owing debt to your employer. (TEAR A POINT OFF YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a RED star, you are free, but as with many Black women, there are few opportunities for employment outside of domestic work. Slavery is over in the U.S. but prejudice and discrimination are powerful residual obstacles. You must battle both racial and gender discrimination on a daily basis. You are recurrently disrespected and undervalued by White men, White women, and sometimes even Black men. (TEAR A POINT OFF YOUR STAR.)
  

4. It is now 1896. Segregation has become the way of life across the U.S. South. In the case of Plessey v. Ferguson the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” is constitutional. In other words, people of color are often forced to live separately from Whites as second class citizens. The public accommodations designated for Blacks are typically subpar at best, a reflection of how they are valued as people.

• 
  If you have a BLUE star, you are wealthy and have the privilege of enjoying the finest country clubs, restaurants, hotels, theaters, and schools. Because of segregation, you are never forced to think about the living conditions of minorities. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  
• 
  If you have a GREEN star, you are poor and so have less access to the finer things in life, such as high quality restaurants and private schools. However, you still have social privileges that stem from your social group membership as a White American. (FOLD ONE CORNER OF YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a YELLOW or RED star, your children are mandated to attend schools with fewer resources in dilapidated buildings in run-down neighborhoods. There is a shortage of textbooks and desks. The students must share school supplies and reading materials. As a resident of a Southern state, when you return from a demanding day at work, you have to give up your seat to White patrons on the bus. If you dare enter a White restaurant, you risk being ridiculed, beaten, or arrested. You know your place and you stay there. (CRUMPLE UP YOUR STAR INTO A BALL.)
  

5. You are living during the 1960s and during this decade, a wave of citizen protests against social injustice is taking place, although different parts of the nation are evolving more quickly than others. The unwavering efforts of the African American population and Civil Rights Activists during the Civil Rights Movement are beginning to address the injustices embedded in United States society. African Americans win rights that were previously much out of reach. In the coming years, laws prohibiting interracial marriage will be ruled unconstitutional. The Voting Rights Act will be passed, allowing African Americans to register and to vote without fear of discrimination. Legislation will be passed to protect minorities from workplace discrimination. A necessary torrent of change is implemented.

• 
  If you have a BLUE or GREEN star, life is different than you could have ever imagined, and it is a frightful and intimidating experience. You are becoming aware that the privileges you have as a European American are not extended to many African Americans. You interact with significantly more minorities these days than in the past and this results in some very uncomfortable encounters. It is hard for you to adapt to the times and you sometimes feel guilty about your group’s oppressive ways. (FOLD A CORNER OF YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a YELLOW star, you are enveloped by a wave of pride. Your hope for the future of the United States has grown. You feel more empowered and valued and, as a Black male, you have more opportunities than in the past. However, you and your group still experience discrimination in many arenas, so you are determined to continue fighting for full equality and acceptance. (UNCRUMPLE YOUR STAR.)
  
• 
  If you have a RED star, you also are enveloped by feelings of pride and restored hope. These changes are invaluable when it comes to improving the condition of society for future generations within the African American community. Nevertheless, gender discrimination is still evident. As a Black woman, the challenge of overcoming your double minority status remains. (LEAVE YOUR STAR ALONE.)
  

Discussion Questions
History demonstrates that society has routinely operated in a way that uses difference as a tool of exclusion and punishment. Keep in mind that your star represents your experiences as an individual living through these societal changes. Some of you may be bruised and broken, barely hanging on. Others may be relatively unscathed. These questions address your thoughts about why your star experiences differed.

1. 
   What was the condition of your star at the end of the activity? Did differences in social power or group oppression affect that condition? Why or why not?
   

2. 
   How might individuals with blue or green identities, those with privilege, have felt during the period of rapid social change covered in this activity?
   

3. 
   Did this activity affect your understanding of oppressed groups in society? Explain your answer.
   

4. 
   What might be some consequences of treating individuals or entire groups negatively based on their social group membership?
   

5. 
   How could the experience of oppressed individuals in this activity relate to the experience of individuals from other minority groups such as people who are LGBT, physically or mentally disabled, or older?
   

Module 5

Social Media Activity
Authors: Hannah E. Ballas and Austin B. Russell
Objective: In this activity students address how social media both perpetuates prejudice and can be used to combat prejudice. The goal of the activity is for students to consider whether social media has increased, decreased, or has no overall effect on stereotypic beliefs and prejudicial attitudes.
Materials:

• 
  Device with Internet access
  
• 
  Discussion Questions (Page 24)
  

Estimated Time: 15-30 minutes if completed in class. You can also have students answer the discussion questions on their own and bring their responses to class to discuss.

Group Size: This activity can be used for a class of any size; for larger classes, have the students answer the discussion questions out of class and discuss their answers as a whole class or in small discussion groups.
Instructions: Have students individually access websites to find posts that either reflect negative stereotypes and/or prejudiced attitudes or posts that take a social justice perspective on the topic (e.g., the site suggests ways to combat these attitudes and beliefs). Students can be assigned to the type of post they are looking for or can choose based on their own interests. To find sites on Facebook, type in key words such as “racism,” “sexism,” or “homophobia,” “hate Obama” “politically correct” or “Muslim terrorist.” On Twitter, some search suggestions include “I’m not racist, but,” “ageism and Hillary Clinton,” “everyday sexism,” or “UNL Haters.” After students find the post, they individually answer the discussion questions; the instructor then leads a discussion with the entire class.
Background Research: Many individuals and groups use social media as a mechanism for social activism. For example, 93% of the most successful charities in the United States have a Facebook page, 87% have a Twitter profile, and 65% have a blog (Barry, 2010). In contrast, the number of hate groups in the United States is on the rise (McNamee, Peterson, & Peña, 2010) and these groups use social media or websites as a way to recruit members (Adams & Roscigno, 2005). In both cases, people are using social media to connect with one another, sometimes standing up to others and other times perpetuating negative stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes. More generally, social media offers opportunities for intergroup contact; as has been found with research on face-to-face intergroup contact, research shows online contact can result in more positive attitudes toward outgroups (Schumann, van der Linden, & Klein, 2012; Tynes, Giang, & Thompson, 2008). However, the selective use of social media (e.g., searching for posts that fit with one’s opinion) might lead users to believe that their opinion is more widely shared than is actually the case (Watt & Larkin, 2010). This suggests that the effect of social media on stereotyping and prejudice is both positive and negative.

References:
Adams, J., & Roscigno, V. J. (2005). White supremacists, oppositional culture and the World Wide Web, Social Forces, 84, 759-778. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0001
Barry, F. (2010). Three small cause campaigns that won big with social media. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/09/23/small-non-profits-social-media/
McNamee, L. G., Peterson, B. L., & Peña, J. (2010). A call to educate, participate, invoke and indict: Understanding the communication of online hate groups. Communication Monographs, 77, 257-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637751003758227
Schumann, S., van der Linden, N., & Klein, O. (2012). Bridging the gap on Facebook: Assessing intergroup contact and its effects for intergroup relations. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15, 411-416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0569
Tynes, B. M., Giang, M. T., & Thompson, G. N. (2008). Ethnic identity, intergroup contact, and

outgroup orientation among diverse groups of adolescents on the Internet.

CyberPsychology and Behavior, 4, 459-465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.0085
Watt, S. E., & Larkin, C. (2010). Prejudiced people perceive more community support for their views: The role of own, media, and peer attitudes in perceived consensus. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40, 710-731. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00594.x

Discussion Questions

1. 
   What key words did you use and why did you choose them? How easy or difficult was it to find posts using those key words? Why do you think that happened?
   

2. 
   Was it easy or difficult to tell what the poster’s beliefs or attitudes were? What cues did you use to determine what those attitudes and beliefs were?
   

3. 
   Do you think the posters would say the same thing in the same way if they were having a face-to-face discussion on this topic? Does it matter? Why or why not?
   

4. 
   Some posters use their name and/or photo and others used a “handle” or a pseudonym with no photo or a photo of something other than themselves. Do you think this affects the tone or content of their post? Why or why not?
   

5. 
   What do the posters want you as the reader to come away believing about different social groups? How do you know?
   

6. 
   Based on what you saw in the posts you reviewed, would you conclude that prejudice and discrimination are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? Explain your reasoning.
   

Module 6

Understanding Cognitive Dissonance Activity
Author: Erin Crawford Cressy
Objective: This activity is designed to help students process and consider experiences of dissonance when discussing stereotyping and prejudice. Students will learn about cognitive dissonance via an experiential activity, adapted from Carkenord and Bullington (1993), that induces cognitive dissonance. Students will discuss the feelings of anxiety and discomfort that arise when dissonance is operating . They will consider the strategies people use to minimize these feelings, such as rationalization, denial, or minimization, and will learn to recognize these feelings and to work through this discomfort.
Materials:

• 
  Attitude survey (Page 27)
  
• 
  Behavior survey (Page 28)
  
• 
  Cognitive Dissonance figure (©Cressy, Bazata & Harris, 2010; Page 29)
  
• 
  Discussion Questions (Page 30)
  

Estimated Time: 15-20 minutes
Group Size: This activity works well with any group size.
Instructions: Students first complete the Attitudes Survey and then complete the Behavior Survey, (both adapted from Carkenord and Bullington, 1993). Ensure they do not see the Behavior Survey ahead of time. The leader then discusses the results of the survey with the students. Reassure everyone that cognitive dissonance is a normal human experience and that understanding dissonance can prepare them for handling it the future.
Bring the activity to a close by passing out or displaying the Cognitive Dissonance figure and by highlighting the need to be “okay” with dissonance and to work through it when discussing topics related to diversity in general or stereotyping and prejudice specifically.
Background Research: Cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant state that arises when an individual holds beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors that are at odds with one another (Aronson, 2012; Skillings & Dobbins, 1991). Cognitive dissonance causes feelings of anxiety and individuals are motivated to move themselves out of this state of dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a fairly common occurrence in people’s daily lives, resulting from thoughts as simple as "I know it is dangerous to text and drive" and "I text and drive when I’m in a hurry."
People utilize many strategies to minimize their feelings of cognitive dissonance such as rationalization, denial, and minimization. For example, they might rationalize smoking by recognizing it is bad, but also noting they had a stressful week. In regard to stereotypic beliefs, individuals often experience feelings of cognitive dissonance. For example, a belief common among individuals in the United States is that our country is a meritocracy in which individuals get what they deserve based on their hard work (Crandall et al., 2001; Sears & Henry, 2003). This ingrained belief arouses dissonance when White individuals, for example, come across evidence to the contrary, showing that people of color do work hard but are still disproportionally lacking in positions of power and economic wealth in the United States. Not surprisingly, individuals utilize several strategies to minimize these feelings of dissonance and discomfort. By recognizing the feelings of discomfort and anxiety associated with cognitive dissonance, students can become more open to discussing stereotyping and prejudice.
References:
Aronson, E. (2012). The social animal (11^th ed.) New York, NY: Worth.
Carkenord, D. M. & Bullington, J. (1993). Bringing cognitive dissonance to the classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 41-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15328023top2001_9
Crandall, C. S., D’Anello, S., Sakalli, N., Lazarus, E., Wieczorhowska, G., & Feather, N. T. (2001). An attribution-value model of prejudice: Anti-fat attitudes in six nations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 30-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167201271003
Sears, D. O., & Henry, P. J. (2003). The origins of symbolic racism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 259-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.259
Skillings, J. H., & Dobbins, J. E. (1991). Racism as a disease: Etiology and treatment implications. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70, 206-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1991.tb01585.x
Attitude Survey
Please indicate whether or not you agree with the statements below by circling the appropriate answer:

1. 
   Texting while driving is dangerous.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

2. 
   It is important to stay informed about proposed legislation that affects my community.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

3. 
   Soft drinks/sodas are unhealthy beverages.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

4. 
   Poverty is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

5. 
   Smoking is an unhealthy behavior.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

Behavior Survey

Please indicate whether or not you have performed each of the following behaviors by circling the correct response:

1. 
   I text when I am driving.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

2. 
   I am able to name at least one bill affecting my community that was passed in the last year by the legislators in my county or my state.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

3. 
   I drink soft drinks/sodas.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

4. 
   Within the last year I have donated money or engaged in volunteer work to address the problem of poverty.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

5. 
   Within the last year I have smoked a cigarette.
   
   1. 
      Yes
      
   2. 
      No
      

Scoring

Answers that will evoke feelings of dissonance (assuming participants answered ‘yes’ on the attitude questions):

1. 
   Yes
   
2. 
   No
   
3. 
   Yes
   
4. 
   No
   
5. 
   Yes
   

© Cressy, Bazata, & Harris, 2010

Discussion Questions

1. 
   Did you experience cognitive dissonance? Why or why not? (This question could also be answered by a show of hands.)
   

2. 
   What thoughts were going through your head as you completed the Behavior Survey and had answers that were incongruent with your Attitude Survey?
   

3. 
   What was your emotional reaction to experiencing dissonance?
   

4. 
   What strategies did you use to try and lessen your experience of dissonance?
   

5. 
   How does this activity relate to understanding prejudice and discrimination?
   

Module 7

Nonverbal Communication Activity
Author: Seth B. Johnson
Objective: This activity teaches students to recognize nonverbal cues and the messages they send. Students will consider whether their interpretation of nonverbal information is affected by the race/ethnicity or gender of the person with whom they are interacting.
Materials:

• 
  Body Language Worksheet (Page 33)
  
• 
  Facial Expressions Worksheet (Page 34)
  
• 
  Personal Space Worksheet (Page 35)
  

Estimated Time: 10 minutes per worksheet

Group Size: This activity works best with a class size of 30 or fewer; if used with larger groups, divide the class into groups of 7-10 and give different worksheets to different groups.

Instructions: Give students any or all of the worksheets and have them individually consider the questions on the worksheet. Students can discuss their answers in small groups or as a whole class. Encourage students to be open and honest about their interpretations of the photos and their answers to the self-reflection questions. If some groups completed different worksheets, project the worksheets and have the groups who discussed that worksheet summarize their discussion for the whole class.

Background Research: Nonverbal communication accounts for more than half of the messages people convey to one another and, even if they are not aware of doing so, people readily interpret nonverbal messages. Messages of liking, openness, and power/dominance are all displayed nonverbally. The nonverbal messages people receive during interactions allow them to decode the underlying feelings and attitudes of strangers, and these messages can sometimes conflict with the information people are stating verbally (Weisbuch & Ambady, 2009). When that happens, nonverbal cues can be more revealing of the real message than are verbal cues (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1992). Nonverbal information, such as the amount of eye contact people engage in or the personal distance people maintain during interactions, can also convey how much attention people are paying in an interaction or their willingness to listen to or engage with another person (Hall, 1966).
Interacting with people from different social groups can lead to anxiety, and such feelings are often conveyed nonverbally. Research shows, for example, that people can give off nonverbal cues that imply dislike of or discomfort with a member of a stereotyped group, even while trying to engage in a positive interaction (Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner, 2000). Research also shows that people interpret nonverbal cues differently depending on the actor’s race/ethnicity. For example, Whites who are high in implicit racial bias are more likely to perceive anger in Black faces (Hugenberg & Bodenhausen, 2003).

Different cultures and subcultures have very different norms for nonverbal communication; for example, some cultures are high contact (e.g, they stand closer and touch more frequently) and others are low contact (e.g., they maintain more social distance and touch less frequently); how people interpret another’s nonverbal behavior depends on their own cultural norms (Chung, 2011). Differences can occur between social groups as well; women, for example, are more likely to keep their legs close together and their arms closer to their body than are men (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, & Roy, 2013). Considering the ways in which nonverbal communication affects interactions can help people understand how their own miscommunications and their misinterpretations of others’ communications can lead to stereotyping and prejudice.

References:
Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 256-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.111.2.256
Chung, L. C. (2011). Crossing boundaries: Cross-cultural communication. In K. Keith (Ed.), Cross-cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives (pp. 400-420). Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
Dovidio, J. F., Kawakami, K., & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Reducing contemporary prejudice: Combating explicit and implicit bias at the individual and intergroup level. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing prejudice and discrimination (pp. 137-163). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hall, E.T. (1966). The hidden dimension. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Hugenberg, K., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2003). Facial prejudice: Implicit prejudice and the perception of facial threat. Psychological Science, 14, 640-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.0956-7976.2003.psci_1478.x
Samovar, L., Porter, R., McDaniel, E., & Roy, C. (2013). Communication between cultures (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Weisbuch, M., & Ambady, N. (2009). Unspoken cultural influence: Exposure to and influence of nonverbal bias. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 96, 1104-1119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015642
Body Language Worksheet

Instructions: Look over the photos provided and answer the questions that follow. After completing the activity, be ready to discuss any questions and reactions regarding body language.

A B C D

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. What message does each person’s body language send?

2. 
   Does the racial/ethnic identity or gender of the people in the pictures affect the interpretation of their body language?
   
3. 
   Does age or social status make a difference in the way their body language is perceived?
   
4. 
   How would you react to the body language shown in each of the photographs?
   
5. 
   What situations have you experienced in which your body language was misinterpreted?
   

6. Have you ever made judgments about others based on their body language? Can you give specific instances?


1.

2.
Facial Expressions Worksheet

Instructions: Look over the photos provided and answer the questions that follow. After the activity is completed, be ready to discuss how you reacted to the facial expressions.

A B C D

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. What message is sent by each person’s facial expression?

2. Does the actor’s gender influence how her/his facial expression is interpreted?

3. 
   How would you react to each of these facial expressions?
   
4. 
   Have people ever made judgments about you based on your facial expression? Can you give specific instances?
   

3. 
   Is it easy for you to interpret facial expressions correctly? Can you think of instances where you were unable to correctly identify another persons’ facial expression?
   

3. 
   When facial expressions are ambiguous, such as in B and D, does racial/ethnic identity make it more difficult to recognize what the facial expressions indicate?
   

Proxemics (Personal Space) Worksheet

Instructions: Look over the photos provided and answer the questions that follow. After the activity is completed, be ready to discuss how you reacted to the photographs.



Self-reflection Questions

1. Which photos clearly show a strong connection between people and which photos do not? Why do you think that?

A

D

B

C
2. What are some possible explanations for the personal space shown in each of these photos?

3. What would your reaction be if one of the people in the photos was of a different race/ethnicity from the other(s)?

4. When you are interacting with people from another culture, religion, race, ethnicity, etc. what type of proxemics (i.e., personal, social, public) do you use? How does this affect the way you interact with them?

5. Do you think there are cultural differences in how people interpret the social distances displayed in these photos? Explain your answer.

Module 8

Entertainment Personality Group Activity
Authors: Daniel Na and Haley M. Turk
Objective: The purpose of this activity is to bring awareness to the underrepresentation of meaningful roles for women, people of color, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender), and other groups in entertainment media. Furthermore, in the reflection section this activity will prompt participants to consider how this underrepresentation relates to prejudice and social privileges.
Materials:

• 
  Entertainment Personality worksheet (Page 38)
  
• 
  Discussion questions (Page 98)
  
• 
  Sample completed worksheet (Pages 40-42)
  

Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
Group Size: This activity works well with groups of all sizes. For larger groups (20 or more people), have the students break into smaller groups to discuss the reflection questions before the entire group does so.
Instructions: Using the chart provided, students should name people in entertainment media (e.g., movies, television, sports, advertisements) who fall into each of these categories. You might note that countries such as India are considered part of Asia. If students cannot think of the person's name, they can describe the person’s role or appearance. Tell the students that if they cannot name a personality for a given category, they should leave that space blank.
After completing the worksheet, participants are to individually answer the discussion questions. When everyone has recorded her/his reflections, the group should meet as a whole to share its responses. Do not share the Sample Completed Worksheet with participants until that point. Once you provide the completed worksheet, ask students to comment on the cells that contain the highest number of readily recognized people. If there is time, use a search engine to find out more about the people with whom the students are unfamiliar. Ask students to comment about the reasons why some people are better known than others.
Background Research: The mass media exposes people to members of powerful groups and their points of view far more than to members of subordinated groups (Pratto & Stewart, 2012). Actors of color are consistently underrepresented within cinema; in 2006, only 11.1% of lead roles went to African Americans, 1.8% to Asians, and 1.2% to Latino/as compared to the 81.9% going to White actors. Most lead roles went to men (73%) rather than to women (Robinson, 2006). In the 2011-12 television season, 2.9% of the scripted roles on the five broadcast networks depicted LGBT characters (“Where We Are on TV Report,” 2013). Whites appear more frequently in advertisements than any other ethnic group, and they are more often seen exercising authority (Messineo, 2008). Men also appear on television twice as often as women (Martins & Harrison, 2012) and most of the characters in children’s cartoons and on educational television are male (Blakemore, Berenbau, & Liben, 2009). In general, the roles depicted in the media are replete with gender and racial stereotypes (Escholz, Buffkin, & Long, 2002; Newman, 2007) and media depictions of homosexuality are laden with stereotypes (Battles & Hilton-Marrow, 2002).
References:
Battles, K., & Hilton-Morrow, W. (2002). Gay characters in conventional spaces: Will and Grace and the situation comedy genre. Critical Studies in Media Communications, 19, 87-105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393180216553
Blakemore, J. E. O., Berenbaum, S. A., & Liben, L. S. (2009). Gender development. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Escholz, S., Buffkin, J., & Long, J. (2002). Symbolic reality bites: Women and racial/ethnic minorities in modern film. Sociological Spectrum, 22, 299-335. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02732170290062658
Martins, N., & Harrison, K. (2012). Racial and gender differences in the relationship between children’s television use and self-esteem: A longitudinal panel study. Communication Research, 39, 338-357. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093650211401376
Messineo, M. J. (2008). Does advertising on Black Entertainment Network portray more positive gender representations compared to broadcast networks? Sex Roles, 59, 752-764. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9470-y
Newman, D. M. (2007). Identities and inequalities: Exploring the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Pratto, F., & Stewart, A. L. (2012). Group dominance and the half-blindness of privilege. Journal of Social Issues, 68, 28-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01734.x

Robinson, R. (2006, December). Hollywood’s race/ethnicity and gender-based casting: Prospects for a Title VII Lawsuit, Latino Policy and Issues Brief, 14. Retrieved from http://www.chicano.ucla.eu/publications/report-brief/hollywoods-raceethnicity-and-gender-based-casting