Key idea: People act on what they think others in their group believe.
How groups change behaviour
Conformity
People match the group's behaviour (normative and informational influence), even against their own view.
Social learning
Newcomers copy what group members do, especially members they admire and see rewarded.
Group identity
People take on their group's identity and favour their own group, which can lead to unfair treatment of others.
Conform · Identify · Copy
Paluck (2009) ran a year-long field experiment in Rwanda: some communities heard a radio soap opera about cooperation between groups, others a health drama.
Go further: higher-level insight: This is social learning through characters, and conformity to a new norm: the drama changed what listeners thought 'people like us' do.
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Key idea: Social learning explains how prejudice is passed on in families, and why changing models can change a group.
How prejudice is learned
Models
Parents, friends and media show how 'people like us' treat other groups.
Watching
Children notice tone, jokes and who is avoided, not only what is said.
Reward
Laughter at a joke or approval from friends reinforces it.
Copying
The child repeats the attitude and behaviour, often without noticing.
Model · Watch · Reward · Copy
Castelli, Zogmaister and Tomelleri (2009) found that the hidden racial attitudes of white Italian children aged 3 to 6 matched their mothers' hidden attitudes, not their fathers'.
What HL adds: The technology extension: radio, television and social media supply models to whole communities at once, which is how Paluck's drama could reach a country.