The psychodynamic perspective also proposes that prejudice is motivationally based and serves

to strengthen one’s personal identity and self-esteem. For example, functional attitude theories
stress that people can hold similar attitudes for very different reasons (Katz, 1960).
A recent example of a sociocultural theory is social role theory. This theory proposes that
stereotypes emerge from observations about individuals in various social roles. Roles are
expectations associated with a particular social position within a specific setting. While at work,
for example, a mechanic spends time estimating repair costs and servicing cars, but outside of
work, these role obligations are less important. In contrast, one’s social group membership (such
as being female) is present in all situations. According to social role theory, stereotypes emerge
from observing people in social roles; as they do so, they come to associate the characteristics of
the role with the individuals who occupy it. Because women, for example, are disproportionately
represented in roles, such as daycare worker or nurse, that require communal traits, such as
kindness and concern for others, observers draw the conclusion that all women are communal. In
contrast, men are disproportionately observed in roles such as manager or coach that require
agentic traits, such as assertive and competitive; people therefore associate these characteristics
with men. That is, people generalize from observed role behaviors to group stereotypes. his and
similar work from a sociocultural perspective promises to expand psychologists’ understanding
of how societal norms influence beliefs about social groups. This work also points to the
difficulty in changing stereotypes; people are reluctant to let go of ideas that are part of a larger
belief system, particularly when society itself discourages a new perspective.
Inter relation group theory: Their social identity theory proposes that people want to have a
positive self-identity. Because a large part of this identity is made up of a group identity, people
can achieve this goal only by feeling positively about the groups to which they belong