Jane Elliott's Exercise Case Study

1. What role did schemas play in Jane Elliott's exercise with the children? (Please be specific.)

a. Schemas play a large role in the exercise because each child has assigned attributions towards the other children with the blue collar on. They were told that the people with the blue collars were inferior to them and that immediately created a change in the behavior of the children in both sides. It created a stereotype within minutes. Every time the children saw another child with a blue collar on, they automatically thought lesser of that person and even acted in hostility towards them. Meanwhile, ten minutes earlier they were best friends. She does this to show that at a young age, these children’s minds can be so easily molded and as they get older and are more exposed to discrimination and stereotypes, they will grow up to have that permanent schema embedded into their thought process.

2. How did the use of labels (both positive & negative) in Elliott's exercise influence the self-concepts and the self-esteems of the children? (And notice how QUICKLY this happened!) And how were the uses of reflected appraisal, social comparison, and contingencies of self-worth exhibited by the children? (Please be specific.)

a. Like I briefly stated in the previous answer, each person thought lesser of themselves (if they had

I do not think so, especially in those times. Most adults have grown and developed a system of values and morals within themselves through experiences throughout their lives. If it were to actually work, she would need to create a different type of exercise that would of related to these adults and push them away from values they’ve had for most of their lives. Also, most adults have a good idea of their self-worth and their self-esteem wouldn’t be as greatly altered for reasons such as different eye colors or any other physical trait. This exercise would need to be on a bigger scale and for much longer than two days for it to have any