Prejudice; Disliking Others

Content Definition Characteristics Types Sources Reducing Prejudice

Prejudice: Prejudice is an attitude that predisposes a person to think, perceive, feel and act in favorable or unfavorable way. In social psychology ...is defined as a negative attitude. A prejudiced person might dislike those different from themselves, behave in a discriminatory manner, and believe they are ignorant and dangerous.

Prejudice is extremely powerful and ubiquitous; it affects all of us—majority group members as well as minority. Prejudice is dangerous, fostering negative consequences from lowered self-esteem to torture, murder, and genocide. Although over the past 50 years blatant discrimination has been reduced, it still exists in subtle—and sometimes not-so-subtle—forms.

Characteristics of Prejudice …required …has emotional terms …directed towards the group as a whole …based on rigid/inflexible generalizations …not factual

Prejudice, Discrimination and Stereotype Stereotypes - beliefs about attributes that are thought to be characteristic of members of particular groups Prejudice - a negative attitude or affective response toward a certain group and its individual members Discrimination - unfair treatment of members of a particular group based on their membership in that group

Terms that often overlap Prejudice Stereotyping Discrimination

Prejudice, Stereotyping & Discrimination Prejudice is an attitude and therefore has an affective component, a behavior tendency, and a cognitive component. The affective component is the emotion (e.g., anger, warmth) associated with the attitude object. The cognitive component is our beliefs and thoughts (cognitions) about the target of prejudice. It involves stereotyping.

The behavioral component of prejudice refers to the actions, or behavior, associated with the prejudiced object, such as discrimination.

Prejudice, Discrimination and Power Issues of prejudice and discrimination involve people outside of power and authority. Stereotypes are beliefs people form about groups when they take in information, these stereotypes become problematic when people apply these stereotypes to individuals. (Blond jokes, become ideas we apply to blond individuals as a basis for promotions)

Stereotypes are problematic in both their positive and negative forms. Prejudice forms when stereotypes are negative and are not changed in the face of contrary evidence. Discrimination occurs when people transfer prejudice into action and create out-groups who suffer from their deteriorated status.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination Perception of the world is key to understanding the development of prejudice. Sensory Information->becomes an image -> that is processed through a paradigm. When a person perceives they take that reality and incorporate it into their understanding of the world. People do not perceive things as they actually exist in the world.

Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination An example is when a child gets close to a glowing burner and recognizes it as hot. Every time they see a glowing burner, no matter how bright, they always now associate it as hot. This is how discrimination has evolved to protect the human species, (hot not safe- cool safe). It works with objects, but not with people. An image of reality can, therefore, differ from person to person. If the image of a certain group is negative, possibly affected by negative stereotypes, then they will act badly towards that person which is discrimination.

TYPES OF PREJUDICE Ableism Lookism Ageism Classism Racism Sexism Anti-Semitism

Ableism Prejudice against people with disabilities, especially physical disabilities.

Lookism Prejudice against people based on their appearance. Attractive Unattractive Facial features Body features How one chooses to dress

Ageism Prejudice against someone because of their age. Adults Teenagers Youths Elderly

Classism Prejudice against someone based on social or economic class. Rich Poor College degree Blue Collar (college degree not needed)

Racism Prejudice based on race. Belief that one race is superior to any other race Race Skin color Culture Language Accent Country of Origin

Sexism Gender prejudice – treating people unequally due to their gender Gender stereotypes are stronger than racial stereotypes.

Anti-Semitism Prejudice against Jews Hostility, intense dislike for Jews and Judaism Hitler and his allies fueled people’s anti-Semitic beliefs

Ethnocentrism Believing in the superiority of one’s own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups.

What Causes Prejudice? What makes people prejudiced? Is it inherited, or is it learned? Possibly both. Prejudice could be an essential part of our biological survival mechanism inducing us to favor our own family, tribe, or race and to express hostility toward outsiders. Or, our culture (parents, community, media) might intentionally, or unintentionally, instruct us to assign negative qualities and attributes to people who are different from us. No one knows.

Sources of Prejudice Social Sources Cognitive Sources Emotional Sources

Social Sources of Prejudice Unequal Status The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Stereotype Threat Social Identity In-group Bias Conformity

Social Sources of Prejudice Unequal Status: Inequality in social and economic status breeds prejudice. Social Identity: social categorization- divide world into in-group (“us”) and out-group (“them”) In-group bias- view own group more favorably Out-group: “Them”—a group that people perceive as distinctly different from or apart from their in-group.

Social Sources of Prejudice Conformity: “Most of the people tend to follow the path of least resistance and conform to the existing trend” David G. Myers If the prejudice is socially accepted, many people will follow the path of least resistance and conform to the fashion.

Social Sources of Prejudice Self fulfilling Prophecy: Social beliefs tend to be self confirming Religion and Prejudice: “By defining and deciding what is sacred/sin or ethical/unethical”

Social Sources of Prejudice Stereotype Threat: A disruptive concern, when facing a negative stereotype. Stereotype threat situations have immediate effects.

Social Sources of Prejudice

Emotional Sources of Prejudice Frustration and Aggression: Pain and frustration (the blocking of a goal), often lead to aggression. One source of frustration is competition, one group’s goal fulfillment can become the other group frustration. Realistic Group Conflict Theory: The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources.

Emotional Sources of Prejudice Personality Factor: Two people with equal reasons need not be equally prejudiced. “People hold to beliefs and attitudes that satisfy unconscious needs” - Sigmund Freud

Emotional Sources of Prejudice Need for status: to perceive ourselves as having status, we need people below us. The Authoritarian Personality: People with authoritarian personality rigidly conform, reject those they consider to be inferiors, and express intolerant opinion.

Cognitive Sources of Prejudices Categorization: Dividing people into categories based on common attributes Race, gender, other common features Out-group homogeneity: The belief that "all of them are the same." Seeing out-group as being very similar Seeing in-group members as very diverse Studies show that this can occur very early in life, even in infancy May be contributed to by a lack of familiarity of the out-group

Cognitive Sources of Prejudices Own-Race Bias: The tendency for people to more accurately recognize faces of their own race.

Cognitive Sources of Prejudices Distinctive Stimuli: A distinct person in a group is perceived as having exaggerated good and band qualities. Distinctive cases fuel stereotypes …assumes a correlation between group membership and individual’s characteristics.

How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced? ‘It’s never too late to give up our prejudices.’ (Henry David Thoreau) There are a number of ways prejudice can be reduced. Some have been mentioned: Getting people to focus on positive aspects of themselves (self-affirmation) reduces the need to denigrate others in order to get a self-esteem boost.

How Can Prejudice and Discrimination Be Reduced? Blurring the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ can improve attitudes toward out-groups.