Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice is a prejudgement, usually negative attitude that is unverified, and is often towards a particular group.

It may be based on stereotypes (the cognitive component) about the specific group.

• A stereotype is a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group.

All members belonging to this group are assumed to possess these characteristics.

Often, stereotypes consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group, and they lead to negative attitudes or prejudices towards members of specific groups.

• The cognitive component of prejudice is frequently accompanied by dislike or hatred, the affective component.

Prejudice may also get translated into discrimination (the behavioural component), whereby people behave in a less positive way towards a particular target group compared to another group which they favour.

For example, discrimination based on race and social class or caste. The genocide committed by the Nazis in Germany against Jewish people is an extreme example of how prejudice can lead to hatred, discrimination and mass killing of innocent people.

• Prejudices can exist without being shown in the form of discrimination. Similarly, discrimination can be shown without prejudice.

Yet, the two i.e prejudice and discrimination, go together very often. Wherever prejudice and discrimination exist, conflicts are very likely to arise between groups within the same society.

• Discriminatory behaviour can be curbed by law. But, the cognitive and emotional components of prejudice are more difficult to change.

  

1. Learning

• Prejudices can also be learned through association, reward and punishment, observing others, group or cultural norms and exposure to information that encourages prejudice.
• The family, reference groups, personal experiences and the media may play a role in the learning of prejudices.
• People who learn prejudiced attitudes may develop a ‘prejudiced personality’, and show low adjusting capacity, anxiety, and feelings of hostility against the outgroup.

2. A strong social identity and ingroup bias

• Individuals who have a strong sense of social identity and have a very positive attitude towards their own group boost this attitude by holding negative attitudes towards other groups. These are shown as prejudices.​​​​​​

3. Scapegoating

• It is a phenomenon by which the majority group places the blame on a minority outgroup for its own social, economic or political problems.
• The minority is too weak or too small in number to defend itself against such accusations.
• Scapegoating is a group-based way of expressing frustration, and it often results in negative attitudes or prejudice against the weaker group.

4. Kernel of truth concept

• Sometimes people may continue to hold stereotypes because they think that, after all, there must be some truth, or ‘kernel of truth’ in what everyone says about the other group.
• Even a few examples are sufficient to support the ‘kernel of truth’ idea.

5. Self-fulfilling prophecy

• In some cases, the group that is the target of prejudice is itself responsible for continuing the prejudice as it may behave in ways that justify the prejudice i.e. confirm the negative expectations.
• For example, if the target group is described as ‘dependent’ and therefore unable to make progress, the members of this target group may actually behave in a way that proves this description to be true.
• In this way, they strengthen the existing prejudice.

Strategies For Handling Prejudice

• The strategies for handling prejudice would be effective if they aim at:

1. minimising opportunities for learning prejudices
2. changing such attitudes
3. de-emphasising a narrow social identity based on the ingroup
4. discouraging the tendency towards self-fulfilling prophecy among the victims of prejudice.

• These goals can be accomplished through:

1. Education and information dissemination

• For correcting stereotypes related to specific target groups, and tackling the problem of a strong ingroup bias.

2. Increasing intergroup contact

• It allows for:

1. direct communication
2. removal of mistrust between the groups
3. discovery of positive qualities in the outgroup

• However, these strategies are successful only if:

1. the two groups meet in a cooperative rather than competitive context
2. close interactions between the groups helps them to know each other better
3. the two groups are not different in power or status

3. Highlighting individual identity rather than group identity

• It weakens the importance of group (both ingroup and outgroup) as a basis of evaluating the other person.