Prejudice

Presented By:

Nor Anisa Bt. Musa

What is Prejudice?

• Everyone comes face to face with prejudice at some time or another.

• Prejudice is when we recognizethat we feel and act less positively towards others.

• The roots of prejudice can be found in the cognitive and emotional processes.

• Prejudice may be perceived as acceptable and justified

• All inequality and differential treatment is not perceived and responded to in the same way.

The nature and origins of streotyping, prejudice and discrimination

• Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination often overlap.• Prejudice is the feelings we have about particular

groups.• Prejudice is a negative prejudgement of a group and its

individual members.• Prejudice biases us against others based on the

person’s group.• Prejudice is a combination of feelings, inclinations to act

and beliefs.• Prejudice is complex and include a component of

patronizing affection.

Stereotypes

• Stereotypes are the cognitive component attitudes towards a social group.

• To stereotypes is to generalize.• It is a belief about what a particular group is like• It is a belief about the personal attributes of a

group of people.• It is sometimes over generalized, inaccurate and

resistant to new information but can be more or less true.

Discrimination

• Discrimination is the behavioural component or differential actions taken towards others

• Prejudice is a negative attitude and behaviour, also unjustified behaviour

• Attitudes and behaviour reflects our inner convictions

• Racism and sexism are practices that discriminate.

Stereotyping: beliefs about social groups

• Stereotyping is the belief about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics that they are deemed to share

• Stereotypes are cognitiveframeworks that influence the processes of social information

Gender Stereotypes

• Gender stereotypes concern the traits possessed by females and males that distinguish the two genders.

• Women are perceived as high on warmth but low on competence

• Woman are low in status• Men are perceived as decisive, assertive and

accomplished but aggressive, insensitive and arrogant• Men are high status• Women are seen as less appropriate for high status

positions• Women are more suitable for support roles.

Glass ceiling

• When women violate stereotypec expectancies, they are rejected.

• The glass ceiling is a barrier that prevents women from reaching top positions.

• Men however get on the glass escalator when they enter female occupations

• Women must overcome greater obstacles than men to reach a similar level of success.

Tokens

• Tokens make discrimination seem less plausible as an explanation for other women’s lack of success

• Tokenism can be an effective strategy for deterring collective protest by disadvantaged groups

• Tokenism have two negative effects- It lets prejudiced people off the hook as the presence of

a token help maintain the perception that they are not prejudiced

- It can damage self-esteem and confidence including to the tokens.

Why do people form and use stereotypes?

• Stereotypes function as schemas for organizing, interpreting and recalling information

• Stereotypes act as theories, guiding and exerting strong effects on how we process social information

• Once they are formed, they shape our perception so that new information is interpreted as confirming our stereotype. We place inconsistencies as ‘subtype’.

• Illusory correlation is the perception of a stronger association between two variables than actually exists. It helps explain why negative behaviours are often attributed to members of minority groups.

• Majority groups tend to perceive out-group members as ‘all alike’ (out-group homogeneity) and their own group members as more diverse (in-group differentiation)

• Stereotypes change as relations between the groups are altered. Those in power are more likely to negatively stereotype those of less status.

• Stereotypic judgment will be stable as long as the nature of the inter-group relationship that exists between any two groups is stable

• When values and categorization change, stakes in the present status is altered.

Prejudice and discrimination

• Prejudice is an attitude, usually negative towards members of a social group based on their membership

• It is dependent on the perceived norms and acceptability of doing so

• Information that is consistent with prejudiced views often received closer attention and is remembered more

• Prejudice may reflect more specific underlying emotional responses to different out-groups including fear, guilt and disgust.

• Discriminatory actions that follow maybe different

Threats to self-esteem

• Prejudice persist because disparaging others can protect our self-esteem.

• Threats to our group’s interest can motivate prejudice and competition can escalate conflicts

• Holding prejudiced views of an out-group allows members to bolster their own group’s image.

Realistic conflict theory

• Prejudice stems from direct competition between groups over scarce and valued resources such as land, jobs, housing etc.

• As competition escalates, members of opposing groups view each other in increasingly negative terms.

• Competition can escalate into full-scale, emotion-laden prejudice.

Social identity theory

• Prejudice is derived from our tendency to divide world into ‘us’ and ‘them’. Categorization may be based on race, religion, gender, age occupation.

• We view our group more favourably than other out-groups. ‘them’ are assumed to possess more undesirable traits.

• Part of people’s self-esteemdepends on identifying with their social group. Strong need to enhance our self-esteem make us see others as inferior.

Discrimination: prejudice in action

• Discrimination involves differential actions towards other social groups

• Blatant forms of discrimination has decreased because of the law or fear of retaliation.

• More subtle forms such as modern racism and ambivalent racism persist.

• People with high modern racism may want to hide their prejudice in public settings but express them in private.

• Bona fide pipeline in based on the assumption that people are unaware of their prejudices

Why prejudice is not inevitable:Techniques for countering its effects

• Group norms and socialization help to perpetuate prejudice.

• When people are exposed to derogatory ethnic labels, they can effect responses to the slurred target differently depending on their level of racism.

• Exposure to derogatory ethnic labels can elicit conformity pressures with people wanting to fit-in.

• Prejudice appears to be common. However, it can be reduced.

Learning not to hate

• Children acquire negative attitudes because they hear such views expressed by significant others.

• Children need to be taught early to reduce prejudice.

• People whi come face to face with their own prejudices and are willing to modify their behaviour will lower levels of prejudice in their children

The potential benefits of contact

• The contact hypothesis involves bringing previously segregated groups into contact.

• Increased contact can lead to growing recognition of similarities.

• Positive contact that reflect cooperation and interdependence can change norms so that group equality is favoured.

Recategorization: changing boundries

• Prejudice can be reduced by shifting the boundary between ‘us’ and ‘them’.

• People formerly viewed as out group may now be viewed more positively.

• Increased positive contact between previously separate groups reduces inter-group bias.

• Groups working together toward shared goals perceive themselves as a single social entity.

Learn to ‘just say no’

• Emotional techniques for reducing prejudice are effective. People with egalitarian standards feel guilty when they violate those beliefs.

• They can reduce their automatic activation of stereotypes to behave according to their egalitarian principles.

• People can reduce their reliance on stereotypes by consciously saying ‘no’ to association between stereotypes and specific social groups.

Social influence

• Social influence plays a role in both maintenance and reduction of prejudice.

• Evidence suggesting that members of their group hold less prejudiced views are out of line with most people of their group, they may change their views.