CHAPTER 13: Prejudice and Intergroup relations
ABCs of Intergroup relationships:
Prejudice, Discrimination and Stereotypes
Prejudice: evaluating a person or multiple persons based on membership in a group or
category of people. Involves attitudes toward categories of people, which can be used to
judge individual’s actions or personal traits.
Best-known form of prejudice is racism: having negative views toward people based on race.
Racism can take form of overt, blanket statements of disliking and disapproving of certain
groups.
In some settings, people are uncomfortable about their prejudices, this creates a pattern
that is called aversive racism: simultaneously hold egalitarian values and negative feelings
towards people of other races. They believe in racial equality and equal opportunity, but
they also feel uncomfortable around minorities and try to avoid them when possible.
Prejudiced feelings sometimes lead people to discriminate against others.
Discrimination: unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to
which they belong.
Stereotypes: beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits.
Stereotypes refer to what we believe or think about various groups, they can be good or
bad.
One reason is that people tend to put exceptions to the stereotype’s general rule into a
separate category, called a subtype.
Prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes are the ABC’s of intergroup relationships
Affective component: prejudice
Behavioural component: discrimination
Cognitive component: stereotyping
The human mind seems naturally inclined to sort objects into groups rather than thinking
about each object separately. This process of categorisation makes it easier to make sense of
a complicated world.
The process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in
common is called social categorisation.
When people form an impression of a person, they use what personal information they have
about the individual, but invoking stereotypes is a relatively easy way to fill in gaps in this
knowledge.
Modern objections to stereotyping and prejudice go far beyond the chance of an inaccurate
prediction, of course. Today, people object to stereotyping and prejudice even if the
stereotypes are accurate.
The view that prejudice and stereotyping are morally wrong is a product of modern Western
culture.
Biased judgements based on stereotypes and prejudices are unfair, immoral and can have
lethal consequences.
One big difference between sorting people and sorting things is the level of emotional
involvement.
Outgroup members: (them) are people who belong to a different group or category than we
do.
Ingroup members: (us) are people who belong to the same group or category.
, Outgroup homogeneity bias: the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to
one another than ingroup members are to one another.
Common Prejudices and targets
Prejudice is based on perceived differences among groups of people. Some prejudices build on
external characteristics that are readily visible, such as race, gender, weight, or clothing.
Most people claim not to be prejudiced, but then again perhaps they just think that is the right thing
to say. Sometimes behaviour differs from expressed attitudes.
Societies has tried for decades to reduce or erase racial and gender prejudices. While people may at
least attempt to conceal if not overcome their racial and gender prejudices, other prejudices are
often held with much less inner conflict or debate, such as against foreigners, people of other ethnic
groups, people with disabilities and homosexuals.
Discrimination has not been eliminated, but the display or prejudice has become subtler in nature.
Muslims
Adherents of the religion of Islam are called Muslims. The word Muslim means ‘one who submits to
Allah’
Religious minorities experience employment bias as measured by access to job interviews, entry
wages and wait time for call backs. Muslims may face challenges to employment that reflect a lack of
acceptance of their religious identity.
People of other religions also suffer from discrimination because of their religion, but Muslims,
pagans and atheists suffer the highest levels of discriminatory treatment from employers.
Although a person’s religion may be the reason from discrimination, it can also be the source of
comfort when a person is being discriminated against.
Xenophobia
Some recent trends of violence against foreigners include indiscriminate mob violence, individual
attacks, intimidation and specific looting campaigns targeting foreign-owned businesses.
Albinism
Albinism is a genetically inherited condition that affects approximately one in 20 000 people
worldwide.
People with albinism are reported to experience many physical, mental, emotional and social
challenges.
In some African countries, people with albinism experience violent discrimination: people have been
persecuted, killed and dismembered.
ABCs of Intergroup relationships:
Prejudice, Discrimination and Stereotypes
Prejudice: evaluating a person or multiple persons based on membership in a group or
category of people. Involves attitudes toward categories of people, which can be used to
judge individual’s actions or personal traits.
Best-known form of prejudice is racism: having negative views toward people based on race.
Racism can take form of overt, blanket statements of disliking and disapproving of certain
groups.
In some settings, people are uncomfortable about their prejudices, this creates a pattern
that is called aversive racism: simultaneously hold egalitarian values and negative feelings
towards people of other races. They believe in racial equality and equal opportunity, but
they also feel uncomfortable around minorities and try to avoid them when possible.
Prejudiced feelings sometimes lead people to discriminate against others.
Discrimination: unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to
which they belong.
Stereotypes: beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits.
Stereotypes refer to what we believe or think about various groups, they can be good or
bad.
One reason is that people tend to put exceptions to the stereotype’s general rule into a
separate category, called a subtype.
Prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes are the ABC’s of intergroup relationships
Affective component: prejudice
Behavioural component: discrimination
Cognitive component: stereotyping
The human mind seems naturally inclined to sort objects into groups rather than thinking
about each object separately. This process of categorisation makes it easier to make sense of
a complicated world.
The process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in
common is called social categorisation.
When people form an impression of a person, they use what personal information they have
about the individual, but invoking stereotypes is a relatively easy way to fill in gaps in this
knowledge.
Modern objections to stereotyping and prejudice go far beyond the chance of an inaccurate
prediction, of course. Today, people object to stereotyping and prejudice even if the
stereotypes are accurate.
The view that prejudice and stereotyping are morally wrong is a product of modern Western
culture.
Biased judgements based on stereotypes and prejudices are unfair, immoral and can have
lethal consequences.
One big difference between sorting people and sorting things is the level of emotional
involvement.
Outgroup members: (them) are people who belong to a different group or category than we
do.
Ingroup members: (us) are people who belong to the same group or category.
, Outgroup homogeneity bias: the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to
one another than ingroup members are to one another.
Common Prejudices and targets
Prejudice is based on perceived differences among groups of people. Some prejudices build on
external characteristics that are readily visible, such as race, gender, weight, or clothing.
Most people claim not to be prejudiced, but then again perhaps they just think that is the right thing
to say. Sometimes behaviour differs from expressed attitudes.
Societies has tried for decades to reduce or erase racial and gender prejudices. While people may at
least attempt to conceal if not overcome their racial and gender prejudices, other prejudices are
often held with much less inner conflict or debate, such as against foreigners, people of other ethnic
groups, people with disabilities and homosexuals.
Discrimination has not been eliminated, but the display or prejudice has become subtler in nature.
Muslims
Adherents of the religion of Islam are called Muslims. The word Muslim means ‘one who submits to
Allah’
Religious minorities experience employment bias as measured by access to job interviews, entry
wages and wait time for call backs. Muslims may face challenges to employment that reflect a lack of
acceptance of their religious identity.
People of other religions also suffer from discrimination because of their religion, but Muslims,
pagans and atheists suffer the highest levels of discriminatory treatment from employers.
Although a person’s religion may be the reason from discrimination, it can also be the source of
comfort when a person is being discriminated against.
Xenophobia
Some recent trends of violence against foreigners include indiscriminate mob violence, individual
attacks, intimidation and specific looting campaigns targeting foreign-owned businesses.
Albinism
Albinism is a genetically inherited condition that affects approximately one in 20 000 people
worldwide.
People with albinism are reported to experience many physical, mental, emotional and social
challenges.
In some African countries, people with albinism experience violent discrimination: people have been
persecuted, killed and dismembered.
