Module 77 Prejudice and Discrimination

LEARNING TARGETS

• 77-1 Define prejudice, and describe how explicit and implicit prejudice differ.
• 77-2 Discuss the groups that are frequent targets of prejudice.
• 77-3 Discuss some social, emotional, and cognitive roots of prejudice, and some ways to eliminate prejudice.

• 77-1 What is prejudice? How do explicit and implicit prejudice differ?

Social psychology studies how we think about and influence one another, and also how we relate to one another. What causes people sometimes to hate and harm, and other times to love and help one another? And when destructive conflicts arise, how can we move toward a just peace? In this module and the next, we ponder insights into antisocial relations gleaned by researchers who have studied prejudice and aggression.

Prejudice means “prejudgment.” It is an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members—who often are people of a particular racial or ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation, or belief system. You may recall that attitudes are feelings, influenced by beliefs, that predispose us to act in certain ways. In prejudice, the ingredients in this three-part mixture are

prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

• negative emotions, such as hostility or fear.
• stereotypes, which are generalized beliefs about a group of people. Our stereotypes sometimes reflect reality. If you presume that young men tend to drive faster than elderly women, you may be right. But stereotypes often overgeneralize or exaggerate—as when liberals and conservatives overestimate the extremity of the other’s views, or Christians and atheists misperceive each other’s values (Graham et al., 2012; Simpson & Rios, 2016).
• a predisposition to discriminate—to act in negative and unjustifiable ways toward members of the group. Sometimes discrimination is blatant. Other times it is more subtle, taking the form of microaggressions, such as race-related traffic stops, a reluctance to choose a train seat next to someone of a different race, or longer Uber wait times and less Airbnb acceptance for people with African-American names (Edelman et al., 2017; Ge et al., 2016; Wang, J. et al., 2011).

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Prejudice is a negative attitude. Ethnocentrism—assuming the superiority of one’s ethnic group—is one example of prejudice. To believe that a person of another ethnicity is somehow inferior or threatening, and to feel dislike for that person, is to be prejudiced. Discrimination is a negative behavior. To pass over that person on a dating site, or to reject that person as a job candidate, is to discriminate.