Have you ever instantly disliked someone before you got to know them? What did you think about them when you first met? As you got to know them, were your assumptions proven wrong? Examples like this happen all the time in real life. When they happen on a societal scale, however, they become much more problematic.
- First, let's explain the definition of prejudice.
- Then, what are some basic principles of prejudice in psychology?
- What is the nature of prejudice in social psychology?
- As we move along, we'll discuss cases of subtle prejudice.
- Finally, what are some prejudice examples?
Prejudice Definition
People who are prejudiced hold negative views of certain people based on insufficient or incomplete levels of knowledge of them. The definition of prejudice in psychology differs from discrimination because discrimination is when you act on a prejudiced view.
Prejudice is a biased opinion or belief that people hold of others because of an unjustifiable reason or personal experience.
A prejudiced example is thinking someone is dangerous solely because of the colour of their skin.
Research Investigating Prejudice
Research has many valuable applications in society, such as finding ways to reduce conflict between social groups and society. One can reduce intergroup bias by getting people of various groups to identify themselves as one. As individuals will begin to see out-group members as in-group, they may start to have a positive rather than negative bias towards them. Gaertner called the process of changing views of out-group members becoming in-group re-categorisation.
An example of this is Gaertner (1993) formed the Common In-Group Identity Model. The purpose of the model was to explain how to reduce intergroup bias.
However, there are many issues and debates that the nature of prejudice in social psychology research may raise. Many psychologists believe research should be carried out scientifically and empirically. However, it is difficult to investigate the nature of prejudice empirically. Social psychology research tends to rely on self-report techniques such as questionnaires.
Fig 1 - People stand up against prejudice.
Prejudice in Psychology
The research on prejudice in psychology has found that internal factors (such as personality) and external factors (such as social norms) can cause prejudice.
Cultural Influences
Social norms are usually directly related to cultural influences, which can also prejudice. This explains how environmental factors can contribute to prejudice. The differences between individualistic (Western society) and collectivist (Eastern society) can lead to prejudice.
Individualistic: a society that prioritizes individual personal goals over collective community goals.
Collectivistic: a society that prioritizes collective community goals over individual personal goals.
A person from an individualistic culture may make the prejudiced assumption that people from collectivist culture are codependent on their families. However, individuals from collectivist cultures may have completely different views or expectations of how involved one should be with their family.
Personality
Psychology has attempted to identify individual differences, such as if people with certain personality styles are more likely to be prejudicial. Christopher Cohrs examined this through several experiments.
Cohrs et al. (2012): Experiment 1 procedure
The study was carried out in Germany and collected data from 193 native Germans (those with disabilities or who were homosexual). The experiment aimed to identify if personality styles (the big five, right-wing authoritarianism; RWA, social dominance orientation; SDO) could predict prejudice.
Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) is a personality style characterised by people who tend to be submissive to authority figures.
Social dominance orientation (SDO) refers to a personality style where people readily accept or have preferences towards socially unequal situations.
The participants and an acquaintance of theirs were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured participants' personality and attitudes (two questionnaires assessing prejudice by measuring attitudes towards homosexuality, disabilities and foreigners).
The purpose of asking peers to complete the questionnaires was to identify what they believed should be the participants’ responses. Cohrs et al. could identify if participants answered in a socially desirable way. If this is the case, this will affect the validity of the results.
Cohrs et al. (2012): Experiment 2 Procedure
The same questionnaires were used on 424 native Germans. Similar to experiment 1, the study used an opportunity sample to recruit participants. The difference between the studies was that this one recruited twins from the Jena Twin Registry and a peer.
One twin was asked to complete the questionnaire based on their attitudes (participant), whilst the other twin and peer had to report based on the participant. The role of the other twin and peer is to act as a control in the experiment. To identify if the participant’s results are valid.
The results of both parts of the study were as follows:
The big five:
Low agreeableness scores predicted SDO
Low agreeableness and openness to experiences predicted prejudice
High conscientiousness and low openness to experiences predicted RWA scores.
RWA predicted prejudice (this was not the case for SDO)
Similar scores were found between participants and control ratings in the questionnaire. Answering in a socially desirable way does not majorly affect participants’ responses.
The results suggest that certain personality traits (especially low agreeableness and openness to experience) are more likely to have prejudicial views.
Nature of Prejudice in Social Psychology
The nature of prejudice in social psychology explanations focuses on how social group conflicts explain prejudice. Both theories suggest that people form social groups based on who they identify with, the in-group. The individual starts to have prejudicial and discriminatory thoughts of the out-group either to boost their self-esteem or for competitive reasons.
Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986)
Tajfel (1979) proposed the social identity theory, which says that social identity is formed based on group membership. There are two important terms to keep in mind when understanding prejudice in social psychology.
In-groups: people who you identify with; other members of your group.
Out-groups: people who you do not identify with; members outside of your group.
Groups that we identify with may be based on similarities in race, gender, sociocultural class, favourite sports teams, and age, to name a few. Tajfel described it as a normal cognitive process to categorise people into groups socially. The social group that people identify with can influence an individual’s views and attitudes towards people in the out-groups.
Tajfel and Turner (1986) described three stages in the social identity theory:
Social categorisation: People are grouped into social categories based on their traits, and individuals begin to identify with the social groups they have similarities.
Social identification: Accept the group’s identity the individual identifies with (in-group) as their own.
Social comparison: The individual compares the in-group to the out-group.
The social identity theory explains that prejudice results from in-group members attempting to criticise the out-group for boosting their self-esteem. This can give rise to prejudice and discrimination towards the out-group, such as racial discrimination.
Fig. 2 - Members of the LGBTQ+ community may often face prejudice.
Realistic conflict theory
The realistic conflict theory proposes that conflict and prejudice arise due to groups competing for limited resources, causing conflict between the groups. This theory describes how situational factors (environmental factors rather than the self) cause prejudice.
This theory is supported by the Robbers Cave Experiment where social psychologist, Muzafer Sherif (1966) studied 22 eleven-year-old, white, middle-class boys and how they handled conflict in a camp setting. The study found that participants only interacted with their group members, establishing their own in-group.
Researchers found that hostility between groups increased when they were asked to compete against each other. It was not until they were tasked with a shared goal that they began to resolve conflict enough to achieve that goal.
This finding shows that prejudice between groups may result from situational factors such as competing against each other. In real-life settings such as education, this conflict may arise in terms of seeking attention or popularity.
Subtle Prejudice
Sometimes, prejudice can be overt and obvious. However, other times, prejudice can be more hidden and harder to identify. Subtle prejudice in psychology may be described as benign bigotry.
Benign Bigotry: refers to six myths and assumptions that cause subtle prejudice and can foster discrimination.
Kristin Anderson (2009) identified these primary myths that people often make when they are subtly prejudiced:
The Other ('All those people look alike')
Criminalization ('Those people must be guilty of something')
Backlash Myth ('All feminists just hate men')
Myth of Hypersexuality ('Gay people flaunt their sexuality')
Neutrality Myth ('I'm colorblind, I'm not a racist')
Myth of Merit ('Affirmative action is just reverse racism')
Microaggressions, a type of subtle discrimination, is often the result of these types of subtle prejudice myths.
Prejudice Examples
Prejudice can creep into several different spaces in society including education, the workplace, and even the grocery store. On any given day, we can interact with many different people who identify with a group other than our own. Prejudice is something that any one of us may engage in but we can catch ourselves with regular self-reflection.
So what are some examples of prejudice that can occur either from ourselves or others?
Someone assumes that people who are low-income do not work as hard as people who are wealthy and don't deserve any government "handouts"
Someone assumes a black man in a hoody is more violent or potentially dangerous than an Asian man in a black suit and should therefore be stopped and frisked more often.
Someone assumes that anyone over the age of 60 does not have anything else to offer in the workplace and should retire.
Prejudice - Key takeaways
- Prejudice is a biased opinion people hold of others because of an unjustifiable reason or an experience.
- The social identity theory and the realistic conflict theory have been proposed to explain how prejudice arises. The theories describe how conflicts and the competitive nature between the in-groups and out-groups can give rise to prejudice.
- Research has found that people with certain personality styles are more likely to hold prejudiced views. Cohrs et al. (2012) carried out research that supports this thesis.
- Research on prejudice raises potential issues and debates in psychology, such as ethical issues, practical applications of research, and psychology as a science.
- Gaertner called the process of changing views of out-group members becoming in-group re-categorisation.
References
- Anderson, K. (2009). Benign Bigotry: The Psychology of Subtle Prejudice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511802560
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