Prejudice

Prejudice is an unfair, intolerant, or unfavorable attitude toward a group of people. Prejudicial beliefs are virtually negative stereotypes. Social scientists view prejudice as the possession of negative attitudes targeted against members of a particular religious, racial, ethnic, social, and/or political group. These attitudes give rise to negative or unfavorable evaluations of individuals seen as belonging to that group. Like attitudes in general, prejudice has three components: beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies. The perception that one belongs to a certain group is the precipitating factor in prejudicial feelings — not the actual attributes or behaviors of the person being judged.

Defining prejudice and stereotypes

Prejudice is defined as interpersonal hostility that is directed against individuals based on their membership in another group. In its original usage, the word prejudice referred to a prejudgmental racial statement of ill doing, or a radical evaluation or decision made before the facts of a case could be properly determined and weighed. This usage was subsequently broadened to include any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence.

As an attitude, prejudice is seen as having a tripartite nature, as possessing cognitive, affective, and behavioral component.

A person's beliefs and expectations regarding a particular group constitute the cognitive component of the prejudicial attitude.

Sociologists have termed prejudice an adaptive behaviour. Biased views might be considered necessary at times for human survival: we don't always have time to form a legitimate view about a potential foe before adopting a defensive stance that could save our lives. Conversely, prejudice is non-adaptive when it interferes with survival or well-being.

Prejudices are usually based on general stereotypical conceptions of our everyday reality, including ourselves, other persons, objects processes, facts, value-norms, rules. However, they need to be converted into "attitudes," in order to be considered as prejudice. And they usually carry a negative connotation.

In ethology, stereotyped behavior or fixed action pattern is an innate, pre-programed response that is repeated when an animal is exposed to an environmental innate releasing mechanism.

Components of prejudice

Individuals that are against specific groups will tend to experience intense negative feelings when they come into contact with these groups, either directly or indirectly. The affective component of the prejudicial attitude comes into play here, with profound negative emotional feelings tending to accompany cognitive reactions to objects of prejudice.

The behavioral component of prejudice has engendered the most research interest. Here the concern is the tendency of prejudiced individuals to act in a negative manner toward targets of their prejudice. When such tendencies become manifest in overt behavior, discrimination is said to occur. Numerous constraints upon behavor that may be operating in everyday situations may prevent existing prejudicial feelings from being transformed into discriminatory behavior. If such obstacles are not present in a given instance, however, the prejudicial thought or tendencycan find expression in the behavioral act, which may vary in intensity from the lowest level, mere social avoidance, to acts of extreme violence, or even genocide.

Reliance on stereotypes can lead to erroneous thinking about other people. When a prejudiced white employer interviews an African American, for example, the employer ‘attribute’ to the job candidate all the traits associated with the employer’s African American stereotype. Qualities of the candidate that do not match the stereotype are likely to be ignored or quickly forgotten. The employer whose stereotype includes the belief that African Americans are lazy may belittle the candidate’s hard-earned college degree by thinking, "I never heard of that college. It must be an easy school." This thinking, which is similar to the fundamental attribution error, is known as the ultimate attribution error. The error refers to the tendency for a person with stereotyped beliefs about a particular group of people to make internal attributions for their shortcomings and external attributions for their successes. In the example, the employer is making an external attribution (an easy school) for the college success of the African American job seeker. The other side of the ultimate attribution error is to make internal attributions for the failure of people who belong to groups we dislike. For instance, many white Americans believe that lower average incomes among black Americans as compared with white Americans are due to lack of ability or low motivation.

Stereotypes and forms of prejudice

Stereotypes are ideas held by a particular group about members of other particular groups, based primarily on membership in that group. They may be positive or negative prejudicial, and may be used to justify certain discriminatory behaviors. Some people consider all stereotypes to be negative. Stereotypes are rarely completely accurate, based on some kernel of truth, or completely fabricated. Different disciplines give different accounts of how stereotypes develop: Psychologists focus on how experience with groups, patterns of communication about the groups, and intergroup conflict. Sociologists focus on the relations among groups and position of different groups in a social structure. Psychoanalytically-oriented humanists have argued (e.g., Sander Gilman) that stereotypes, by definition, are never accurate representations, but a projection of an individual's fears onto others, regardless of the reality of others. Although stereotypes are rarely entirely accurate, statistical studies have shown that in some cases stereotypes do represent measurable facts.

Prejudice generally refers to existing biases toward the members of such groups, often based on social stereotypes; and at its most extreme, results in groups being denied life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or, conversely, unfairly showing unwarranted favour towards others.

The word stereotype was invented by Firmin Didot in the world of printing; it was originally a duplicate impression of an original typographical element, used for printing instead of the original. American journalist Walter Lippmann coined the metaphor, calling a stereotype a "picture in our heads" saying "Whether right or wrong, ...imagination is shaped by the pictures seen... Consequently, they lead to stereotypes that are hard to shake." (Public Opinion, 1922, 95-156). In fact, cliché and stereotype were both originally printers' words, and in their literal printers' meanings were synonymous. Specifically, cliché was a French word for the printing surface for a stereotype.

The first reference to "stereotype," in its modern, English use was in 1850, in the noun, meaning "image perpetuated without change".

Types of prejudice

John E. Farley classified prejudice into three categories. Cognitive Prejudice refers to what people believe is true. An example of cognitive prejudice might be found, for example, adherence to a particular metaphysical or methodological philosophy to the exclusion of other philosophies that may offer a more complete theoretical explanation. Affective Prejudice refers to what people like and dislike. An example of affective prejudice might be found, for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed. Cognative prejudice refers to how people are inclined to behave. It is regarded as an attitude because people don't actually act on their feelings. An example of cognative prejudice might be found in expressions of what one would do if, hypothetically, the opportunity presented itself. These three types of prejudice are correlated, but all need not be present in a particular individual. Someone, for example, might believe a particular group possesses low levels of intelligence, but harbor no ill feelings toward that group. On the other hand, one might not like a group because of intense competition for jobs, but still recognize no inherent differences between groups.

Understanding stereotypes

At times the terms prejudice and stereotype are confusing:

• Prejudices are abstract-general preconceptions or abstract-general attitudes towards any type of situation object or person.
• Stereotypes are generalizations of existing characteristics. These reduce complexity.

Common stereotypes include a variety of allegations about groups based on gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, disability, profession, sexual orientation, social class, race, religious belief, physical appearance and size. Stereotypes can also be based on individual impairments.

Stereotypes are assumed characteristics based on a large group of individuals whose beliefs, habits, and actions are similar. Stereotype production can be based on:

• Historical factors
• Simplification
• Generalization
• Exaggeration
• Presentation of cultural attributes as being 'natural'
• Racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination
• Guilt by association

Stereotypes are seen by many as undesirable beliefs imposed to justify the acts of discrimination and oppression. It is thought that education and/or familiarization can change these incorrect beliefs. Other negative effects are:

• justification of ill-founded prejudices or ignorance
• unwillingness to rethink one's attitudes and behavior towards stereotyped group
• self-fulfilling prophecy for both stereotyping and stereotyped group (white people treat black people in a more hostile way because they are afraid of them; black people accordingly react more aggressively, thus confirming the stereotype...)
• preventing some people of stereotyped groups of succeeding in activities or fields (i.e. white people who are trying to get into the hip hop industry; gay men who are trying to be in the NBA; black people trying to get a bachelors degree, and Asian actors who have lead roles in movies).

Unhealthy stereotypes can be negative or positive, even for the same group: Black men are generally supposed to be good musicians and basketball players, but at the same time seen as aggressive, prone to lives of crime, and likely to be on drugs. The effects of stereotypes can have positive and negative effects: Students who were implicitly made aware of their gender behaved as the stereotype suggested:

Asian-American women performed better in math tests when being aware of being Asian, and did worse when being reminded of being women.[1]

Stereotyping can also be created by the media, showing an incorrect judgment of a culture or place.

Often the terms stereotype and prejudice are confused:

• Stereotypes are a generalization of characteristics; they reduce complexity, provide stability, and offer opportunities to identify oneself with others.
• Prejudices are either an abstract-general preconception or an attitude towards individuals.

Prejudice and Discrimination

In literature as well as in newspapers, prejudice and discrimination are used interchangeably, as synonyms. It is not correct. Prejudice and discrimination refer to different concepts. Prejudice is an attitude, whereas discrimination is a behavior. Discrimination is an unfair act or series of acts taken toward an entire group of people or individual members of that group.

Prejudiced people may fall victim to errors in the processing and recall of information regarding the objects of their negative feeling: Such individuals will, over time come to think of their "targets" in a certain way, and effectively will filter out or ignore information inconsistant with or contrary to what they have come to believe about those targets.

Reasons and sources for prejudice

Fallacious extension of one's negative past experiences to the general case can be harmful; it can be termed bias, or more colloquially, lumping. If a person has developed the concept that members of one group have certain characteristics because of a sour past acquaintance with a member of that group, she may presume that all members of the group have such characteristics or guilt by association. This is typical of all prejudice: racism, linguicism, ageism, heterosexism, prejudice based on differing political stances, and classism or elitism based on one's socioeconomic status. There are prejudices towards those with disabilities, because a "handicapped" or disabled person may appear different or communicate differently from everyone else, or might be unable to live the way an "abled" person can. And prejudices against people from other countries, regions and occupations as well are expressed by jokes or statements.

In other cases, it may be a matter of early education: children taught that certain attitudes are the "correct" ones may form opinions without weighing the evidence on both sides of a given question with no malice intended on the child's part. An adult might even be shocked to hear racial slurs or comments and their own opinions on various groups echoed back at them from their children. In the United States of America, Australia and Europe in particular, it's considered taboo by some people for persons to publicly express their prejudices against another race or group of people; this view has been bolstered by a degree of legal framework and policy within many large organisations. However such taboos do not exist endemically outside the public sphere, and numerous monocultures regard alleged slurs as normal everyday language. This mismatch between an establishment view and a folk view of taboos related to "prejudice" is connected to a frequently reported perception of political correctness restricting the organic expression of views within society, and concomitant backlash against such restriction of free speech.

Stereotypes in arts, and prejudice reducing

Stereotypes are common in the world of drama, where the term is often used as a form of dramatic shorthand for stock character. Increasingly the active use of stereotypes in drama is a prerequisite for an audience accepting them as legitimate. The unwitting use of stereotypes appears hackneyed to a postmodern audience who refuses to tolerate the representation of individuals as simply the stereotype. Examples of active use are found in the work of Brecht and other dramatic styles which allow the actor to demonstrate a character with a degree of role distance, thus showing the active use. The Italian commedia Dell'arte was known for its stock characters and stock situations, which could be considered drama stereotypes. Retrospectively these stock characters have been illuminated by the work of Brecht, Dario Fo and Jacques Lecoq, and revealed to be far from simple stereotypes in their current evolution, despite their original reference to local Italian stereotypes in their early genesis. Importantly in drama the actor does not create a stereotype rather their characterization may be simple in that they represent an uncritical reflection of the stereotype, and it is this simplicity which aggravates a postmodern audience. A subtle and detailed characterisation, especially of the commedia Dell'arte stock characters, results in a unique and immediate performance that will be enjoyed by an audience due to the clear active use of the characters by the actor.

In literature and art, stereotypes are clichéd or predictable characters or situations. For example, the stereotypical devil is a red, impish character with horns, bifurcated tail, and a trident, whilst the stereotypical salesman is a slickly-dressed, fast-talking individual who cannot usually be trusted. Throughout history, storytellers have drawn from stereotypical characters and situations, in order to quickly connect the audience with new tales. Sometimes such stereotypes can be very complex and sophisticated, such as Shakespeare's Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Arguably a stereotype that becomes complex and sophisticated ceases to be a stereotype per se by its unique characterization. Thus while Shylock remains politically unstable in being a stereotypical Jew, the subject of prejudicial derision in Shakespeare's era, his many other detailed features raise him above a simple stereotype and into a unique character, worthy of modern performance. Simply because a feature of a character can be categorized as being typical does not make the entire character a stereotype. Despite their proximity in etymological roots, cliché and stereotype are not used synonymously in cultural spheres. For example a cliché is a high criticism in narratology where genre and categorization automatically associates a story within its recognizable group. Labelling a situation or character in a story as typical suggests it is fitting for its genre or category. Whereas declaring that a storyteller has relied on cliché is to pejoratively observe a simplicity and lack of originality in the tale. To criticize Ian Fleming for a stereotypically unlikely escape for James Bond would be understood by the reader or listener, but it would be more appropriately criticized as a cliché in that it is overused and reproduced. Narrative genre relies heavily on typical features to remain recognizable and generate meaning in the reader/viewer. There is plenty of room for criticizing the representation of the Bond girls as stereotypical.

The instantly recognisable nature of stereotypes mean that they are very useful in producing effective advertising and situation comedy. Media stereotypes change and evolve over time - for instance, we now instantly recognize only a few of the stereotyped characters shown to us in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. The teen sitcom, Saved By The Bell features a typical group of high school stereotypes such as a class clown (Zack Morris), a jock (A.C. Slater), a nerd (Samuel "Screech" Powers), a cheerleader (Kelly Kapowski), a feminist (Jessie Spano), and a superficial fashion plate (Lisa Turtle). Some observed the sitcom, like many teen sitcoms of that time, in addition to stereotyping people, stereotyping an institution itself, that of high school. TV stereotypes of high schools have often promoted a "typical American school" as football games, fashion styles, skirt chasing, and not much devotion to academics or studying.

In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, the heroine forms a strong opinion of a man's character before she hears his side of the story. The balance of the facts, when finally made known to her, challenges and ultimately overturns this prejudice. Prejudice is also a theme in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, in which a man is wrongly tried and convicted because of his race. And the 1997 science-fiction movie Gattaca about a future where genetically-enhanced people are the majority, while a non-genetically enhanced minority are socially and economically discriminated and marginalized for their imperfections.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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External links

• A dedicated site for discussion on stereotypes [2]
• Social Psychology Network Stereotyping
• Understanding Stereotypes - Educational information about stereotypes.
• Short movie: Stereotypes in conflict - Reaction from people in shopping center on business men, weird & slutty types and goths.
• Stereotypes: Risk or Opportunity? - Thoughts on stereotypes and how stereotyping influences our preferences.
• SEPARATING the GOLD from the DROSS: a guide to multicultural literature
• On Stereotypes and Cultural Differences
• Media Awareness Network. What is a stereotype? Definition, role of stereotyping in the media, more links
• A Galleryblog on stereotypes A blog dedicated to the study of stereotypes in American mass culture; in particular, stereotypes of Latinas/os, Mexicans, and other Hispanic "types." The blog is a continuation of a discussion in Tex(t)-Mex—a University of Texas Press book (2007).
• Stereotypes Are A Real Time-Saver (Parody)
• Dictionary - Sterotype Online Dictionary
• Stereotype & Society A Major Resource: Constantly updated and archived
• Social Psychology Network Stereotyping
• Media Awareness Network. What is a stereotype? Definition, role of stereotyping in the media, more links
• Are Blonds Really Dumb? An article on Stereotyping(registration required)

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