When is prejudice good

That is when people are excluded and persecuted. And that is when prejudice becomes extremely dangerous. Prejudice and stereotypes Prejudice is usually negative. How does prejudice come about? What can you do against prejudice? Prejudice is an assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person's membership to a particular group.

For example, people can be prejudiced against someone else of a different ethnicity, gender, or religion. This is an irrational attitude and mindset and one that does no good for anyone involved. For example, a person might have a lot of preconceived ideas about someone who is Christian, Muslim, or Jewish and will allow those judgements to affect the way they view and treat those people. The same can be true for people who are Black, White, or Asian. In society, we often see prejudices toward a group based on race, sex, religion, culture, and more.

While specific definitions of prejudice given by social scientists often differ, most agree that it involves prejudgments that are usually negative about members of a group. As mentioned, a prejudiced attitude can be based on a number of factors, including sex, race, age, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status, and religion.

Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include the following:. When people hold prejudicial attitudes toward others, they tend to view everyone who fits into a certain group as being "all the same. This has a very strong influence on how people behave and interact with those who are different from them. As a result, it can also cause them to miss out on relationships or conversations that have the potential to be deeply fulfilling. Those on the receiving end of prejudice are particularly impacted, though.

For example, the ubiquitous prejudice against Black people has translated into higher incarceration rates, fewer job offers, and lower pay. Another blatant example is the prejudice against Muslims; the rampant anti-Muslim sentiment in the West has led many people to believe that all Muslims are violent and hateful. According to psychologist Gordon Allport , prejudice and stereotypes emerge in part as a result of normal human thinking. We cannot possibly avoid this process.

Orderly living depends upon it. In other words, we often depend upon our ability to place people, ideas, and objects into different categories in order to make the world easier to understand.

We are simply inundated with too much information to sort through all of it in a logical, methodical, and rational fashion. Unfortunately, this quick categorization leads to faulty assumptions that have an impact on individuals and the world at large. Whether deeply ingrained, taught, or an implicit bias , it is important to fight our own prejudices we have against others. One of the first ways to do this is to understand and accept that it happens.

As discussed previously in this section, we all belong to a gender, race, age, and social economic group. These groups serve as our in-groups. An in-group is a group that we identify with or see ourselves as belonging to. For example, if you are female, your gender in-group includes all females, and your gender out-group includes all males [link]. People often view gender groups as being fundamentally different from each other in personality traits, characteristics, social roles, and interests.

Because we often feel a strong sense of belonging and emotional connection to our in-groups, we develop in-group bias: a preference for our own group over other groups. This in-group bias can result in prejudice and discrimination because the out-group is perceived as different and is less preferred than our in-group.

These children are very young, but they are already aware of their gender in-group and out-group. Despite the group dynamics that seem only to push groups toward conflict, there are forces that promote reconciliation between groups: the expression of empathy, of acknowledgment of past suffering on both sides, and the halt of destructive behaviors. One function of prejudice is to help us feel good about ourselves and maintain a positive self-concept.

This need to feel good about ourselves extends to our in-groups: We want to feel good and protect our in-groups. We seek to resolve threats individually and at the in-group level. This often happens by blaming an out-group for the problem. Scapegoating is the act of blaming an out-group when the in-group experiences frustration or is blocked from obtaining a goal Allport, As diverse individuals, humans can experience conflict when interacting with people who are different from each other.

Prejudice, or negative feelings and evaluations, is common when people are from a different social group i. Negative attitudes toward out-groups can lead to discrimination.

Prejudice and discrimination against others can be based on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, or a variety of other social identities. Some people seem more willing to openly display prejudice regarding sexual orientation than prejudice regarding race and gender. Speculate on why this might be.

When people blame a scapegoat, how do you think they choose evidence to support the blame? Give an example when you felt that someone was prejudiced against you. What do you think caused this attitude? Did this person display any discrimination behaviors and, if so, how?

Give an example when you felt prejudiced against someone else. How did you discriminate against them? Why do you think you did this?

In the United States, many people believe that sexual orientation is a choice, and there is some debate in the research literature as to the extent sexual orientation is biological or influenced by social factors.

Because race and gender are not chosen, many Americans believe it is unfair to negatively judge women or racial minority groups for a characteristic that is determined by genetics. In addition, many people in the United States practice religions that believe homosexuality is wrong. One way in which they might do this is to selectively attend to information that would bolster their argument.

Furthermore, they may actively seek out information to confirm their assertions. Skip to main content. Social Psychology. Search for:. Prejudice and Discrimination Learning Objectives By the end of this section, you will be able to: Define and distinguish among prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination Provide examples of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination Explain why prejudice and discrimination exist.

Link to Learning This video demonstrates the concepts of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. Dig Deeper: Research into Homophobia. Thus, this article is suggesting that this innate human characteristic forces us to categorize.

Now add the social conditioning. Massey and Denton American Apartheid demonstrate that we USA live in highly segregated communities, so if children are being exposed to people similar as themselves then this tends to feed into the natural inclination to categorize. Next, children and adults are exposed to stereotypes which are generalized and distorted information about groups…this lends to the negative feelings towards the out groups…all these processes work together to support prejudice and racism.

Perhaps that may come subsequently from a child learning values and beliefs from the media, family, teachers, role models, and so forth. Socialization is an imperative vehicle that drives the aforementioned. Roete asserts that, though categorization is a fundamental human process, the properties that we assign a category are variable to the ideas we hold about its constituents — thus leading to prejudice.

As such, ideology is of only minor significance in the formation prejudice. This seems to me a distinction without any difference. What are ideas, if not the foundation of ideology? How can one form opinions about complex societies without ideology?

Of course, one cannot have an intricate set of prejudices without ideology. Furthermore, the cultivation of positive ideas about something, rather than negative ones, would not be reducing prejudice, but merely rebalancing it — and a fundamentally ideological exercise in itself. Ideology is not a artificial, superimposed structure, nor a series of deliberate, conscious ideations. But instead a complex web of understandings of the social world, every bit as organic as the need to categorize.

As such ideology and categorization exist in tandem, not in isolation. Humans are selective, biase,and prejudicial. This is categorically true. BUT, there not necessarily racist.

These are personal preferences; they only become racist when used to hurt another person or group of people. They are simply uncomfortable with differences contrary to what they consider normal or good. Prejudices are a natural response and can be both beneficial and damaging depending on the action taken. Racism is elevating ones own race above another simply because other races are viewed, as a whole, less valued and less human.

The comments above are more interesting and reasoned than the actual research!