Describe and discuss two social sources of prejudice.

Describe and discuss two social sources of prejudice.

In this module I want to talk about the different sources or underlying causes of prejudice. One of the most important social sources of prejudice is unequal status between groups.

When two groups are of unequal status it is easy for a higher status group to think of the lower status group as being undeserving of consideration. This can lead to stereotyping the lower status group, and these stereotypes help rationalize unequal status.

Interestingly, the stereotypes resulting from the unequal status can also lead to self-fulfilling prophecies that reinforce these beliefs. For example, as a teacher, if I believe that one ethnic group is more intelligent than others, I may treat them better in the classroom -- this may result in higher performance.

I therefore fulfill the stereotype. Similarly if I believe a particular group is less intelligent, I may take away opportunities for them to be educated and thus prove that stereotype. In colonial times, Whites did not believe Blacks could be educated, so no educational opportunities were offered to them.

A few examples of social sources of prejudice:

Unequal Status:

-Masters view slaves as lazy, irresponsible, lacking ambition—as having those traits that justify slavery
-Once these inequalities exist, prejudice helps justify the economic and social superiority of those who have wealth and power
-People view enemies as subhuman and depersonalize them with labels

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

-negative beliefs predict negative behavior (or problems in life)
-If a person thinks we are clever or stupid or whatever, they will treat us that way.
-If we are treated as if we are clever, stupid or whatever, we will act, and even become, this way.
-The person has thus had their prophecy about us fulfilled!
-This is also known as the Pygmalion Effect.

Stereotype Threat

-a self-conforming apprehension that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
-refers to being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group (Steele & Aronson, 1995)
-Black college freshmen and sophomores performed more poorly on standardized tests than White students when their race was emphasized.
-When race was not emphasized, however, Black students performed better and equivalently with White students.
-The results showed that performance in academic contexts can be harmed by the awareness that one's behavior might be viewed through the lens of racial stereotypes.