Stereotypes, Prejudices & Discrimination

Dear all,

today we write about stereotypes, prejudices and finally, discrimination. All three constructs are reactions based on categorization, while stereotypes are based on the cognitive component, prejudice on the affective component, and discrimination on the behavioural component. One of their main causes is ignorance, so today we want to bring you some of these concepts closer, to make them easier to recognize in everyday life and get rid of those that are negative, as they can have very harmful consequences.

What are stereotypes?

Stereotypes are common sets of simplified and overly general psychological traits that are attributed to a group of people as a whole. They are relatively permanent cognitive schemes about common and more often negative than positive characteristics of the whole group (eg races, religious groups, nations, etc.). Stereotypes are extremely biased and usually only partially accurate, but they act as a kind of mental shortcuts, facilitating our daily processing of information, in a way that simplifies the complexity of a social environment. We all have and use stereotypes even daily, but the problem arises when stereotypes make us “blind” to individual differences within a group of people – when stereotypes are inflexible, unfair and potentially lead to some form of abuse (e.g. insults, isolation, etc.).

What are prejudices?

Prejudices, on the other hand, are preconceived notions or opinions about something that is not sufficiently known or thoroughly and critically thought about. We all also have them and they, in one form or another, affect all of us. People who are the target of such prejudices most often have low self-esteem as a result, which can cause damage to an individual’s daily functioning. We should note that there are positive and negative prejudices, because people can have positive and negative emotional reactions towards something or someone. However, when it comes to negative prejudices, unlike stereotypes, prejudices are based on an emotional component and are characterized by a hostile or negative attitude towards a recognizable group of people, which is based solely on their membership in that group. They are directed towards the members of the group as a whole, thus ignoring the characteristics by which these people differ.

What is discrimination?

Discrimination can be considered a consequence of a person’s negative prejudices. It refers to unfair treatment of people who are considered to belong to a certain group of people and based on our prejudices. Thus, this kind of prejudicial behaviour can lead to varying degrees of unfair discrimination. These actions can vary from mild ones, such as prejudicial speech and avoidance of some people, but also to more extreme ones, such as genocide or persecution. As an example of discrimination and prejudices, imagine that a parents tells their child “Don’t hang out with him, he’s naughty”. This sentence as itself represents their prejudice that parents pass on to their child, who can later avoid another child.

Today, with this article, we learned something about these concepts, which are our everyday life, but they certainly should not be neglected. The greatest influence on the development of stereotypes and prejudices in children are their parents, as well as their immediate environment. Children at an early age begin to imitate their parents and those around them and thus adopt their beliefs and thoughts. Therefore, it is important to be aware of your attitudes so that you can act properly in dealing with children and others around you. Join us next week, when we will write about some of the possible ways on how to get rid of stereotypes, prejudices, and ultimately discrimination.

Center Luka Ritz