SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Social Psychology

Social Psychology

1.1 Analyze prejudice in relation to theories, factors affecting prejudice and ways to reduce prejudice.

Prejudice

A prejudice is an unfavorable attitude, a priori, distorted, against persons, ethnic groups, organizations, religions, etc., Regardless of contrary data. Prejudices are based on misinformation, exaggerated or accidental generalizations can be observed in all areas and activities of society, in any social group, in any age group, and are linked to behaviors or attitudes of discrimination.

Prejudice closes before compelling arguments, with a hostile attitude toward a person who belongs to a certain group (social, ethnic, sexual, political, economic, occupational, religious, sports, age, territorial, etc.), by membership (voluntary or involuntary, conscious or unconscious) to that group, supposing possessing negative traits attributed to the group. Antisocial behavior is biased, unfair, and does not contribute to social development. Prejudice leads to offend, to slander and reject.

The bias arises for convenience, to discriminate, exclude or dominate without moral qualms. A cognitive bias is a cognitive distortion in perception. The generalization of the own negative experiences can be a bias.

The American psychologist John Dollard suggested that prejudice is the result of frustration, and recognizes that it is the basis of discrimination against human dignity.

According to current theories prejudice is an attitude learned from childhood to adulthood. It is difficult to eliminate prejudice, as people believe in them and accepts no rebuttals. A mistaken belief when there is resistance to change.

Prejudice translates into observable discriminatory behavior against a person or group of persons, who are battered and marginalized. Racial prejudice are linked to ethnic prejudice as a negative attitude towards himself different human groups. Under pressure from some human rights movement, racial discrimination has decreased, however, the subtle racism today, denying opportunities to minority groups.

Ethnocentrism is considered superior to other culture and race itself. Religious prejudices are an additional forms of subjective vision of society and one of the forms that ethnocentrism (overvalued personal culture).

For some authors hostile sexism implies contempt for women because of their sex, and, the benevolent, or chivalrous sexism, is characterized by extreme protection offered by some men to women, based on considered weak.

There is an aesthetic prejudice associated with physical appearance, grooming, facial features, body structure and weight. There are prejudices against people with disabilities, for those living in certain districts or attending a college or university, etc.

For Adorno, the basis of prejudice was the authoritarian personality. According to the theory of the authoritarian personality or bigoted, prejudice is an expression of mistrust and rigid perspective that some people in life. The frustration theory is based on the idea that prejudice results from frustrations that the group lived, turning fears and insecurities of their own group to others.

Prejudice is linked to a conflict of interest (real or potential). Prejudice also allows preferential access to opportunities, giving priority to the group itself. According to current theories, prejudice between social origins have the need to differentiate the other, to strengthen the social identity of the group itself.

The sense of threat to the social status of certain groups ...