Understanding prejudice and discrimination

Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes towards a person or group, often negative and not based on reason or actual experience. This can lead to discrimination, which is the unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on these prejudices. Various factors influence why prejudice and discrimination occur, ranging from personal traits to broader social and cultural contexts.

Personality factors in prejudice

Personality traits can shape how likely someone is to hold prejudiced views. One key theory links prejudice to early childhood experiences and resulting personality types.

The authoritarian personality

The authoritarian personality is a set of traits characterised by rigid thinking, obedience to authority, and hostility towards those seen as inferior. This personality type is thought to develop from harsh parenting styles during childhood. According to Freudian theory, strict discipline creates outward obedience but builds inner hostility that cannot be expressed towards powerful parents due to fear. Instead, this hostility is displaced onto weaker groups, leading to prejudice and discrimination against those with lower social status.

Adorno et al. (1950) study on authoritarianism

• Aim - Adorno and colleagues investigated how personality influences prejudice, focusing on the authoritarian personality.
• Method - Researchers developed a questionnaire called the F-scale (where F stands for fascist) to measure authoritarian traits and surveyed over 2,000 middle-class Americans, asking about attitudes towards authority, conformity, and minority groups.
• Procedure - Participants responded to statements reflecting rigid views, obedience, and intolerance, with high scorers on the F-scale interviewed further about their childhood experiences.
• Results - High F-scale scorers showed traits like obedience to authority, rigid right/wrong thinking, intolerance of differences, hostility to lower-status groups, and conventional views. These individuals often reported harsh, disciplinarian parenting, supporting the link to displaced hostility.
• Conclusions - Prejudice stems from personality traits formed in childhood, where unresolved hostility is redirected towards out-groups.
• Strengths - The study provides a psychological explanation for prejudice, supported by correlations between F-scale scores and prejudiced attitudes.
• Limitations - The theory overlooks situational influences and may be culturally biased, as it was based on American participants; also, correlation does not prove causation between parenting and personality.

Situational factors affecting prejudice

Situational factors refer to environmental or contextual influences that can increase or decrease prejudice. These are not fixed personality traits but depend on the current circumstances, such as social threats or group dynamics.

Changes in social norms and threats

Social norms are the unwritten rules of behaviour in a society. When these norms shift due to perceived threats, prejudice can rise. For example, economic downturns or national traumas, like the 9/11 attacks, can heighten prejudice against minority groups seen as responsible. This occurs because people feel insecure and blame out-groups for their problems. Similarly, exposure to prejudiced family or peers during childhood can normalise these attitudes, as individuals adopt the norms of their immediate environment.

A modern example is the rise of Islamophobia, where perceived threats from radicalised individuals lead to broader prejudice against Muslims. This is tied to specific events and societal conditions over recent decades.

Social Identity Theory

Social Identity Theory, proposed by Tajfel and Turner, explains prejudice through group membership. It suggests that people derive part of their self-esteem from belonging to groups (in-groups). To boost this, they favour their in-group and discriminate against out-groups.

Key processes in Social Identity Theory:

• Categorisation - People divide the world into 'us' (in-group) and 'them' (out-group), even based on minimal differences.
• Identification - Individuals adopt the norms and values of their in-group to enhance self-esteem.
• Comparison - In-groups are viewed positively, while out-groups are seen negatively, leading to prejudice.

This theory shows how prejudice emerges in any situation with competing groups, as it helps maintain a positive social identity.

Realistic Conflict Theory

Realistic Conflict Theory, developed by Sherif, argues that prejudice arises from competition over limited resources, such as jobs or land. When groups compete, hostility increases; however, cooperation towards shared goals can reduce it.

Key elements of Realistic Conflict Theory:

• Competition - Scarce resources create intergroup conflict and negative stereotypes.
• Superordinate goals - Tasks requiring cooperation between groups can break down prejudice by fostering mutual dependence.

This theory highlights how situational factors like resource scarcity directly fuel discrimination, but positive interactions can mitigate it.

Cultural factors in prejudice

Culture shapes prejudice through shared beliefs, values, and stereotypes passed down within a society. All cultures tend to distinguish between 'us' and 'them', often favouring the in-group.

In-group bias and stereotypes

In-group bias is the tendency to favour one's own cultural group over others, which appears universal across societies. This bias leads to prejudice by attributing positive traits to the in-group and negative ones to out-groups.

Stereotypes are oversimplified beliefs about a group, often negative for out-groups. Cultures apply these to make sense of others' actions, but they can maintain prejudice rather than cause it initially. For instance, negative stereotypes may lead to avoidance of out-group members or biased interpretations of their behaviour. According to Social Identity Theory, stereotypes reinforce existing biases by justifying in-group favouritism.

Open hostility and aggression

Cultures may express prejudice through aggression towards other groups, such as discrimination or conflict. This stems from the universal 'us vs. them' distinction, where out-groups are seen as threats, leading to hostility.

Individual differences and developmental influences

Individual differences refer to variations in personal traits that affect prejudice levels. These interact with developmental factors, such as upbringing, to shape attitudes over time.

The F-scale and authoritarian traits

As explored in Adorno's study, the F-scale measures authoritarianism through traits like obedience to authority, rigid thinking, intolerance of weakness, hostility to lower-status groups, and conventional views. High scorers are more likely to exhibit prejudice due to these ingrained personality differences.

Locus of control

Locus of control is a personality trait describing whether people believe they control their own fate (internal locus) or that external forces do (external locus). In Milgram's obedience experiments, participants who resisted authority (stopping before maximum voltage) showed independent behaviour, linked to an internal locus of control. Those with an external locus may be more obedient and thus more prone to prejudice if authority figures endorse it.

Developmental and cultural influences

Developmental psychology examines how upbringing influences prejudice. Children raised in individualistic cultures (emphasising personal achievement) may develop differently from those in collectivistic cultures (emphasising group harmony). However, obedience – which can enable discrimination – appears universal across cultures, suggesting it's an innate trait rather than purely environmental.

Cultural norms and values shape development; for example, exposure to prejudiced social norms can foster biased attitudes from a young age. This highlights how individual differences in prejudice are not just personality-based but also moulded by cultural and developmental contexts.