The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay

The Nature Of Prejudice Psychology Essay In the multi cultural setting, prejudice has become normalized and has synchronized into our daily lives due to the efforts of authorities to harmonized people together. However, given that everyone comes from a very different and diverse background and family situations, there are bound to be misinterpretation and assumptions that we make on a daily basis that is somewhat skewed towards or against a different group. And with the efforts of the authorities to sanction prejudice, it does not necessary mean that prejudice has withered off but instead it may have become an innate thought that has continued on. In this essay we will look into the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. The Nature of Prejudice In a personal context, a persons behavior towards a certain group of people or people with distinct differences can be due to the social schemas that a person develops with time, through experience and or through social influence. Prejudice can be described as a negative attitude or observable behavior towards a certain socially defined group or members of that group. It is also known as prejudgment, the emotions felt or behavior portrayed cannot be quantified nor can it be justified. Even though in the modern society, prejudice and discrimination are seen as inappropriate or undesirable, it does still exist within each person and they vary in magnitude and severity individually. In this essay, we will cover the psychological theories, concepts and researches to understand the continued existence of prejudice and discrimination within each person, even though our modern society views it as undesirable. In the research done by Kenneth Clark (1914 -2005), on the effects of prejudice, discrimination and segregation have on child development, he demonstrated the effects by observing the responses of black children, age between two to seven, when they are presented with two sets of dolls, differing only by the dolls skin and hair colors. And from the observation, majority of the participants would prefer the white dolls over the black dolls. Apart from that, the research also showed that thirty nine percent of the participants would choose the white dolls as a representation of themselves. It became apparent that the social norm that children were exposed to pre-defines the definition of being socially desirable and socially undesirable. It also meant to steer individuals towards changing themselves mentally and or physically to become socially desirable in order to belong and fit the social norm. And the idea of being socially desirable and undesirable brings about prejudice and the fo rmation of groups. A classic example and origin of social prejudice can be traced to the social inequalities which suggest and predicts women being assumed to perform better in a caretaker role because they are perceived to be unassertive and sensitive (Hoffman Hurst, 1990). The attitude of prejudice can be described as a composite of three factors the influence of social beliefs are seen to cause over generalizing of the behavior of a person and also result in stereotyping. The emotions felt by an individual such as hostility and fear, when a person is found to be in an unfamiliar situation, it predisposes a person to emotionally respond either to feel, think or to act in a way towards a group or an individual when exposed to a certain stimuli in a certain way. The observable actions can be observed through behaviors such as discrimination. Prejudice can also be examined in relation to three factors, the severity of prejudice, the level of discrimination and the formation of beliefs, and stereotyping. These factors make up the basic structure of forming prejudice, as a mental schema that a person can refer to as a guide when situation calls for them. The mental schemas will influence how a person react and interpret the various experiences. And the pre- assumptions or conceived ideas about a certain group of people tend to skew ones interpretation of the observed behaviors and prediction of future actions of the member of the certain group. Prejudice can be categorized into two different types, blatant prejudice and subtle prejudice. Blatant prejudice refers to the open rejection of a certain groups or refers to certain groups to be inferior to them. The actions of blatant prejudice can be easily observed and it is usually not withheld. An example of blatant prejudice can come in the form of riots and demonstration against an opposing group or member of that certain group (Pettigrew, 1998). The other type is subtle prejudice refers to negative emotions felt towards or against the other group or individuals which are usually being disguised or is being hidden behind other values that allow the individual to dislike that certain group in a less direct manner as oppose to blatant prejudice. Some examples of subtle prejudices are the belief that the certain groups are becoming too pushy in wanting more rights than the rest, the denial of discrimination and the resentment of favoritism (Lambert, 1998). Prejudice can also be unconscious to people who denies having any racial or gender prejudices, that they may still have negative associations linking to the socially defined group or individual. It is illustrated in the research and it had been observed that nine out of ten white participants of the research took longer time to link pleasant words with a black faces than linking pleasant words to white faces (Greenwald, McGhee, Schwartz, 1998). It demonstrates that even though individuals do not recognize themselves to be having any stereotypes or discrimination towards a socially defined group or individual, the unconscious behaviors that was observed illustrates that social beliefs and social norms do actually influences a persons judgment and unconsciously forming prejudice against it. The other factor that can influence prejudice is the environment that an individual is found to be in. It influences the prejudice behavior of the individual that can either be observed or remains undetected. For example a person will and can act non-prejudiced when the situation that they are in does not require them to. For example, an individual makes a non-prejudiced comment towards a prejudiced behavior, so as to not offend members of the other group. In the same direction, prejudice can also be strengthened in situations where the social norms that govern them are either weak or ambiguous and it becomes justifiable and deemed acceptable for negative behavior towards the socially defined group or individual. In social psychology there have been many theories formulated to define the formulation of prejudice. There is the Psychodynamic or personality approach according to Freud, prejudice is seen as a response to an unresolved conflict during the stages of child development. He refers it to as a combination of personality characteristics and that the incompatible and unconscious motives and urges which exist in our minds and depending on our relative strength, moral values and external reality either one of the motives and urges will dictate the conscious thoughts and actions (Freud, 1917). The socio-cultural approach suggests that the cultural factors influences and creates social norms which plays an important role as to how a person is predisposed to results in formation of prejudiced view of the certain group or individual. A theory derived from this is the scapegoat theory which suggests that prejudice can also be an expression of anger such that when things go wrong, the scapegoat will provide a convenient emotional outlet and target for this anger which manipulates and influence people to create a common goal for the group (Katz, Glass, Cohen, 1973). The cognitive approach refers to the information processing and cognitive systems of the brain where prejudice arises out of normal mental processes, which can be explain through stereotyping and categorization. Social categorization and stereotyping refers to the formulation of illusionary relation between a certain group and the perceived deficiencies. They also categorize people into certain groups and that they are categorized based on the social norms or traits they are associated with the others in the same group. People tend to favor those that are within their group than those people that are not within the group. Social categories are formed with association to stereotyping when we encode information in terms of social categories. Social categories are ingrained in a person that it is easily accessible and prominently that they are automatically used in social perception. The need to belong, dictates humans as group bound species in the search attain an identity of self when belonging to a group. This is associated with the negative out-group stereotypes and positive in-group stereotypes that the group which means to be mentally differentiating and defining the grouping of us and them which also leads to people showing favoritism to their own group when dividing any rewards (Wilder, 1981) . Stereotyping provides general expectations about a certain group and it simplifies perception and evaluation of the individual members. Stereotype can affect the type of information that the brain is attending to and how it is being interpreted, they are easily accessible, and prominent that it can automatically be used in social perception to reduce ambiguity during critical situations. The generalization are guided by two elements, the trait information concerning what people of the certain group are like and the expectation of how this group of people will act. Stereotyping is not easy to be modified and acts can easily and automatically trigger stereotyping. It will have an impact on the effects on a persons behavior and results in unintentional self-fulfilling prophecies and implicit behavioral effects (Mackie, Hamilton, Susskind, Rosselli, 1996). The most researched common stereotype is sexism, where males are more than always perceived and commonly linked to stronger traits and attributes and on the flip side, females are often perceived and linked to weaker traits (Fiske, 1998). This stereotype originates from the prejudicial perspective that females are valued lesser than males, which can be traced back in history that males had all along been the breadwinner and females plays the caregiver role and thus resulting in the stereotype of women represents weakness and are better in taking up a more subtle role. Another typical stereotype that is relative to us would be racism, which refers to discrimination against an individual on the basis of the individuals race. It is often being generalized that people from the same race shares the same set of characteristic traits like abilities and qualities. And that personality trait such as intellect, morality, and other cultural behavioral characteristics are also inherited which in turn influence their reason to act, their practices and their beliefs. However, there are little or no scholarly evidence that agrees with the concept of race. The generalization forms an unintentional discrimination and stereotype towards a certain group and that people tend to make assumptions based on this stereotype. Racism assumption also includes discriminatory behaviors and beliefs that can be based on cultural, ethnic, or religious stereotypes. The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice can be explained through the dissociation model (Devine, 1989). Where stereotyping is the knowledge about the attributes stereotypically associated with a particular group and it is automatically activated with stimulus and it can be acquired as early as during child development before we can critically evaluate. And that it is more accessible with greater activation and stronger association overtime. Whereas, prejudice refers to the endorsement and acceptance or non-acceptance of the cultural stereotype and that activation of prejudice is known to be controlled and that activation must be with the inhibition of stereotype and it requires time and cognitive capacity. The research shows that both high and low prejudice persons has equal knowledge of the cultural stereotype. Also, both high and low prejudice person uses stereotyping to evaluate ambiguous behaviors. And that low prejudiced person exhibited more positive thoughts, belie fs and less hostile descriptions. The dissociation model concludes that the relationship between stereotype and prejudice is conditional on the task at hand and that stereotype can have effects on out decision without us making the explicit or conscious judgment (Devine, 1989). Social discrimination and prejudice can create a vicious cycle that entraps the individual or group within an illusionary boundary that is hard to get out from. An example of this cycle can originate from as simple as job discrimination, which determines how much wealth a person has and in turn determines the living environment of the person. The living environment also determines the level of education that the children will receive and thus affect the kind of job they will hold in the future, which sets them in a material disadvantage. And the types of discrimination also include reluctance to help, tokenism which refers to intentionally create a false appearance of inclusiveness and to deflect accusations of discrimination and reverse discrimination (Vaughan Hogg, 2011). And the victims of prejudice can also suffer from psychological disadvantages, low self-esteem, and depressed aspiration, and also include physical and verbal abuses. And the consequences of prejudice can range f rom the least serious type like pre-assumption and prediction of an individuals behavior from the certain group, to open discrimination of the certain group which could lead to violence against the group and ultimately, extermination of the group and its members such as the holocaust. It is then apparent that prejudicial behavior are almost inevitable for any individual given the different backgrounds and culture everyone had been brought up in, and the acquisition prejudice may well have happened even before we can comprehend anything. Which results in prejudice both conscious and unconsciously in the decisions that we make in our daily life. Therefore, society plays an important role to sanction and subdue any overwhelming prejudice against any social discrimination, and that every individual should make a conscious effort to avoid taking advantage of it as a vehicle for personal gains. And that even though many would publicly deny as having any stereotype or prejudice against someone, prejudice has always been an innate thought process that can and has influence our behaviors externally.

Factors that affect the communication process Essay

There are various factors that affect the communication process. Among many of the factors some are very important and play a very important role throughout society, cultural, ethical and individual ways of perspective and communication. Throughout life people have and/or will be faced with the challenge of playing out these roles in society. For example, there are different cultures around the world. In some culture women are to be covered up at all times and are married off to as trade for cattle or money to their father. Where in cultures women are free to dress and marry by there choice. These two women will experience culture shock while communicating with each other. Culture is the values, attitudes and morals, someone is thought that carry over into their social lives. By taken the time to make sure we as people can cultural communication it can keep down most of the confusing in workplace, school and just maybe the world. Ethnical identify also is an important factor that affects the communication process, because of what is taught cultural and/or in people homes. The ethnicity plays in how two co-workers from different and same cultures interact with one another. For example, in the United States of America during slavery most White Americans where taught and believed they were superior when communicating with African-Americans so the communication was only a one direction channel. When African-American communication between each other back then where thru songs and marking. Ethnical identify is a very touchy subject all over the world and causes  racial profiling among all Ethnical groups. The most important factor that these minority races consider are their backgrounds. Ethnical issues can arise due to terminations, promotions, and bonuses. The individual identity is also an important factor that impacts communication. An individual communicates with others depended upon their own social imagination. This can play a role in which supervisor is admired in the workplace and willing to work with you, or who is most resented. Once others realize this they accept it, and find ways to work around with but  remove themselves from the person outside of a work environment. This includes someone’s own personality traits and how they esteem themselves. Finally the last factor to be discussed is societal identity. This references the roles others play in society. Some people may object to others actions, because they have different backgrounds. In the workplace younger works are said to be better at handle the rapid pace of how things change with technology in the workplace than older worker. This is not a true statement; however this is the depiction of society. The roles people paly such as a supervisor. It allows us to present ourselves a certain way towards our supervisors. I for one have taught and seen older coworkers take the time to learn and catch up with the pace of the change in the workplace.

A Simple Trick for Ielts Essay Samples General Module Explained

A Simple Trick for Ielts Essay Samples General Module Explained So you've got to compose an essay for whichever one that you pick, but the other part is different based on which module you're taking. You simply have to fully tackle all sections of the job. In Task One there's normally a visual representation of some sort. Not including one or more of these things will reduce your score. The cost of an essay depends upon the quantity of effort the writer has to exert. Thus don't get intimidated if you believe you cannot write such essays. It wasn't easy for all of us to begin with writing essays. A well-structured essay has a fantastic introduction, body paragraphs that are simple to follow and connect with each other, and a great conclusion. By the conclusion of this course you will receive an outstanding comprehension of just what you will need to do in order to SCORE HIGH in the writing section and you will be able to create both a letter and an essay under 60 minutes with confidence! Read the question carefully to understand what you need to do. However, you do have to open your letter with something which will be suitable for the reader and will capture the reader's interest. In simple words means your letter has to be extraordinary and has to answer every area of the topic question exceptionally well and demonstrates shrewd writing skills. In response to the above question, zero Ielts sample essay indicates all there is to learn about writing for the ielts. Citations and extracts from several sources have to be formatted properly. Examine the model essay and read the comments. Take a look at our essay correction support. The number of grammatical constructions used seems quite excellent. There are several types of structures that could get you a high score. In some cases, you're requested to describe an approach. This practice isn't only prohibited in schools and universities but in addition stunts a student's intellectual improvement. It's an exam meant for non-native English speakers. Usually you must take the IELTS test if you're applying for employment or to study in a college or university in an English-speaking country or if you're migrating to such nation. For more information, visit the totally free general training writing tutorials. Click the RED BAR at the very top of this site to access the key pages for IELTS preparation. You will be supplied a task card which asks you to talk about a specific topic and includes points you can cover in your talk. Therefore, it's important to remember which one you're writing, so it is possible to concentrate on showing that you've mastered the skills that are being tested. You should also demonstrate your skills in summarising the key points. Talk about the benefits of both methods and provide your own opinion. The previous letter is to a friend and has to be informal. The instructions will let you know what to write about, and list several things you must have in your letter. Notice what you have to write. For instance, if you are requested to justify an opinion you aren't supposed to challenge it. Secondly, you can check the number of words very fast. The sentences that you put in each individual paragraph will be dependent on which type of question you become. You might have to compose an answer to the question giving reasons and examples to back up your answer. It's often argued this is a good development, whilst others disagree and think that it will cause adverse ramifications. The candidate has also employed the suitable formal tone. College education functions as the secret to a thriving future to individuals that are despite the simple fact that college education may be costly, its benefits are. Certainly, money is a significant role in our lives. Hence, it's said, marry for money is right in some degree. To a lot of people, it's appropriate to marry for money instead of love. So, for many, it may appear appropriate to marry for money instead of love.

The Caribbean’s Cultural History Essay - 1701 Words

The Caribbean’s Cultural History Columbus’ discovery in 1492 set off a chain of events in the emergence of the Caribbean society, as Knight states in his book The Caribbean. The first voyage of Columbus in 1492 fortuitously discovered a whole new world and set in motion a chain of events whose profound consequences gave new directions to the histories of Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. It was the voyages of Columbus and those who followed him that brought the Americas into the consciousness of the Europeans(Knight 28). Many people question whether the discovery made by Columbus was beneficial or deteriorating for the indigenous people of the Caribbean. It was the exploration and discoveries by Columbus that further led†¦show more content†¦The plantations were an important aspect of the cultural history of the Caribbean. Mintz strongly believed that the plantations helped to shape each colony into what it is now. He suggests that plantations were a way to tie the island to the country that was colonizing it as he states that: the plantation system was an agricultural design for the production of export commodities for foreign markets- a means for introducing agricultural capitalism to subtropical colonial areas, and for integrating those areas with the expanding European economy(Mintz 26). The plantations could also be very useful in leaning more about the history of the people of the island, as Benitez-Rojo states in his essay, From the Plantation to the Plantation. He states that: the plantations serve as a telescope for observing the changes and the continuities of the Caribbean galaxy through the lenses of multifold disciplines, namely economics, history, sociology, political science, anthropology, ethnology, demography, as well as through innumerable practices, which range from the commercial to the military, from the religious literary(Benitiz-Rojo 38). He suggests that the history of the Caribbean and its people is confusing and somewhat jumbled, and feels that the study of the history of each plantation would help to organize the history of the Caribbean. Another commonShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Caribbean Islands1222 Words   |  5 Pagesthem, and the unique individual cultures that were integrated into one. The three authors Sidney W. Mintz, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, and Michelle Cliff, all and address the problem of the Caribbean’s identity. They each discuss how the Caribbean’s diverse culture was created and molded by each individual island’s history, how its society was molded by the development of plantations, how the Caribbean dealt with the issue of slavery, and how miscegenation and the integration of cultures, as a result ofRead MoreAn Analysis Of Jailhouse Boxing, Stato And The 52blocks1522 Words   |  7 Pageshas its roots in Africa (Although they both played some part in its development). To clear up any misconceptions, the Author has put together a pre-history gathered from the stories of its formulation, continuing until the time presented to him. Here is a few dialogues’ from various point s of view. Dialogue I By word of mouth The worded history as past down by most practitioners, states, â€Å"These styles presence can be traced from the Black Diasporas during the Atlantic slave invasion throughRead MoreImpact Of Tourism On The Caribbean2393 Words   |  10 Pagestourism industry has on the countries in the Caribbean. Tourism impacts the Caribbean in three different sections. Tourism has a social impact that allows for increases in revenue, jobs, and service for the people living there. Tourism’s cultural impact allows the history and heritage of the Caribbean to be acknowledged and practiced not only here but around the world as tourists come and go. Tourism’s environmental impact effects the natural and geographical diversity that can only be found in theseRead MoreRelationship Between Religion And Mental Health1081 Words   |  5 Pagespeople to be incarcerated and have reoccurring problems with the law. This plays a part in the development of the local youth because it lies down t o their families The relationship between religion and mental health has been debated for centuries. History shows that religious organizations were often the first to offer compassionate care to the mentally ill; however, for hundreds of years the religious establishment also persecuted the mentally ill. FAITH : The relationship between mental healthRead MoreEssay about Challenges of Caribbean Society in Achieving National Unity886 Words   |  4 Pages Caribbean’s aim is to come together socially, economically, and politically and to try to work as one nation. However, there are many cultural differences between the countries, which constantly impede amalgamation of the Caribbean territories; aspects of culture such as race, religion, language, governmental systems, history, values and morals and so on, are all different in each territory and place a barrier between any integration of the countries. While cultural Read MoreEssay about The Epic Poem Omers by Derek Walcott959 Words   |  4 Pagescharacter both physically as well as psychological. The wound is the gash of history the connects us all. Omeros is a literary piece that continues to draw mass controversy and raises many questions about its legitimacy as an epic poem. One reason for this is because no wants to really admit or discuss what Wolcott’s truly proposing. This is precisely the point John Ramazani makes in his article entitled, â€Å"The Wound of History†. He believes that Walcott did the world great justice in exposing both theRead Moreâ€Å"the History of the Caribbean Is the History of the Exploitation of Labour† - with Reference to Slavery and the Encomienda Labour System†1045 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The history of the Caribbean is the history of the exploitation of labour† - with reference to slavery and the Encomienda labour system† In the above statement â€Å"the history of the Caribbean is the history of the exploitation of labour,† it simply states that the Caribbean’s history is basically the history of its exploitation of labour. The definitions of keywords exploitation and labour must be considered. Exploitation can be defined as the practice of taking selfish or unfair advantage of aRead More A Caribbean Legacy Essay1182 Words   |  5 Pagesrace are indelible aspects of Caribbean history. In order to fathom the current political, social, economic, and cultural climate of the Caribbean one must engage in a critical study and understanding of the impact slavery has had in modern day Caribbean societies. The modes and intricacies of modern day Caribbean societies are intimately related to the plantation systems of the colonial period, which welcomed the arrival of the largest migration in history. Author Michelle Cliff, in her essayRead More The Caribbean Essay1123 Words   |  5 Pagesclustered in the Caribbean Sea are an interesting study in cultural and social identity. Colonized by european powers from the Fifteenth Century, the Caribbean islands have become mixtures of cultures from Europe, Africa, and India, as well as from the original inhabitants of the islands. As a result, describing and defining the Caribbean is a much more difficult task than it appears on the surface. The norms and ideas of identity and history that exist on one island are vastly different than thoseRead More The Social Impact of Slavery on the Caribbean Society Essay1336 Words   |  6 Pagesstandpoint but, from the racial or what Knight calls ‘complextional mutations’ its social impact on society. Let us discuss historian Benitez-Rojo’s approach to the Caribbean, he tends to reject a single cultural definition of the Caribbean, believing that all the islands have a differing cultural structure referring to its original colonizer. However, he subliminally states in his book The Repeating Island that all the islands hold more in common than the plantation system. He says ...the multiplication