Introduction
Prejudice is a societal phenomenon that manifests as a hostile or negative attitude towards people because they belong to a specific group. Even though bias manifests in irrational opinions and views, discrimination is often expressed through unfair treatment of a group or a person. Despite civil rights and women’s rights movements, many communities still struggle with prejudice and discrimination in the political arena, law enforcement, the education system, workforce, and a broad spectrum of domains in daily life.
There is a habit in this country to classify citizens based on race, the color of skin, gender, religion, body shape, and looks. Even though laws legislated to decrease prejudice and discrimination have reduced over time, they have had a slight effect on fundamental opinions and attitudes. However, being civilized and knowledgeable on social issues, people can reduce stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice tendencies by altering negative emotions, societal norms, improving intergroup contact, cooperative learning and consciousness-raising, and self-regulation.
Emotions
Emotions play a critical part in impacting how people behave, interact with and react to one another. Whitley and Kite (2016), argue that emotions determine expressions of bias towards people from an out-group. Some feelings may encourage discriminative thought process against out-group members, while others may not. Additionally, emotions like anxiety may arise when people encounter individuals from an out-group causing the interaction to be awkward, uncomfortable, and unpleasant. Emotions allow individuals to empathize and connect with out-group members.
Prejudice debases people who belong to an out-group and favors one’s in-group merely because they are members of that group (Whitley & Kite, 2016). Several in-group members treat out-group members malignantly and others munificently. Such unequal treatment is arguably an adaptive response when people perceive a threat or simply a biased inclination from human beings. As explained by Mallett and Monteith (2019), the adverse consequences of discrimination and prejudice on the recipient range from higher stress levels, less wage, higher rates of detention, and higher rates of depression to poorer physical and mental health.
Changing Social Norms
Education is the leading variable in making people less racist. Educated individuals tend to express less prejudice and stereotype because of the newly acquired social norms. Societal norms outline what is right and wrong, and individuals can effectively overcome stereotypes and biases by modifying the pertinent patterns about them. Perception of what the other group members believe influences the beliefs of the individual themselves. The perceptions of applicable social norms can strengthen or weaken individual tendencies to engage in discriminatory behaviors.
The impact of societal norms is powerful, and long-term variations in beliefs about out-groups will occur if modifications in societal norms support them. Discrimination and prejudice grow well in backgrounds where society perceives them as the norm, but they die when the existing social rules do not allow it (Whitley & Kite, 2016). And since societal models are so significant, persons’ behavior can support to reduce or create discrimination and prejudice. For that reason, if one believes that prejudice is wrong and sees it happening, one must confront it. Everyone has to take steps to reduce bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
Intergroup Contact
When people view others who belong to out-groups as unlike them, they begin to hold stereotypes and prejudices against them. To reduce this, individuals must find further methods to build closer connections with out-group members. As stated by Barlow and Sibley (2018), people are more favorable towards others when they learn to see them as they perceive themselves. The contact hypothesis has the encouraging influence of increasing lenience to attitudes, culture, and beliefs of people who belong to other out-groups.
Intergroup contact enables people to learn more about groups that they did not know much earlier; individuals learn more of the truth regarding them, leading to fewer biases in people’s convictions. Frequent interactions between members of the in-group and members of the out-group lead members of the in-group to go beyond the views and attitudes of others (Barlow & Sibley, 2018). Focusing more on individuals in the groups rather than group belongings lets people realize that undifferentiating group labels are wrong.
Successful intergroup contact tends to reduce the perception of out-group homogeneity. Nelson (2015) stated that when the societal norms of a circumstance promote fair and equal treatment of every group, it becomes easier to appreciate and become more respectful of the other groups, eventually reducing prejudice and discrimination. The strategy should involve children at an early age, and fresh employees to companies should be continuously encouraged and reinforced.
Consciousness-Raising and Self-Regulation
Unlike the contact approach, the intervention of consciousness-raising and self-regulation relies more on everyone’s active participation to reduce discrimination and prejudice (Nelson, 2015). This approach depends on individuals making a conscious effort to control their behavior; thus, it requires a high level of consciousness, attention, and intention. The fundamental base of this approach is that when individuals become aware of specific memories, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that are intolerant, they may cultivate the inspiration to decrease them, whether the motivation is interior or outward.
To reduce discrimination and prejudice, people must first be aware of that discrimination and prejudice. Raising somebody’s consciousness of their racist behaviors and attitudes may assist in diminishing bias. As stated by Pettigrew (1991) stressing discrepancy between a particular perception of prejudice and social equality towards the outside group may bring about a positive attitude towards them. Further, people can employ self-affirmation approaches to reduce discrimination as it magnifies society’s self-worth and highlights their sense of personal value.
People can implement the self-regulation approach through stereotype suppression methods, which have the opposite of the desired effect. Attempts to consciously avoid stereotypic thoughts often increase access to stereotypic ideas. Whitley and Kite (2016) suggest that people should interchange stereotypical notions regarding the out-group with non-stereotypical facts. It is advisable that members of a community must recognize that their non-prejudiced and egalitarian beliefs are not in tandem with their attitudes towards people who belong to an out-group. The mere consciousness of misaligning behavior is enough to make an individual behave reliably with their beliefs. This consciousness motivates the people who are likely to be racists to act in more non-prejudiced patterns.
Co-operative Learning
Cooperative learning aims to reduce discrimination and racial prejudice in institutions of education and involves bringing learners from diverse ethnic and racial upbringings to study together and attain different educational goals (Whitley & Kite, 2016). Through this approach, learners experience more interactions, love, attraction, and social support. Children can learn to manage conflicts more positively when they participate in perspective shaping activities within their class groups.
Entertainment and News and Print Media
Society’s exposure to media, through computers, radios, and television sets, shape its attitudes and behaviors towards out-groups. As stated by Barlow and Sibley (2018), the media helps create pro-social behaviors and reduce racist behaviors. Characters from media can open the viewer’s minds to visualizing the lives of others. Getting to understand people from other groups via media, whether they are of a different historical period, from a separate nation, different socioeconomic level, or age group, can change the perception towards members of the out-group.
When people consume media that include positive interactions between in-group and out-group characters, they feel more positively toward those groups. Additionally, as Branscombe and Baron (2011) explain, they also show more interest in interacting with them. Arguably, watching groups positively presented on media is vital for improving intergroup attitudes. Therefore, people must begin to recognize negative stereotypes in the media and resist influencing how they respond to the group (Nelson, 2015). People should use media as a tool to come into contact with different social groups. In doing so, the community may foster more egalitarian attitudes within themselves and their children.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the strategy societies choose should address both individual and institutional sources of discrimination and prejudice in the context of where individuals work, live, and learn. This is arguably the only way to ensure lower and eventual eradication of both prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice debases people and brings about adverse consequences ranging from higher chances of overeating, reduced capacity to focus, to poor job performance. Community members need to change their social norms, improve intergroup contact, continue enrolling their children in schools for cooperative learning, raise the conscious levels, and regulate their attitudes.
References
Branscombe, N. & Baron, A. R. (2011). Prejudice. In E. Aronson and J. Aronson (Ed.), Readings about the social animal (11th ed.). W.H. Freeman.
Barlow, F. & Sibley, C. (2018). The Cambridge handbook of the psychology of prejudice. Cambridge University Press.
Mallett, R. & Monteith, M. (2019). Confronting prejudice and discrimination: The science of changing minds and behaviors. Academic Press.
Nelson, T. (2015). Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. Psychology Press.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1991). Ultimate attribution error: Extending Allport’s cognitive analysis of prejudice. In E. Aronson (Ed.), Readings about the social animal (6th ed.). W.H. Freeman.
Whitley, B. & Kite, M. (2016). Psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.