7.4 The Effects of Prejudice and Discrimination

• The influence of prejudice and discrimination within society on a person’s and/or group’s mental wellbeing and ways to reduce it.
• •In social psychology, a stereotype is a fixed, over-generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.

  •We infer a set of characteristics about a person based on our stereotype of someone who looks like them.
• Stereotypes: generalised views about the personal attributes or characteristics of a groupof people.
• Stereotyping places people in categories based on their shared characteristics and their membership of a particular group (e.g. gender, age, ethnicity and occupation).
• What is the distinction between 'in-group' and 'out-group' in the context of stereotyping?


  'In-group' consists of people who share common traits with you, while 'out-group' includes those who do not share these traits or share perceived negative traits.
• How can stereotyping lead to prejudice?

  Stereotyping can lead to prejudice as it expresses a negative attitude towards a group and is used to maintain control over others.
• What might individuals do when they are stereotyped?

  Individuals may abide by others' expectations, even if those expectations are demeaning.
• What is the impact of stereotypes on individuality?

  Stereotypes rob people of their individuality by categorizing them into a small, distorted social 'box', which is limiting and insulting.
• Advantage –

  •Stereotypes allow us to respond quickly to new situations. This reduces our cognitive load by assuming that a person will act a certain way.
• Disadvantage –

  •We ignore individuality and therefore may presume something that is not true.
• •Stereotypes lead to social categorisation (us vs them).
• •Some stereotypes are positive:

  •Overweight people are seen as ‘jolly’

  Newsreaders are ‘respectable’ and ‘impartial'
• •However, most are negative, typically racial stereotyping.

  •Racial stereotypes always favour the holder’s race as the best and others as worse.

  •This can be seen as natural, as a way to 

      identify with your own ethnic group and

      promote their success.
• •Prejudice means pre-judgement.

  •It is an unjustifiable, and usually negative, attitude towards a group and its members

  •- a negative preconceived notion that we hold towards individuals due to their membership in a particular group.
• •Most common forms are based on visible differences between people, differences over which we have no control. Examples?

  •Racism is a form of prejudice based on assumed racial differences where people in one racial group believe that their values, social norms and behaviour are superior to those in another group.