Prejudice strongly influences how individuals behave and interact with one another. Most importantly, it defines how people interact with out-group members. When discussing human prejudice, it is crucial to understand that the human mind works in categorization. Categorization is a process where categories are built on the basis of the attributes that individuals appear to have in common. Gordon Allport, in discussing the nature of prejudice, says, "The human mind must think with the aid of categories. Once formed, categories are the basis of prejudgment" (Allport, 1954). Allport continues by intimating that it is difficult for the human mind to avoid this form of categorization because the orderly living relies on it. Based on Allport's assessment, prejudice is a human condition that is built on the human mind. The categorizations in the human mind possibly make humans unaware of their tendency to show biasness towards members of the out-group.
From an overall point of view, prejudice is a negative feeling directed towards members of a certain group. Some of the most common attributes of prejudice include stereotypes, negative feelings, and a tendency of discriminating against members of a certain group. Prejudice is a broad concept and can be based on a wide array of factors, including race, sex, age, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic status. Some of the most common types of prejudices include racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, nationalism, and ageism, among many others. Prejudice is a human characteristic that occurs permanently in the minds of humans due to their nature of categorization as described by Allport. In furthering this debate, Dunwoody, (2016) says, “Genuine prejudices are learned through unconscious associations formed through exposure to our environment. They are often learned at a very young age and reflect how those around us (our family and the media) see different groups.”
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Prejudice is part and parcel of the human cognition. Human beings are always driven by social motivations, which include the tendency to affiliate or compete with their counterparts. The human brain is structured in a way that seeks to differentiate "us" from "them." Such a form of computation only takes a short time and can be responsible for prejudices, stereotypes, and other forms of social categorization. Amodio, (2014), in his discussion, seeks to assess the mental origins of prejudice. He asserts, "Although prejudice stems from a mechanism of survival, built on cognitive systems that structure the physical world, its function in modern society is complex, and its effects are often deleterious" (Amodio, 2014). The author goes ahead to define prejudice as an attitude directed towards an individual based on their group membership. It is, therefore, without any doubt, that prejudice is a human trait that has connections with the structure and functionality of human minds.
The activities of the brain can broadly be classified into two, including conscious and unconscious brain activities. Prejudice is one of the unconscious activities of the brain that people engage in, even without knowing. The tendency to hold stereotypes is regarded as one of the primary forms of prejudices. Fiske draws an extensive discussion on the mental processes involved during prejudices such as stereotyping. The author writes, "The first and foremost problem with stereotyping is the tendency to put every single person into a fixed and known category” (Fiske, 2017). From their early childhood, individuals are introduced to stereotypes and prejudices without their knowledge. The problem has become widespread and has since been incorporated into the popular media and the internet. To prove the existence of prejudices in the society, one can easily type the word “Muslim” on the Google search and observe the results. The resulting images and answers will focus on the negative aspects of life associated with these group, including terror and violence. As such, this demonstrates the inbuilt prejudices and stereotypes held on the human mind.
As previously mentioned, the high level of unawareness emanates from the fact that prejudice occurs unconsciously in the brain (Perry et al., 2015). Individuals are born and introduced into the society where they are indoctrinated into the in-group and out-group dynamics. Individuals that are high in prejudice tend to treat out-group members as though they do not belong. Racism is an example of prejudice that plays into the in-group and out-group dynamics. For instance, a white child will be born in a white neighborhood where they will be taught to befriend their fellow counterparts. As this continues, they will begin meeting members of other racial groups later in their lives, thus making it difficult for them to gel. They begin noticing the differences they have, including the skin color and the hair type among others, which further overemphasizes their inability to match. As a result, this sets a center-stage for more prejudices, including discrimination against people.
Another important factor that makes prejudice an unconscious trait is down to the occurrence of implicit bias in the minds of humans. Implicit bias includes a set of attitudes that affect human understanding, decisions, and actions unconsciously. The biases are not only unconscious but could also lead to both favorable and unfavorable assessments of life. Prejudices are difficult to dislodge from the brain owing to the fact that they are acquired from as early as childhood. Implicit bias leads to another form of an unconscious human trait known as the intergroup bias. Here, individuals show the tendency to categorize people based on groups even though the groups are assigned arbitrarily. Lam & Seaton base their argument on research involving a sample of British children to understand the interplay of prejudice within the context of group dynamics. The authors define in-group bias as "individuals showing a preference for others perceived to be in the same social group (in-group) versus those from another group (out-group)” (Lam & Seaton, 2016). Children are more likely to transfer these characteristics unknowingly as they grow up.
The fact that prejudice occurs naturally in the human cognition and happens unconsciously makes it a dangerous trait that humans possess. The principle of categorization means that individuals organize each other into in-groups, which give them the impetus to treat their out-group counterparts with contempt and scorn. Social evils such as racism, gender violence, and widespread discrimination of people based on their age and socioeconomic status emanate from this organization into groups. Therefore, any endeavor to stop the common forms of discrimination in society must focus on the mentality of the person, including the additional societal factors that organize individuals and exclude others from particular groups.
In conclusion, based on Allport's assessment, prejudice is a human condition that is built on the human mind. The categorizations in the human mind possibly make humans unaware of their tendency to show biasness towards members of the out-group. From the literature review and studies, two important factors have become apparent. First, prejudice is part and parcel of the cognitive processes in the human mind. Secondly, it happens unconsciously, and it is subject to the environmental forces that an individual is exposed to immediately they are born.
References
Amodio, D. M., (2014). The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(10), 670.
Dunwoody, P., (2016). Am Prejudiced, and So Are You. https://www.juniata.edu/offices/juniata-voices/media/volume-17/vol17-Dunwoody.pdf
Fiske, S. T., (2017). Prejudices in cultural contexts: shared stereotypes (gender, age) versus variable stereotypes (race, ethnicity, religion). Perspectives on psychological science, 12(5), 791-799.
Lam, V. L., & Seaton, J. A. (2016). In-group/out-group attitudes and group evaluations: The role of competition in British classroom settings. Child Development Research, 2016.
Perry, S. P., Murphy, M. C., & Dovidio, J. F. (2015). Modern prejudice: Subtle, but unconscious? The role of Bias Awareness in Whites' perceptions of personal and others' biases. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 61, 64-78.
