The social ill of prejudice is a basic part of human nature, sometimes done consciously and others unconsciously. Social categorization for some people is a means of simplifying their social environment and for others is a basis for drawing quick conclusions about people regardless of whether the conclusions are accurate or not. Yet, for some people, social categorization enables them to feel good about themselves. Nonetheless, social categorization leads to prejudice and discrimination, which is harmful to so many people. Thus people are called upon to go beyond such categorization to reduce hostility among social groups.
The halo effect and the fundamental attribution error contribute to people’s tendency to develop a prejudice against others (Tukachinsky, 2020). The halo effect affects a considerable part of the population. The halo effect is a kind of stereotyping that is based on physical attractiveness. In other words, what is pleasing to the eye is also good. People affected by this will develop a prejudice against people they perceive as unattractive and favor attractive ones. The fundamental attribution error, also known as correspondence bias, refers to people's tendency to overemphasize dispositional traits while downplaying situational ones. Prejudice comes in when someone overlooks the circumstances and attributes wrong behavior to the personal trait of that person.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Allport prescribed four fundamental criteria that must be met in order for positive intergroup contact to occur. These are equal-status members where no one has superiority over another, common goals that need to be achieved, intergroup cooperation which implies commitment and participation by all members of a group, and the support of legitimate authority, for example, the government or the institution head. It is my view that the first two (common goals and equal status members) are the most important in reducing prejudice. People prejudice others because they feel superior to them in some way. Addressing this would reduce prejudice by a great deal. Having common goals allows people to set their differences apart and work towards achieving these goals. Such is usually the case when forming war alliances.
A review study by Tausch and Hewstone (2010) investigated the role of intergroup contact in reducing prejudice. Empirical Studies highlighted in the review showed that interdependence and common goals had a profound impact on prejudice reduction. For example, one study found that white American soldiers based on their experiences with black soldiers during World War II developed a positive attitude towards blacks in general (Tausch & Hewstone, 2010). Another study in the review found that prejudice will be significantly reduced if two groups shared a similar status, has similar interests and tasks, and when activities cut across the group lines.
Common goals and equal status are essential in reducing prejudice in schools based on race, gender, social, economic status, and age. The recommended program is based on these two criteria and can be implemented in schools with high scores of reported prejudice and discrimination cases. By design, students in a school are equal in status and have one goal, which is to excel in their exams and graduate to the next level. This program will introduce mandatory cooperative assessment and learning approaches. Learners are placed in groups featuring a different representation of race, gender, cognitive abilities, among other diversities. The groups are each assigned a project, contributing significantly to the final grade. The evaluation is done on how well each group member performed. Teams may also compete against each other for reward or recognition in addition to the final grade. Cooperative learning is an effective way of reducing prejudice in the long term (Loes et al., 2018). This can be demonstrated after few weeks of the program. When students are asked to nominate friends, they are likely to choose from the diverse groups they were initially placed at the beginning of the term.
References
Loes, C. N., Culver, K. C., & Trolian, T. L. (2018). How collaborative learning enhances students’ openness to diversity. The Journal of Higher Education , 89 (6), 935-960.
Tausch, N., & Hewstone, M. (2010). Intergroup contact and prejudice. The Sage handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination , 544-560.
Tukachinsky, R. (2020). Playing a bad character but endorsing a good cause: Actor-character fundamental attribution error and persuasion. Communication Reports , 33 (1), 1-13.
