The world is a social village inhabited by individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. This diversity has led to varying preferences and styles of living. Cultural diversity has had a huge impact on shaping the world and creating a social interaction platform. Certainly, positive social interactions are the foundations of the strong bonds between communities, societies, and countries. Positive social interactions refer to the style of living where individuals in a society live peacefully, interact freely through social and economic practices such as marriages and trade. Studies show that cultural diversity aligns people certain groups of individuals who share common values and beliefs. Evidently, the alignment of people in reference to their cultural environment is the root cause of prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination.
Prejudice refers to the negative attitude that people have towards others who belong to different membership groups. Dixon and Levine (2012) define the concept of prejudice as the human behavior of judging others “on the basis of pre convinced notions”. Various studies have shown that prejudice is a serious ailment that may negatively affect society growth and well-being. Prejudice is an unethical behavior that has become common in modern society leading to serious societal consequences. According to Hjerm, Eger, and Danell (2018), the concept of prejudice in children is greatly influenced by the people in society that are observed as role models. They may include, peers, teachers, and parents. Sociologists assert that although prejudice is different from discrimination, the two go hand in hand. In fact, discrimination is caused by prejudice. Certainly, prejudice is a serious issue affecting most communities. Crime, violence, death, and racism are some of the other social impacts caused by prejudice.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In social psychology, the stereotype may refer to the generalization that people have towards others. Generalization, in this case, means; assuming that people belonging to the same cultural group have similar characteristics and behaviors. Another concrete definition of stereotype is “a view held by one or more individuals and applied to a group of individuals”( Bryson & Davis, 2010). There is evidently an observed relationship between prejudice and stereotype concepts. The concept of stereotype is very common in society today. People tend to prejudge, assume others, and at the end of the day, they end up making false conclusions about others. Racial profiling is a good example of a stereotype that surrounds race. For instance, all the whites are good at football. This is a stereotype because clearly, not all the whites are good at football. Saying all the whites are good at playing football is a general presumption. Generally, modern society is characterized by stereotype concepts ranging from race, gender and culture. Certainly, stereotyping is a bad concept that a child may adopt from childhood to adulthood.
The concept of discrimination emanates from social stratification. The society we are living in is symbolized by different classes of people; the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. The power and wealth that the people have in the society are determined by their social class. Normally, the filthy rich occupy the upper-class portion while those languishing in abject poverty occupy the lowest social class of the society. Due to wealth disparities, privileges, authority and power also vary significantly thus, giving rise to what is known as social stratification. Discrimination is characterized by inequality and unfair treatment of certain groups of individuals in the society. Similar stereotype, discrimination is an outcome of prejudice.
In social psychology, in groups and outgroups refer to those strong social groups that individuals may feel attached or affiliated with. For instance, society is made up of individuals with different religious beliefs. These are Muslims, Christians, and Hindu. A Christian would easily interact with another Christian than any other religious group that has different teachings and beliefs like Islam. This is what is referred to as ingroup, feeling attached to a certain group of individuals who share common values and believes. Normally, affiliation with a certain group is hinged on opposition from an outgroup.
The solution to ending the prevalent cases of prejudice and stereotype in modern society is by identification of the root causes. Socialization is undeniably one of the root causes of prejudice. Socialization refers to the various ways of children upbringing and exposure as they grow up. The environment in which children are raised may greatly influence their behavior and ways. Children ought to be raised in a manner that does not alienate them from certain groups in the society that may result in prejudice. Inequality and unfair treatment of people is another cause of prejudice. Inequality is when people have unequal rights and opportunities in society. Immigration is another common factor contributing to prejudice and stereotyping. Immigration is the process where people move from their own native countries to new countries for leisure or seeking refuge. Isolation is a common symptom with immigrants because in most cases they are not treated as native residents.
The impacts of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination hinder positive social interactions among individuals in society. As a result, this may give rise to the spread of negative social activities such as crime and violence. Crime and violence may negatively affect the growth of the society. The solution to all these social issues is by promoting equality and fairness in society. Every member of the community should be given equal opportunity and rights without discrimination. When all people are treated fairly, given equal roles and opportunities, prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination may be completely buried. It is worth to note that the negative impacts of prejudice affect the entire society.
References
Dixon, J., & Levine, M. (Eds.). (2012). Beyond prejudice: Extending the social psychology of conflict , inequality and social change . Cambridge University Press.
Hjerm, M., Eger, M. A., & Danell, R. (2018). Peer Attitudes and the Development of Prejudice in Adolescence. Socius , 4 , 2378023118763187.
Bryson, B. P., & Davis, A. K. (2010, March). Conquering stereotypes in research on race and gender. In Sociological Forum (Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 161-166). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
