CONTINUOUS INTERNAL ASSESSMENT-I

SUBJECT:
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR

TOPIC:

WHAT IS RACIAL & GENDER PREJUDICE, WHAT ARE ITS CAUSES?

SUBMITTED BY:
VAIBHAV MISHRA
IV-A

ROLL NO.: 97

SUBMITTED TO: PROF. (Dr.) AYAN HAZRA

 CONTENT TABLE

INTRODUCTION:.......................................................................................................................................................3
PART I: RACIAL PREJUDICE..................................................................................................................................4
PART II: GENDER PREJUDICE...............................................................................................................................5
CAUSES OF RACIAL & GENDER PREJUDICE....................................................................................................6
IMPACT OF PREJUDICE ON THE SOCIETY........................................................................................................7
MEASURES TO REDUCE PREJUDICES:...............................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................................................8
 RACIAL & GENDER PREJUDICE: CONCEPT, CAUSE & CONSEQUENCES

I. INTRODUCTION:

I. UNVEILING THE CONCEPT OF “PREJUDICE”: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ TAKE

According to Cambridge Dictionary the term “Prejudice” is an unreasonable or unfair feeling or opinion
formed without sufficient prerequisite knowledge. However, social psychologists have taken a nuanced view
of the term and have defined it from diverse paradigms. Some have viewed it as an irrational judgment while
others have called it an expression of dislike against members of other races, gender, group, religion, etc.

According to Baron and Byrne (1991), “prejudice is the attitude toward a member of another group solely
based on his/her membership in the group”1. In 1954, Gordon Allport, in his work The Nature of
Prejudice, related prejudice to the thinking process. He defined the term as “antipathy rooted upon a faulty
and inflexible generalization.”2 The definition illustrates the important characteristics of the term prejudice
that it exists in the mind of the people. For example, a belief that people of black colour have naturally low
IQ, women have low mental capability as compared to men, etc. are some of the manifestations of the
prejudices.

The existence of prejudices in a person is a common phenomenon. It is usually manifested in the form of
stereotypes, positive or negative feelings, avoidance, withdrawal, extermination, etc. It has various types like
prejudices based on race, caste, sex, religion, etc.

II. DISTINGUISHING PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION

The term “Prejudice” is often confused with “Discrimination”. As the project is regarding prejudice, it is
necessary to distinguish these two terms. Prejudice as noted above exists in the mind of the people 3. When

1
FZE, B.B. (2023) Social psychological principles of prejudice and attitudes, UKEssays. Available at:
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/sociology/social-psychological-principles-of-prejudice-and-attitudes-sociology-
essay.php (Accessed: 14 February 2024).

2
Sibley, C.G. and Barlow, F.K. (no date) An introduction to the Psychology of Prejudice (Chapter 1) - the cambridge
handbook of the psychology of prejudice, Cambridge Core. Available at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-handbook-of-the-psychology-of-prejudice/an-introduction-to-the-
psychology-of-prejudice/3B8E513565B8E3F699732FE2132FAEEB (Accessed: 14 February 2024).

3
Sociology, CliffsNotes. Available at: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/race-and-ethnicity/prejudice-
and-discrimination (Accessed: 14 February 2024).
this opinion takes a negative form, it results in the discrimination. For example, as an employer, if a person
feels that a woman has a low IQ, he would likely prefer to recruit men instead of women. Hence, women
would be discriminated against in recruitment because of the existence of prejudice in the mind of the
employer. Therefore, prejudice that exists in the minds of people is the cause of discrimination.

The forthcoming analysis is divided into two parts viz, first, dealing with racial prejudice and second
dealing with gender prejudice. It delves into the concept, causes, etc.

PART I: RACIAL PREJUDICE

I. UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF RACIAL PREJUDICE:

Racial prejudice is holding of negative opinion about members of other groups because of their race or
ethnicity. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary 4, it is hostility toward people of another race or
color of an alien culture. American Psychological Association believes that racial prejudice, which is a set of
assumptions that members of other racial groups have different characteristics, is the cause of Racism 5.
According to this Association’s view, Racism and racial prejudice become synonymous. Therefore, it
defines racial prejudice as a set of derogatory or discriminatory attitudes rooted in assumptions derived from
the ethnicity or race of persons. Similarly, UNESCO’s declaration on race and racial prejudice views racial
prejudice, i.e. prejudiced attitudes based on racism, as one of the aspects of racism.

The definitions highlight the inherently discriminatory nature of racial prejudice. This is due to it emanating
from the negative and irrational judgments directed towards a person based on their skin color. Such
negative attitudes being deeply ingrained in the person having such prejudices ultimately results in

4
Race prejudice definition & meaning, Merriam-Webster. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race
%20prejudice (Accessed: 14 February 2024).

5
Racism, bias, and discrimination, American Psychological Association. Available at: https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-
bias-discrimination (Accessed: 14 February 2024).
discriminatory behaviour towards a person or group being prejudiced. The other aspect also highlighted is
the connection between racial prejudice and racism. The view by APA & and UNESCO proves that racism
is an outward

effect of racial prejudice. Hence, both are intricately linked with racial prejudice being one of the
components within the larger framework of Racism.

Racial prejudice has a long history and remains embedded within the broader social structures. There has
also been an attempt in the current discourse to relate racial prejudice with other prejudices like caste, class,
etc. The objective is to highlight the interconnectedness of the existing various types of biases. Racial
prejudice has been called a human phenomenon that is influenced by a particular social context or setting.
Racial prejudices can be in the form of stereotypes, discriminatory practices, negative opinions, etc. We
must take a nuanced understanding of the status-based and collective nature of this phenomenon, which
could imply framing the strategies aimed to tackle it and foster inclusivity and equality.

Here are certain examples of racial prejudice that could help readers have a nuanced understanding of
the concept,

I. Recently, in an India-Maldives spat on social media, people from the Maldives wrote that “The room
in which Indians live has a dirty smell, accompanied by various other comments on the color of
Indians. This illustrates the existence of prejudiced opinions about the color, hygiene, and living
conditions of Indians.

II. Earlier a general belief used to prevail in the USA that black people would likely become criminals,
blacks have low IQ, etc. This again illustrated the existence of prejudice based on color where whites
have created distinctions between them and blacks by holding these common prejudices.

PART II: GENDER PREJUDICE

 I. UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF GENDER PREJUDICE

Sexism remains a common term in the present discourse used to illustrate the inequality that exists between
men and women and the biases present in people based on the sex of a person. According to the European
Institute of Gender Equality6, sexism is a set of beliefs built around the fundamental nature of women and
men along with assumptions manifesting the existing stereotypes between the two genders. However, social
psychologists dissect this term in three, viz, prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. Hence, like Racism,
Sexism also has an important component of prejudice, which is called gender prejudice. It implies
commonly held negative attitudes and beliefs towards persons of other gender.

The important term is “Gender” which is often confused with the “sex” of the person. Scientifically, a
person born after may be male, female, or intersex. Gender is a social construct i.e. society’s conception of
both the sex and role expectations from them. Furthermore, these existing notions held by society are
perpetuated through centuries and are instrumental in shaping the attitudes of people towards other genders.
These attitudes/beliefs that exist in the mind are gender prejudice. These prejudices can be subtle or overt.

The pioneering work on gender prejudice in social psychology is done by two American Psychologists,
Robert Helmreichin and Janet Spence. A sexist cartoon spurred their research on the beliefs held regarding
women which led to the first study on gender prejudice. The research in later years dealt with two broad
themes i.e. attitude of people toward gender equality and the perception that men and women. In subsequent
years, researchers also found the existence of positive beliefs regarding the other gender which led to the
emergence of the concept of “Benevolent” prejudice. Usually, the term “prejudice” is associated with

6
What is sexism? (2020b) European Institute for Gender Equality. Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/publications-
resources/toolkits-guides/sexism-at-work-handbook/part-1-understand/what-sexism?language_content_entity=en
(Accessed: 14 February 2024).
negative beliefs, but for gender, it may not be true. Gender Prejudice is a unique domain in itself because
men and women are interconnected, unlike other prejudices like two religions, race, etc. Therefore, Gender
Prejudice remains an evolving domain to be studied by psychologists which can’t be put in the same bracket
as others based on religion, race, caste, creed, etc.

II. CAUSES OF RACIAL & GENDER PREJUDICE

The project primarily identifies six causes that aid the existence of various prejudices in society. They are as
follows:

1. Stereotypes:
Stereotypes and prejudice aid the existence of each other. It implies an assumption about a person or group
based on prior experience. These assumptions led to the forming of opinions or beliefs against or for a
particular group called prejudice. For example, (racial stereotype) “Black people are usually good at playing
basketball”, (gender stereotype) girls are weak or usually have low IQ, etc.

2. Categorizing:
Today’s era is the era of information. We are supplied with a lot of information. As it’s not possible to go
through all of the information, we resort to the categorization of ideas, objects, people, etc. to make the
world easier to understand. The importance of process is highlighted by Gordon Allport, as he opines that it
is necessary to make sense of the world around us. However, the sense we develop of the world aids in
forming prejudices based on various factors.

3. Prejudgments
In an experiment, every man and woman were of the same height, participants were told to give accurate
judgment for which they were offered a $ 50 cash prize. However, due to their various categorizations and
prejudgments, they rated men as a few inches taller than women. This experiment illustrated how
prejudgments could aid in prejudice based on gender.

4. Homogeneity Bias
There is a tendency among people to view people of another group as homogenous. This is called outgroup
homogeneity bias. This tendency contributes to the prejudices.

5. Historical bias
Historical bias has an important role to play in the prejudices of a person. There could be no better example
than the September 11, 2001 attacks on the USA. This incident developed negative beliefs against the
Muslims portraying them as terrorists.

6. Socialization & Cultural Influence

The importance of socialization of a person and the culture in which his personality develops can’t be
underscored in contributing to his/her existing prejudices. For example, deeply ingrained gender roles in
society aids in the sexist beliefs of a person. This belief is due to the existence of specific expectations from
men and women about the roles to be performed.

III. IMPACT OF PREJUDICE ON THE SOCIETY

This projects mainly identify four major impacts of the existing prejudices in society which are as follows:
1. Stigma:
The insensitive actions of a particular group or the projection of stereotypes results in prejudiced groups
getting stigmatized taking the toll on their mental health. It leads to the creation of anxiety and his/her
expectations of life chances get lowered.

2. Health issues:
The person’s race, religion, caste, and creed often act as a barrier to accessing public health care in society.
The existing prejudices on these factors often become the cause of inaccessibility of the healthcare services
for various prejudiced groups, taking a toll on their health.

3. Increase in Crime:
Crime is the result of low self-esteem. The prejudices have considerable influence on who commits the
crime and how the crime is tackled. For example, a group discriminated against due to its religion may resort
to violent methods to achieve its objectives. Similarly, in the Western government’s department, it has been
observed police are likely to patrol more in low-class neighbourhood areas than in the higher class.

4. Increase in discrimination:
As noted above, discrimination flows from the existing prejudices. For example, if there is a racist
government, it is likely to follow policies that would act to the disadvantage of the prejudiced groups.

IV. MEASURES TO REDUCE PREJUDICES:

Here are some of the effective methods for the reduction of prejudices in the society,

1. Education:

Education of the citizens remains an important tool to break their existing prejudices and give them a novel
paradigm to view the world around them.

2. Intergroup Contact

The existence of prejudice is seen between the groups. Hence, the promotion of intergroup contacts through
methods like dining, peer learning, social events, etc. can lead to breaking prejudices.

3. Reducing discriminatory Policies:

Every society has some sort of discriminatory policies directed against certain groups. No society is free
from discrimination. However, reducing discrimination and moving towards a society based on equality
could lead to a change in the beliefs of people thereby prejudices.

4. Supporting Affirmative Action:

Affirmative action is also called compensatory discrimination. For example, if a group has been
discriminated against for a long time, giving them reservations in educational institutions, providing
economic support, etc. could lead to a change in belief about the group in society.

5. Independent Media:

An enlightened media that is not biased against any particular group or ideology and is committed to
promoting positive content could prove to be an instrumental medium in breaking deeply held prejudices.

V. CONCLUSION

Racial and gender prejudice remains a pervasive issue underscoring the need for societal introspection. As
noted above, these prejudices stem from some common historical, cultural, and economic factors. The
perpetuation of these attitudes held as prejudices results in the problem of discrimination. Racial and gender
discrimination are one of the most important issues today's world is facing which could be tackled by
dealing with existing prejudices in society.
The common causes of both prejudice and consequences flowing from it call for wider attention to these
issues by all stakeholders, society, the education system, policymakers, etc. whose actions can prove to be
instrumental in dealing with these issues. Challenging the deeply held discriminatory attitudes and creating
awareness in the society can be an important step for dismantling these prejudices thereby moving toward an
equal world.

REFERENCES

1. Bridges, H., 2012. Understanding prejudice and its causes. S. Kopp, America between the Wars,
pp.24-45.

2. Miglietta, A., Gattino, S. and Esses, V.M., 2014. What causes prejudice? How may we solve it? Lay beliefs and their
relations with classical and modern prejudice and social dominance orientation. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, 40, pp.11-21.

3. Dewey, J., 1921. Racial prejudice and friction. Chinese Soc. & Pol. Sci. Rev., 6, p.1.