Stereotype: A fixed, commonly held notion or image of a person or group, based on an oversimplification of some observed or imagined trait of behaviour or appearance.
Stereotypes are a widely used impression that is used to generalize an entire group based on certain traits. They exaggerate differences between groups and produce a selective perception. They blur the line of distinction between the individual and the group he/she “belongs” to, and represent people based only on a set of select traits.
“Factors Affecting Stereotypes:
Historical factors
Generalization
First impressions
Simplification
Exaggeration
Presentation of cultural attributes as being 'natural'
An appearance or behaviour (or other feature) that stands out as different from that which the observing group is used to.”
Discrimination – (1): the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually(1): prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment;
Discrimination is defined as the ability to tell two things apart. This can be directly translated into the socio-psychological perspective by adding the ideas of bias to the original definition. Discrimination is the idea that people are treated differently according to a certain trait that they possess (usually skin colour, ethnic background, or gender). The general idea is to compare the treatment of two individuals; one who possesses this trait and one that does not possess the same trait. It can be applied to racial profilingorprejudice. In these two examples of discrimination, two groups of people, for example one Caucasian and one African-American, will be treated differently because statistically, African-Americans commit more crimes. The fallacy in attributing these statistics to the real world is that they ignore socio-economic boundaries and inequalities that often lead people to crime, as well as the (often) unfair structuring of the criminal justice system.
Ingroup is defined as a social group towards which an individual feels like he/she belongs to. This usually has to do to some common trait that all the people in the group have. The problem with being a part of an ingroup is that often times the people in the group are blinded by what is known as ingroup bias. This is where a member of the ingroup shows bias in favor of another member of the same ingroup.
Outgroup, on the other hand, is where an individual feels secluded from a group for some reason. This, like ingroup, is usually determined by some common trait or belonging, except in this case the individual is left out and feels ostracized.
And now, for the 25th time in psychology class, you can watch the vindictive, vacuous and bitter people from Mean Girls.
...actually, no. We can't force ourselves to post it, the moral conflict is too great.
Mal-exposure effect - based off of the idea that the more a human being comes in contact with something, the less this thing bothers them.
We adapt to the things in our environment – be it the heat, the noise or racial tension. In a physiological sense, eventually sensory input will no longer be sent as a signal to the brain. For example, when you first put on your shirt in the morning you can feel it, however throughout the day you are no longer consciously feeling the shirt on your shoulders. This can be applied to broader topics such as racism. If you are surrounded by racism, you will being to accept that racism is normal and natural and be more prone to it yourself.
AHX, @ 7.10 mins:
...and this presents us with a wonderful excuse to see a comical example of mal-exposure, from the film Shaun of the Dead. Notice how (in between the song by the Smiths and the random scenes), Shaun doesn't notice the general carnage around him, because he is so used to the morning routine.
Racial profiling - the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime
Much like prejudice, racial profiling has many facets, and not all of them are necessarily negative. For example, there are minor genetic differences between races/rationalities which determine the way that medications work. Therefore, different types of medicines can be given to people of different backgrounds to target and treat their, errm, ailments.
Unfortunately, in everyday lives, racial profiling is most prevalent in the very negative sense – a “…disproportionate number of convicted minorities is due to racial profiling.” Some examples include the process by which passengers are screened in airport security terminals. Some advocate singling out those of Middle Eastern, North African or South-Asian origin, because, allegedly, most terrorists are from those parts of the world. Apparently no has bothered to think about the IRA, ETA, etc.
This issue has come to the fore in light of the 9/11 attacks and fears of further terror acts. Critics argue, though, that racial profiling is not effective and furthermore, fails to safeguard the civil liberties of people.
“In Los Angeles in December of 2001, a man of Middle Eastern descent named Assem Bayaa cleared all the security checks in the airport. He was an American citizen and he got on a plane to New York. He had barely gotten settled in his seat when he was told that he made the passengers uncomfortable by being on board the plane. Once Bayaa got off the plane, he wasn't searched or questioned any further. The only consolation he was given was a boarding pass for the next flight to New York. The luggage he had checked wasn't even taken off the plane he was originally on.”
From a psychological perspective, racial profiling on the personal level occurs due to a combination of different factors – inherent as well as socially developed prejudice, stereotypes, as well as the tendency to find scapegoats…all things that we will or have covered.
Prejudice - (1): preconceived judgment or opinion(2): an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge
In a general context, this word refers to one making a decision prior to actually analyzing any concrete information, hence the structure of the word – “pre” and “judge”.
However, in more a pertinent sense – at least to the dynamics of socio-psychology, it is often used to refer to racial prejudice. In that sense, it defines the hostile attitude towards a particular group based on race – although that is not the only “qualification” that can be used. It can also pertain to sexual orientation, nationality, socio-economic background, etc.
There are three main theories regarding the establishment of a prejudicial attitude in people.
Arousal approach- following the psychdynamic perspective, some psychologists attribute prejudice to a buildup of frustration, with this attitude serving as a "blow-off valve of sorts".
Personality approach – the second classical perspective concerns the influence of personalities on prejudiced perceptions. Psychologists who favour this outlook attribute it to personality traits (defects?) such as authoritarianism, dogmatism, closed-mindedness, dominant orientation, etc .
Intergroup approach – lastly, another group of psychologist attributes this attitude to the inherent need of people for group interaction and a sense of belonging. In this case, this feeling is misdirected, and according to social identity theory, when one is identified as part of a group, that person will adapt “…some general characteristics including ethnocentrism, in-group favoritism, intergroup differentiation and so on”, which are the main causes of prejudice.
