Irish Pauline L.

Ereno Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination Stereotypes (Cognition/Beliefs)

PS3B

Stereotypes, or over-generalized beliefs about the people in our social world, begin to form at a very early age. They are cognitive schemas that automatically provide us with expectations about the new people and situations that we encounter. They can be seen as readily accessible associations between traits and a category group that have been built up over time through experience and exposure to culture. These associations can serve as shortcuts that help people to quickly know what to expect and how to act in a constantly changing world. When meeting an unfamiliar person, generalized beliefs based on the persons appearance, clothing, as well as his or her sex, race, and age, can help to ensure that the interaction runs smoothly. We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. In the absence of the "total picture," stereotypes in many cases allow us to "fill in the blanks." Our society often innocently creates and perpetuates stereotypes, but these stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution when the stereotype is unfavorable. The decision to act differently towards these individuals often occurs automatically, and may be based entirely on stereotypes such. These heuristics often serve to guide our behaviors, and sometimes lead us to make errors in judgment that are costly for the individual we are encountering. Stereotyping can often lead to prejudice. Prejudice (Affect/Judgment) Prejudice is defined as an opinion or judgment, frequently unfavorable, based on irrelevant considerations, inadequate knowledge or inaccurate stereotyping. It is a pre-conceived notion of something. If you make any decisions or judgments before meeting a person, you are being prejudice. Often learned at an early age, prejudice is irrational and not based on reality. Prejudicial behavior causes pain and discomfort, impedes productivity in school and in the workplace and denies the recipients of such behavior the right to live, work and play with dignity and respect. Sometimes people are not aware of their own prejudices because they do not know their assumptions are based on inaccurate information. Consequently, they are also unaware that their prejudicial behaviour causes others pain. Prejudice is dangerous because it often leads to discriminatory acts. Discrimination (Behavior)

When we judge people and groups based on our prejudices and stereotypes and treat them differently, we are engaging in discrimination. It is an unjust practice or behavior, whether intentional or not, based on race, religious beliefs, color, gender, physical and/or mental disability, marital status, family status, source of income, age, ancestry, place of origin or sexual orientation and which has a negative effect on any individual or group. Discriminatory behavior often leads to harassment and has a negative social and economic impact. It also leads to unequal treatment, which in turn, creates problems within schools, the workplace and communities.

Prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination often go hand-in-hand, but it is also possible to have one without the others. They all deal with preconceived notions about a particular group of people, and these are hard to change. These notions lead to dislike or hatred of these people, because of who they are from their physical appearance, without having a chance to examine what each person is like as an individual. They make collective judgments on this group of people, which may or may not be fair. Sure, there are people who reinforce these stereotypes, and this type of behavior, but the point is, not everyone who belongs to that same group does. They're all related by the fact they make assumptions and dislike certain groups of people, without taking the time to know each individual and what that individual is really like. That's the fallacy of having such beliefs.