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CHAPTER III A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PREJUDICE
3.1 Components of Prejudice
Prejudice is exhibited when members of one group called the ingroup, display negative attitudes and behaviour toward members of another group called
outgroup. Such group antagonism have three interrelated but distinguishable elments. Stereotypes are beliefs about the typical characteristic of group members;
prejudice refers to negative feelings toward an outgroup; and discrimination refers to behaviour that disadvantages individuals simply because of their group
membership. Prejudice is an attitude. An attitude is a distinct combination of feelings,
inclinations to act, and beliefs. This combination is the ABC of attitudes: affect feelings, behavior tendency inclination to act, and cognition beliefs. A
prejudiced person might dislike those different from self and behave in a discriminatory manner, believing them ignorant and dangerous Myers,
1996:390. The negative evaluations that mark prejudice can stem from emotional as
sociations, from the need to justify behavior, or form negative beliefs, called stereotypes. To stereotype is to generalize. Stereotypes suggest that all persons
belonging to social groups possess certain traits, at least to a degree. Stereotypes about groups usually contain much inaccuracy because they are
overgeneralizations about many quite different individulas. Even when stereotypes contain a gain of truth, they can be destructive because they are
12 applied to groups members for whom they may not fit at all. We can distinguish
the stereotypical traits from prejudice, but in fact the two tend to go together Baron, 2000:177. Since the overriding fact is that prejudice against a group is
likely to be accompanied by negative stereotypes about it. Whereas prejudice is an attitude, discrimination involves actions or
practices of ingroup member or their representatives that harmful impact on members of an outgroup. Prejudice attitudes do not always lead to discriminatory
behavior. They are also not always consistent. Today, this kind of inconsistency is quite common because of the many laws that forbid discrimination based on race,
gender, and national origin. Sociologist Robert Merton 1949:318 identified four combinations of attitudes and responses. Unprejudiced nondiscriminators are not
personally prejudiced and do not discriminate against others. For example, two players on a professional sports team may be best friends although they are of
different races. Unprejudiced discriminators may have no personal prejudice but still engage in discriminatory behavior because of peer group pressure or
economic, political, or social interests. For example, the coach may feel no prejudice toward African American players but believe that white fans will accept
only a certain percentage of people of color on the team. Prejudiced nondiscriminators hold personal prejudices but do not discriminate due to peer
pressure, legal demands, or a desire for profits. For example, a coach with prejudiced beliefs may hire an African American player to enhance the team’s
ability to win. Finally, prejudiced discriminators hold personal prejudices and actively discriminate against others. For example, an umpire who is personally
13 prejudiced against African Americans may intentionally call a play incorrectly
based on that prejudice.
3.2 Theories about the Origins of Prejudice
Kategori