Prejudice and stereotyping

When we join a group, we pay special attention to the characteristics that distinguish our group from others. They become part of our identity. We also pay special attention to the characteristics of other groups that distinguish them. Once we have become a part of our group, we deny that any other group can have equal value. This is based on the law of "cognitive dissonance". This principle recognizes that, no matter how ambivalent we were prior to a choice, AFTER making the choice all the other alternatives become negative or uninteresting.

So we look at another group, one to which we do not belong, and we tend to see it as clearly much less desirable than our group. This is the origin of "stereotyping", which means in this context to assign to ALL members of a particular group a consistent set of characteristics, those which define the group. Seeing all members of a particular group as alike is both a bad and a good thing. It's good in that it allows us to make quick judgments based on group characteristics. For instance, if you see a "gang" of criminals, you don't have to evaluate each one of them individually to know to watch out. You know that "criminal gangs" have as one of their characteristics a propensity to violence, which is probably not a good thing for non-members of their group. Such stereotyping aids us in making predictions quickly, and in the human race generally, stereotyping is a positive survival trait. When I see 4 guys wearing black leather and ski-masks walking toward me in a parking lot, it is prejudice that makes me want to clear out of there quickly. They may be perfectly nice young college kids playing a prank. Or not.

The problem arises when we assign characteristics to group members that are not necessarily part of their group values. Some of the time we don't even know what the defining values of their group are; we just guess. In the guessing process we more often assign negative qualities to the group we don't know much about, as a result of cognitive dissonance. "Criminals are all stupid, mentally-ill, drug-users, minority groups, etc." Generally the assumed negative qualities are in areas that are important to our groups and help to define us as "better". In the absence of specific data, negative generalizations that lead to avoidance serves the conservative purposes of survival.

Sometimes we see a group where one doesn't exist, and then almost all our generalizations and stereotypes are not very accurate. The predictions we make may be markedly incorrect. For instance, men (or women) may say that the other sex are all (fill in the blank). This allows men (or women) to feel superior in their own group membership. It certainly doesn't aid in making good predictions about individual behavior, because the generalization is based on the need to make one's own group superior to other groups.

"Prejudice" means to pre-judge based on group membership. It is not a bad or harmful thing in itself. It has its uses in making quick predictions in the absence of better or more particular information. It is likely to be more negative than positive, because we are built to think that way and because it is safer to think that way. It is harmful when it's inaccurate, because then predictions based on it are likely to be wrong. I am prejudiced in favor of people who are giving me a birthday party; I am prejudiced against religious fanatics, especially those carrying high explosives. We should be careful what characteristics we believe belong with a particular group and be sure that our suppositions are accurate. Just because they are prejudicial doesn't mean that they are wrong or that we should ignore them. It's safe for me to assume that a group of people wearing white sheets and carrying burning crosses is likely to be dangerous to those they perceive as non-supportive.

Finally, it is always a mistake to assume that each member of a group is identical to the other members and has the same identical values. Sometimes we assume someone is a member of a group when they are not, or that they share the values of a group that exists only in our minds. Making hasty assumptions may be likely to be unfair, but in the absence of better information making hasty assumptions is frequently safer.