Why are people prejudices

Perhaps something has happened to you. Or perhaps you have picked up all kinds of stories from social media. These can make you prejudiced against different groups. An unpleasant experience with one person from a certain group of people can make us prejudiced against the whole group. And against all the individual people in that group. As long as that only happens in your head, it is not much of a problem.

Though not insignificant, this leaves a lot of unexplained variance. In other words, a dislike of broken patterns does not by itself mean you are a racist. Also, being a neat or tidy person does not mean you are more prejudiced.

And it is important to note that our findings at this stage are correlational, not causal. We cannot conclude just yet that disliking broken patterns is a causal "root" of prejudice. What we can say, though, is that some of the discomfort that most of us experience in response to social deviancy, those negative gut feelings, is merely from seeing a social pattern being broken, nothing more.

We tend to assume that the thoughts and feelings we hold about our families, friends, partners, and strangers are the product of reasoning and experience, and largely removed from how we think about the physical world. However, our findings show that our social attitudes, our likes and dislikes for various types of people and various forms of behavior, are related more than we might think to our preferences in the physical world.

Opinion: Donald Trump is a racist who preys on the powerless. There have been several other recent demonstrations of how our feelings are influenced and affected by our physical experiences.

For instance, recent neuroscience research shows that our representations of physical and social warmth are actually connected in our brains -- from birth we associate physical warmth being held close with social warmth trust and caring , and this effect persists throughout our lives.

Physical and social pain also overlap. Social pain experienced from rejection by another person or group activates the same underlying brain region as does the experience of physical pain -- so much so that studies have found that taking over-the-counter pain relievers for two weeks actually helps the person get over the break-up faster.

Unfortunately, unlike taking Tylenol to reduce social pain, there is no magic pill to reduce social prejudice. While specific definitions of prejudice given by social scientists often differ, most agree that it involves prejudgments that are usually negative about members of a group.

As mentioned, a prejudiced attitude can be based on a number of factors, including sex, race, age, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status, and religion. Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include the following:. When people hold prejudicial attitudes toward others, they tend to view everyone who fits into a certain group as being "all the same.

This has a very strong influence on how people behave and interact with those who are different from them. As a result, it can also cause them to miss out on relationships or conversations that have the potential to be deeply fulfilling.

Those on the receiving end of prejudice are particularly impacted, though. For example, the ubiquitous prejudice against Black people has translated into higher incarceration rates, fewer job offers, and lower pay. Another blatant example is the prejudice against Muslims; the rampant anti-Muslim sentiment in the West has led many people to believe that all Muslims are violent and hateful.

According to psychologist Gordon Allport , prejudice and stereotypes emerge in part as a result of normal human thinking. We cannot possibly avoid this process. Orderly living depends upon it. In other words, we often depend upon our ability to place people, ideas, and objects into different categories in order to make the world easier to understand.

We are simply inundated with too much information to sort through all of it in a logical, methodical, and rational fashion. Unfortunately, this quick categorization leads to faulty assumptions that have an impact on individuals and the world at large. Whether deeply ingrained, taught, or an implicit bias , it is important to fight our own prejudices we have against others.

One of the first ways to do this is to understand and accept that it happens. When you realize that you are pre-judging someone else, try asking yourself the following questions:. In addition to looking at the reasons why prejudice occurs, researchers have also explored different ways that prejudice can be reduced or even eliminated. For example, equipping yourself with the skills to be more wholly empathetic to members of another group is one method that has shown considerable success.

Instead, they become a more complex being in your eyes—someone with a mother and father, a sibling, a friend to others, a co-worker, a romantic partner. Someone with unique interests, the ability to love, cry, and feel. Other techniques that are used to reduce prejudice include:. Knowing what prejudice is and why it tends to occur is an important step in helping the world become a more welcoming, equal place.

Continue to have important conversations, acknowledge your own potential biases, and strive to understand others on a deeper level. Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Who is prejudiced, and toward whom? The big five traits and generalized prejudice. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development.