The Idea of the Existence of Innovative Kinds - Essay Example

?Prejudice Prejudice The idea of the existence of innovative kinds of prejudice has taken a step further, with a distinction betweenexplicit prejudice functioning at a conscious level and thus comprising of both modern and traditional racism, while explicit prejudice, assumed to be routinely activated by the targeted individuals and which operates mostly unconsciously. Several measures of implicit prejudice are either indirect or concealed behavioral manifestations of prejudice, such as eye contact, linguistic biases, or non-verbal behaviors which may be subject to deliberate control though typically would not be. Some are actually implicit measures of regular physiological or cognitive responses that cannot be deliberately controlled. “Priming techniques” have been the most common, which measure how fast negative or positive stereotypes can be activated following individuals’ exposure to social category label, plus differences of that procedure, which assesses how strong the sequential association is between a social tag and negatively or positively evaluative terms. Racial prejudice This is an insidious social and moral disease affecting populations and people all over the world. This type of prejudice is characterized by the cataloguing of its different manifestations and symptoms such as fear, separation, discrimination, hatred, and intolerance. While all of these features may be manifest, ignorance is the underlying cause racial prejudice (Baumeister & Bushman, 2010). In the article, “The evaluations of Presidential performance: Prejudice, Race, and Perceptions of Americanism,” by a psychology Student, Hehman Eric, was printed in the issue of “journal of Experimental psychology”. The hypothesis of the paper revolved around the probability that racial prejudice of the whites influenced how American Obama was perceived to be, thus would in turn foretell their evaluations of Obama’s presidential performance. Hehman predicted that Whites are the only ones that racial prejudice would finally influence their performance evaluation and that this would affect their presidential evaluations. To him, when whites assessed Joseph R. Biden, the vice president, or when African Americans assessed their Biden or Obama, racial prejudices would have an impact on their assessment (Fausset, 2009). About 300 responses were collected from the blacks and whites of the UD community, where they were asked to evaluate the success of Biden or Obama while in office. Hehman argues that their predictions were supported since whites who were racially prejudiced in opposition to blacks viewed Obama as “less American” and consequently rated him as a poor performer. On the other hand, both prejudiced, non-prejudiced blacks and non whites did not do so. Furthermore, this relationship was solely found with Obama, but not in Biden’s evaluations. The author hopes that his article will cause readers to perceive that “even among people who view themselves as unprejudiced, insensible racial prejudices may manifest themselves with exceedingly significant outcomes, like evaluation of a country leader.” His intention is to make readers examine their behavior and opinions, both political and social, to ensure they are found on a steady base of facts, as opposed to racial prejudice (Hehman, 2011). In an article in Los Angeles Times magazine, five black firefighters filed a racial prejudice suit against the Inglewood Fire Department, claiming that they were not allowed to access equal proportions and treatment due to Racism in the sector. The suit was filed in a Federal court in Los Angeles, asserting that blacks had limited access to certification tests and training opportunities and gets worse assignments, more severe punishment, and less fair evaluations compared to their white counterparts. Additionally, the suit argued that the department failed to pursue their complaints with the same drive it did white fighters’ complaints. In this article, the author tries to figure out if really blacks and whites are given equal opportunities in workplaces and if their rights are equally represented in arms of government. In another article, Clothing Triggers Racial Stereotypes” by Joseph Castro, a person’s skin color is the most evident outward sign of their race, though it turns out that some people may subconsciously base on other subtable factors in perceiving an individual’s race. As per the new study, perception of race can be modified by particular indicators of social status like clothes. The author suggests that our determination of one’s race can be shaped by prejudices and common stereotypes. By use of a computer model with integral stereotypes about social status and race, the research shows that relative cues such as mode of dressing can actually influence race perception and trigger stereotypes. To the author, racial prejudices are influential enough to drop down to affect even essential visual processing of others, systematically skewing the manner in which we view our social world (Castro, 2011). From the above articles, we note that racial prejudice is most often subtle. I recent studies, subtle prejudice predicts a preference for people with lighter complexions. Individuals classified as prejudiced basing on blatant measures do not discriminate basing on skin complexion. For instance, the unique impacts of implicit prejudice were more subtle in the 2008 presidential elections in America. Those citizens with higher implicit prejudice were not likely to vote in Obama as president, but not more probable to vote for McCain. Another reason why racial prejudice is subtle is that, it is indeed associated with meaningful and unambiguous discriminatory behaviors. Impacts of Racial prejudice on behavior when exhibited blatantly and exhibited subtly Whether exhibited blatantly or subtly, racial prejudice has various impacts on both the individual who practice it and the victim of the prejudice. Subjective evidence suggest that whites experience emotional and psychological distress related to racism. Numerous researchers have reported that whites go through frustration, anxiety, shame, and guilt when confronted with issues in relation to their own white racism or racism in general. This may be accompanied with helplessness combined with a sense of strong confusion revolving racism issues. Research with psychiatric data has found subtle racial prejudice to be linked with signs of depression, hypochondria sis, psychopathic deviations, and hypomania. Whites who exhibit partial racial consciousness undergo high level of psychological discomfort when they interacted with blacks. Such a study also found that by making whites aware or conscious of their actions towards blacks’ aroused psychological discomfort and emotional tension. Moreover, European Americans who exhibit racial animosity are endangered of developing maladaptive behaviors to cope with the situation. Whites who harbor this type of prejudice are also less probable to gain from psychotherapy. Blacks on the other hand are subject to low self-esteem and lowered life satisfaction, feelings of trauma. The growing impact of psychological strain and stress of racism may also have negative somatic vigor impacts n Black Americans. Ways to reduce Racial prejudice From the empirical evidence proposing that both whites and blacks are likely to suffer psychological threat of different intensities during their interactions with, it is clear that efforts should be made to reduce racial prejudice. This can be done by: Changing stereotypes This can be achieved through widespread or repeated instances of examples or encounters which do not confirm the stereotype, cooperative instead of competitive contact, to encourage viewing out-group persons and accepting the diversity within races, thus undermining stereotypic generalizations and expectations (Bagley & Gajendra, 2009). Cross-cultural awareness Intervention programs can be designed and implemented t challenge people’s cognitions and believes emotional reactions and feelings, and actual behavior towards other group members. Currently, trainers of minority groups are providing information through lectures, films, and videos, role plays, intergroup interactions in task completion, and the presentation of critical incidents, and case studies. Parenting in early childhood Studies in developmental psychology show that educational practices and parenting can have a key impact on children’s attitudes, development, and behaviors towards members of other groups. This can be particularly done through empathy, teaching perspective-taking and techniques on how to resolve conflicts without use of violence. References Bagley, C & Gajendra, K. (2009). Racial prejudice, the individual and society. New York: Saxon House. Baumeister, R & Bushman, B. (2010). Social Psychology and Human Nature. London: Cengage Learning Castro, J. (2011, September 27). Clothing Triggers Racial Stereotypes, Study Suggests. New York: Live Science. Fausset, R. (2009). Five Black Fighters File Racial Discrimination Suit. Washington, DC: Los Angeles Times. Hehman, E. (2011). Evaluations of presidential Performance: Prejudice, Race, and Perceptions of Americanism. The journal of experimental social psychology. Read More