Social, Motivational, and Cognitive Sources of Prejudice - Assignment Example

Another key source of prejudice is inequality in society, especially when gender roles apply, thus presenting a clear distinction of what men and women ought to and not to do.

Motivation sources of prejudice encompass frustration, hostility, competition, and perception of social status. Frustration emerges when one fails to meet certain goals in life, as well as endless strive in maintaining a self-image. Life is attributed to numerous competitions, in an attempt of attaining superiority. Those who fail in the competition face prejudice, since they are not fit for competition. Such competition is experienced in social classes, as individuals strive to maintain the standards of their social class. Certain social groups may esteem other groups as of lower worth, and therefore the former prejudice the latter.

For example, as a student, I find myself competing in trying to maintain certain requirements of the social group I associate with. This is particularly seen in the way I wear, and the kind of hotels I go to for meals. Frustration set in last year when I realized that due to lack of a constant financial inflow, I suffered withdrawal, in an attempt to maintain my personal image.

     Cognitive sources of prejudice concern the manner in which people think, understand, as well as the way we process information. Clustering people on the basis of social categories exaggerate any existing uniformity of a given group, as well as the existing differences between groups. A distinctive individual, for example, alone minority individual tends to have a compelling quality. Individuals with such quality enable us to realize various differences which would otherwise remain unnoticed.

For example, I love dreadlocks so much that I had to put them on my head. This practice has influenced the perception other people have concerning me since they attribute everyone in dreadlocks with drug abuse. I am innocent and never into drugs –dreadlocks are just a choice of wearing. I, therefore, face prejudice.

Although we are not forced to adopt every social reality, the fact is that human being is very adventive, and thus we tend to vigorously interact with the environment surrounding us. The degree to which we interact with what comes into our mind (cognitive), people around us, such as friends and family members; such determines the degree of the realized effectiveness of those sources of prejudice.