- What are prejudices?
- How are prejudices born?
- Examples of prejudice
- Prejudices and stereotypes
- Prejudice and prejudice
We explain what prejudices are, how they originate, their relationship with stereotypes and various examples. In addition, differences with prejudice.
What are prejudices?
A prejudice is a preconceived (and generally negative) idea or opinion about something or someone, that is, a judgment formed before having the opportunity to experience the reality directly. Those who are given to this type of opinions or points of view, are called prejudiced.
Prejudices are part of the unconscious mental processes of the human being, which subjectively modify their ability to perceive reality. They have been studied extensively by the psychology, given its importance in the formation of movements, politics Y personalities extremists, fanatics and intolerant throughout the history.
This is because, unlike other forms of reasoningPrejudices tend to have roots in the affective and through them reinforce unfounded ideas, which have little or nothing to do with what can be experienced in real life.
They often bring with them feelings of fear, contempt, aversion, or hostility, which often lead to actions of the same kind. However, it is also possible that the opposite is true: attitudes of favoritism and prior acceptance.
Finally, prejudices are axiomatic: they are accepted or rejected, but it is difficult to discuss them rationally, since they lack arguments of any kind, based more on an emotional, irrational, subjective reaction.
How are prejudices born?
Prejudices arise from the need to anticipate reality in order to respond quickly, a natural mechanism of thought of the human being. In other words, it is part of the defense mechanisms of our primitive mind, whose meaning is to protect us from possible dangers based on the knowledge previous.
This, however, does not mean that prejudices are "natural", far from it. Although they are explained through a biological response, they are entirely cultural: they usually have their origin in upbringing, often in the culture that we inherit or learn from our parents, or also in personal, social or historical trauma.
For example, a person born in a nation who has a history of fighting and wars With your neighboring nation, learn from a very young age to think the worst of anyone with the enemy nationality.
That person may think that they are aggressive, haughty, hateful, and associate with them certain negative tendencies, especially if this serves to justify their own mistakes or to avoid having to think about their own difficulties facing their nation, their life or their culture .
In doing so, it is also possible that you are sacrificing potential relationships friendship or companionship, by not having the opportunity to meet these people regardless of their nationality.
Examples of prejudice
Racism is a prejudice that hurts all members of a race.
Typical cases of prejudice are:
- The racism. That is, the positive and negative valuation of certain races, rather than individual people according to their actions and behaviors.
- The xenophobia. That is, feelings of aversion and distrust towards what is foreign or what belongs to other cultures, for no reason other than, possibly, insecurity or compensation for a loss self esteem through nationalist speeches.
- The homophobia. Which means disdain and dislike for gay people, casting them into a predetermined profile rather than having them as individualities.
Prejudices and stereotypes
Stereotypes are prior social patterns that, paradoxically, simultaneously play an important role in our organization of society. humanity in categories, to respond quickly and agilely to situations of social interaction, and a negative role as they contribute to the formation of prejudices.
Stereotypes are simplifications and generalizations, which tend to think of individuals based on the collectivities to which they belong, rather than their thoughts, actions and their individual personality (for example: blacks, homosexuals, Mexicans, whites , etc.).
The line between stereotypes and prejudices is very thin, but it begins the moment we think that a stereotype is true or true, instead of understanding that it is a useful generalization and that no one fits perfectly into it.
Prejudice and prejudice
Although these two words sound very similar, they are actually very different terms and meanings.We have already seen that a prejudice is an a priori judgment about something or someone. Instead, the word prejudice is synonymous of damage, in the sense of "harming": causing harm, that is, causing damage or loss of some kind. It is a word widely used in legal or juridical slang.
The similarity is due to the fact that both words come from the same term in Latin: praeiudicium, which was used in Ancient Rome for first instance trials, that is, interrogations prior to a trial taking place. The differentiation between "prejudice" and "prejudice" occurred later throughout history.