Attitude and prejudice

Attitude Vs Prejudice

1. Attitude and prejudice Presented by Rahib Lorenzo Kadil

2. Objectives This study would like to benchmark the Attitude and Prejudice. Specifically, this study would like to; Define what is Attitudes and Prejudice, What are the factors influencing Attitudes and Prejudice, What measures can be taken to eradicate or lessen that may reduce Prejudice.

3. History : Attitude and Prejudice According to psychologists Egley and Chaiken (1993) attitudes are a psychological or internal state made known through viewing an entity with approval or disapproval. Attitudes (Larson, 2007) have a cognitive function, an affective (or emotional) function and a behavioural function. That is, attitudes are learned, they can be affected or driven by feelings and they can be indicators of future actions.

4. History : Attitude and Prejudice Attitude change programs are programs designed to address and remove harmful attitudes and replace them with beneficial attitudes. Social change programs are programs which address attitudes on a societal level. Some examples include cancer screening, drink driving and anti-smoking campaigns. According to Fazio (1989), attitudes are triggered automatically which suggests that attitude change needs to be dealt with in a strategic manner. The cognitive, affective and behavioral functions of an attitude need to be addressed within attitude change programs in order for them to be a success.

5. History : Attitude and Prejudice On the other hand Prejudice, Fallacious extension of one's negative past experiences to the general case can be harmful; it can be termed bias. If a person has developed the concept that members of one group have certain characteristics because of a unpleasant past acquaintance with a member of that group, she may presume that all members of the group have such characteristics.

6. History : Attitude and Prejudice In other cases, prejudice may be a matter of early education: children taught that certain  attitudes  are the "correct" ones may form opinions without weighing the evidence on both sides of a given question with no malice intended on the child's part. An adult might even be shocked to hear racial slurs or comments and their own opinions on various groups echoed back at them from their children.

7. History : Attitude and Prejudice In the  United States of America ,  Australia , and Europe in particular, it is considered  taboo  by some people for persons to publicly express their prejudices against another race or group of people; this view has been bolstered by a degree of legal framework and policy within many large organizations. However such taboos do not exist endemically outside the public sphere, and numerous monocultures regard alleged slurs as normal everyday language.

8. History : Attitude and Prejudice The first  psychological research  conducted on prejudice occurred in the 1920s. This research attempted to prove  white supremacy . One article from 1925 reviewing 73 studies on race concluded that the studies seemed "to indicate the mental superiority of the white race". These studies, along with other research, led many psychologists to view prejudice as a natural response to inferior races. In the 1930s and 40s, this perspective began to change due to the increasing concern about  anti-Semitism . At the time, theorists viewed prejudice as pathological and thus looked for personality syndromes linked with  racism .  Theodor Adorno  believed that prejudice stemmed from an  authoritarian personality ; he believed that people with authoritarian personalities were the most likely to be prejudiced against groups of lower status. He described authoritarians as "rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as  black and white , and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies".

9. History : Attitude and Prejudice In 1954,  Gordon Allport  linked prejudice to categorical thinking. Allport claimed that prejudice is a natural and normal process for humans. According to him, "The human mind must think with the aid of categories… Once formed, categories are the basis for normal prejudgment. We cannot possibly avoid this process. Orderly living depends upon it." In the 1970s, research began to show that prejudice tends to be based on  favoritism towards one's own groups , rather than negative feelings towards another group. According to  Marilyn Brewer , prejudice "may develop not because  outgroups  are hated, but because positive emotions such as admiration, sympathy, and trust are reserved for the ingroup."

10. History : Attitude and Prejudice In 1979,  Thomas Pettigrew  described the  ultimate attribution error  and its role in prejudice. The ultimate attribution error occurs when ingroup members "(1) attribute negative outgroup behavior to dispositional causes (more than they would for identical ingroup behavior), and (2) attribute positive outgroup behavior to one or more of the following causes: (a) a fluke or exceptional case, (b) luck or special advantage, (c) high motivation and effort, and (d) situational factors." Youeng-Bruehl  (1996) argued that prejudice cannot be treated in the singular; one should rather speak of different prejudices as characteristic of different character types. Her theory defines prejudices as being social defences , distinguishing between an obsessional character structure, rimarily linked with anti-semitism , hysterical characters, primarily associated with racism, and narcissistic characters, linked with sexism.

11. What is Attitude? Attitude is an expression, which sometimes is favorable and sometimes unfavorable, towards a person, a place, a situation or any object. Most humans get their decisions in life based on their attitudes. Attitude can be considered as some sort of a  belief  as well. It could be the way how a person sees and understand a certain phenomenon. Attitude can be either negative or positive. Also, a negative attitude could be turned to a positive attitude later on and vice versa. It has been found that there are two types of attitudes in humans. They are explicit attitudes and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are deliberately formed ones. That means a person has developed an attitude towards something being really aware of that. Implicit attitudes, on the other hand, said to be formed by an individual subconsciously. That is a particular person may not be aware of the attitude formed in him/her.

12. What is Attitude? However, attitudes are an important phenomenon in all individuals’ lives because attitudes may control the peoples’ behavior and thought patterns. Moreover, there are group attitudes that are shared by a particular group of people and there are attitude changes as well. It can be said that all the relationships that exist among humans are based on an attitude structure. Further, different individuals may share different attitudes towards a similar phenomenon. One may have a positive attitude regarding a certain thing whereas another person may perceive the same thing in a negative manner. Thus, attitudes are not always shared and the perception is one of the main factors in building attitudes.

13. Aspects of A ttitudes Attitudes may be "implicit," or unconscious, as well as "explicit," as in the response that people give when asked their opinion on something. Both types may affect behavior, although in different ways. The relationship between these two types of attitudes is complex and not well understood. Attitudes are generally understood to have three components:  affective  or emotional features,  behavioral  or action components, and  cognitive  aspects related to thought and  beliefs .  Social psychologists  have studied all three aspects of attitudes, and their inter-relationships, and have developed several theories in which attitude is the central and key concept in understanding and explaining human behavior in social situations.

14. Affect Affective components of attitudes can be very strong and influential. For example, a bigot feels uneasy in the presence of people from a certain  religious , racial, or ethnic group; the nature lover feels exhilaration from a pleasant walk through the woods and mountains. Like other emotional reactions, these feelings are strongly influenced by direct or vicarious conditioning. The affective components consist of the kinds of feelings that a particular topic arouses. The affective response is a  physiological  response that expresses an individual's preference for an entity. It is a conditioned emotional response, which has been linked to a previously non-emotional stimulus. The affective component of an attitude grows into a reflex that is intertwined with new emotional responses.

15. Cognition The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity to form an attitude. The cognitive component consists of a set of  beliefs  about a topic. People acquire most beliefs about a particular topic quite directly: They hear or read a fact or an opinion, or other people reinforce their statements expressing a particular attitude. It is formed through direct instructions, reinforcement,  imitation  and/or exposure. Children form attitudes by imitating the behavior of people who play important roles in their lives. Children usually repeat opinions expressed by their parents. Most attitudes in individuals are a result of " social learning " from their environment.  Psychologists  use the expression "mere exposure" effect to denote the formation of a positive attitude toward a person, place, or thing based solely on repeated exposure to that person, place, or thing.

16. Behavior The behavioral component consists of a tendency to act in a particular way with respect to a particular topic. Attitudes are more likely to be accompanied by behaviors if the effects of the behaviors have motivational relevance for the person. Sivacek and Grano (1982) demonstrated this phenomenon by asking students to help campaign against a law pending in the state legislature that would raise the drinking age from eighteen to twenty. Although almost all the students were opposed to the new drinking law, younger students, who would be affected by its passage, were more likely to volunteer their time and effort.

17. Attitude formation and A ttitude change Unlike  personality , attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience. Tesser (1993) has argued that heredity variables may affect attitudes, but believes that may do so indirectly. For example, if one inherits the disposition to become an  extrovert , this may affect one's attitude to certain styles of  music .

18. Attitude formation and A ttitude change There are numerous theories of attitude formation and attitude change. Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes. Two aspects of persuasion process have received special attention: the source of the message and the message itself. A message tends to be more persuasive if its source is credible. Source credibility is high when the source is perceived as knowledgeable and is trusted to  communicate  this knowledge accurately. Attractiveness of the source has also a definite impact in the process of persuasion. For example, individuals who are asked to endorse products for  advertisers  are almost always physically attractive or appealing in other ways. Another example, physically attractive people are more likely to persuade others to sign a petition ( Eagly and Chaiken , 1993). The social psychological mechanisms of attitude formation and attitude change are identical.

19. Theories of attitude formation and attitude change A variety of theories attempt to explain attitude formation and attitude change from various aspects of emotional life, behavior, and cognition.

20. Consistency theories of cognitive dissonance Consistency theories imply that we seek to be consistent in our  beliefs  and values. The most famous example of such a theory is  Dissonance-reduction  theory, associated with the name of  Leon Festinger . According to Festinger's theory, when we perceive a discrepancy between our attitudes and behavior, between our behavior and self-image, or between one attitude and another, a frustrating state of anxiety, or "dissonance," results. For example, a person may successfully overcome a childhood  racial   prejudice  but may experience unpleasant emotional arousal at the sight of a racially mixed couple. The person experiences a conflict between the belief in his own lack of prejudice and the evidence of prejudice from his behavior. This internal conflict produces cognitive dissonance, which is aversive. According to Festinger , a crucial source of a person's  motivation  is dissonance reduction: The aversive state of dissonance motivates a person to reduce it. Because dissonance reduction involves the removal of an aversive stimulus, it serves as a negative reinforcer.

21. Self-perception theory Self-perception theory is an account of attitude change developed by  psychologist  Daryl Bem . It asserts that we only have that knowledge of our own behavior and its causation that another person can have, and that we therefore develop our attitudes by observing our own behavior and concluding what attitudes must have caused them. Self-perception theory differs from cognitive dissonance theory in that it does not hold that people experience a "negative drive state" called "dissonance" which they seek to relieve. Instead, people simply "infer" their attitudes from their own behavior in the same way that an outside observer might. In this way it combines dissonance theory with attribution theory.

22. Balance theory Balance Theory is a motivational theory of attitude change proposed by  Fritz Heider , which conceptualizes the consistency motive as a drive toward psychological balance. Heider proposed that "sentiment" or liking relationships are balanced if the affect valence in a system multiplies out to a positive result.

23. Elaboration Likelihood Model The Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion (ELM; proposed by Petty & Cacioppo , 1981, 1986) is a model of how attitudes are formed and changed. Central to this model is the elaboration continuum, which ranges from low elaboration (low thought) to high elaboration (high thought). Depending on the extent of elaboration, different processes can mediate persuasion. The ELM distinguishes between two routes to persuasion: the "Central Route" and the "Peripheral Route." Central route processes are those that require a great deal of thought, and therefore are likely to predominate under conditions that promote high elaboration. Central route processes involve careful scrutiny of a persuasive  communication  (a speech, an  advertisement , and so forth) to determine the merits of the arguments. Under these conditions, a person’s unique cognitive responses to the message determine the persuasive outcome (the direction and magnitude of attitude change).

24. Social judgment theory The Social Judgment theory of attitude change was proposed by Carl Hovland and Muzafer Sherif . This theory attempts to explain how attitude change is influenced by judgmental processes. The key idea of Social Judgment theory can be understood and explained in terms of "attribution" and other "communication processes." "Attribution" is the process by which people decide why certain events occurred or why a particular person acted in a certain manner. The following factors influence the person's attribution: internal versus external causes of own behavior and the behaviors of others, consistency consensus, a certain person's role as an "actor" or a "receiver" in a particular situation.

25. What is Prejudice? Prejudice is forming of a negative attitude towards a person without having a full realization of facts. That is like making a prejudgment. There can be prejudices over age, social class, ethnicity, race, culture, family and so many other things. The apparent thing here is that a particular person does not look deep into the phenomenon before making a conclusion. Somebody can have a prejudice over a person or a particular group of people, based on a misunderstanding or because of ignorance. Prejudice is always a negative scenario which should not be practiced by people.

26. Types of P rejudice John E. Farley classified prejudice into three categories. Cognitive Prejudice  refers to what people believe is true. An example of cognitive prejudice might be found, for example, adherence to a particular metaphysical or methodological philosophy to the exclusion of other philosophies that may offer a more complete theoretical explanation. Affective Prejudice  refers to what people like and dislike. An example of affective prejudice might be found, for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed. Conative prejudice  refers to how people are inclined to behave. It is regarded as an attitude because people don't actually act on their feelings. An example of conative prejudice might be found in expressions of what one would do if, hypothetically, the opportunity presented itself.

27. Example of Prejudice The most obvious examples of prejudice are based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual preference, physical or intellectual disability, or mental illness. This table contains examples of prejudice. Prejudice type Prejudice Sexism Gender Racism Ethnicity or Race Ageism Age Homophobia Sexual preference Disability Physical or intellectual disability, or mental illness In most Western nations, much has been done to try to reduce these prejudices through education and legislation. There is still much work to do, however, because prejudice can be difficult to prevent and difficult to eradicate once it has been established.

28. Effects of Prejudice Victims of prejudice may suffer a range of effects that include physical, pshychological and social disadvantage, low self-esteem, limited ambition, and physical and verbal abuse. Some examples are set out in this Table Effect Example   Low self-esteem Crude acts of prejudice on a regular basis can damage self- esteem; e.g. insults, denial of equality, violence   Disadvantage / failure Being denied access to resources in society that are necessary for success; e.g. education, health, housing, employment     Self- fulfilling prophecies Expectations and assumptions about group members will influence interaction with members of that group and eventually change their behavior so that it is in keeping with the original expectations and assumptions.   Violence and genocide Overt acts of prejudice that include physical harm; e.g. apartheid in South Africa, segregation in the united states and, in some cases, deliberate acts of extermination such as the Holocaust in the Second World War.

29. The interrelationship between A ttitudes , P rejudice / Discrimination Prejudice is another example of an attitude, and therefore the tricomponent model of attitudes can be applied to prejudice. Example, prejudice against elderly people (ageism) includes negative beliefs about elderly people (cognitive component), a strong feeling of dislike towards the elderly (affective component) and the action of discriminating against them ( behavioural component) PREJUDİCE Cognitive The categorization of people, and beliefs about the people that are put into these categories, especially stereotyping. Affective Feelings that are either friendly or hostile towards a group of people. DİSCRİMİNATİON Behavioral Behaviors towards group of people.

30. Attitude vs Prejudice When we take both attitude and prejudice, we can identify that both are human feelings towards something . Attitude can be aimed at a person, an object, a place or may be a situation whereas prejudice aims at a person or a group of people. Moreover, attitude can both be positive or negative but prejudice is always a negative phenomenon. Attitudes are formed after a full investigation of a particular fact whereas prejudice is based on prejudgment. In addition, prejudice can also be considered as an attitude that is not formed through an experience of the facts. In similar terms, we see that attitudes as well as prejudice may change over the time and they are not permanent ideologies.

31. Conclusion and Recommendation Based on findings the difference between attitude and prejudice as both these are feelings of human beings and are terms that can be easily confused. Attitudes are common to all humans. Anybody can have both positive and negative attitudes towards something. Attitudes could be in favor of something or vice versa. On the other hand, prejudice is a prejudgment of something without really having exposed to the real situation. Prejudice is always an unfavorable conclusion about somebody. However, both attitudes and prejudices can be seen in almost every person. The  contact hypothesis  predicts that prejudice can only be reduced when in-group and out-group members are brought together. 

32. Based on study made by a glimpse at the Attitudes and Prejudice problems, below were the suggested issues Prejudice can be difficult to change; however, education, intergroup contact, cognitive interventions, setting superordinate goals and direct experience have been successful to an extent. Education- the formation of prejudice can be impeded through through education program in schools where children are taught about tolerance, the consequences of prejudice, and what constitutes discrimination. Education helps to reduce prejudice and teach tolerance and acceptance.

33. Intergroup contact prejudice can be reduced through direct contact between groups of people who have prejudicial attitudes towards each other. However direct contact alone will not work; the following factors are also essential: Sustained, interpersonal interactions contact between the groups. Mutual interdependence where the groups engage in cooperative activities. Equal status between the groups. Social norms favouring the reduction of prejudice. These factors were evident in the reduction of prejudice in the Robbers Cave key study experiment.

34. Cognitive interventions prejudice can be countered by reducing stereotyping through cognition. For example, making information available to individuals reduces stereotypes by minimizing irrelevant information about groups of people. It is important to make sure that this information is noticed, and to provide sufficient time for individuals to process information that contradicts to stereotypes.

35. Superordinate goals working towards a common goal can facilitate knowledge and understanding between groups. However, the goal must be shared, and it must require the contribution of both groups.

36. Direct experience directly experiencing another culture or lifestyle -either in another country or within our own- can help reduce prejudice. This could include learning another language, learning about another culture and participating in another culture. Direct experience can result in better knowledge and understanding, and can reduce ignorance.

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