4.6 Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Attitudes vs. Actions Toward Groups

Prejudice is a negative attitude or feeling toward a group based on assumptions, while discrimination is unfair, unjust *behavior* toward a group's members. A stereotype is an overgeneralized belief about a group's traits, applied to individuals regardless of actual variation. You can hold a stereotype without acting on it, but discrimination requires an observable behavioral outcome.

Group Dynamics That Fuel Bias

Ingroup bias favors one's own group (ingroup) over others (outgroup), while the outgroup homogeneity bias makes outgroup members seem more alike than they are. Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures by one's own cultural standards. Just-world hypothesis leads people to blame victims, assuming they deserved their fate, reinforcing bias.

Reducing Bias

The contact hypothesis suggests prejudice decreases when groups interact under conditions of equal status, common goals, and cooperation. Superordinate goals unite groups against a shared challenge, reducing conflict. Awareness of biases, like the fundamental attribution error applied across groups, can also help individuals consciously counteract discriminatory tendencies.

Key terms

Prejudice

A negative attitude or feeling toward a group based on assumptions, not necessarily acted upon.

Discrimination

Unfair, unjust behavior directed toward members of a particular group.

Stereotype

An overgeneralized belief about the traits and behaviors of members of a group.

Contact Hypothesis

The idea that prejudice decreases when groups interact with equal status, common goals, and cooperation.

Just-World Hypothesis

The belief that people get what they deserve, often leading to blaming victims for their misfortune.

Try an AP-style question

Prejudice differs from discrimination because prejudice is…

1. always conscious
2. always illegal
3. an action, not an attitude
4. an attitude, not an action