Microsoft Word Chapter 1 done doc

Prejudice – A prejudice evolves from a stereotype. Prejudices can 
be positive as well as negative. Positive stereotypes can also lead 
to discrimination but largely not as harmful as negative. Based on 
our stereotypes if we start forming hostile or negative opinions of 
others or when a person dislikes another for no good reason, or 
has formed a hostile opinion of someone before even getting to 
know them it is prejudice. It is in other words a negative judgment 
or opinion formed about an individual or group without knowledge 
of the facts. 
 
Discrimination -- Treating people in a less favorable way because 
they are members of a particular group. Discrimination is prejudice 
in action. Let us take a concrete example 
For instance you perceive ‘A’ community as violent because 
of stereotyping. You might not show your hatred with words, but 
your prejudice is there and when you take a negative action you 
discriminate. For instance you are the boss of a company and a 
person from that A community applies for a job you already have a 
prejudice against them and so you might not select the candidate 
even if he/she is meritorious. This is discrimination. So you see how 
the three terms described above are interrelated. 
Thus there is a relationship between stereotypes, prejudice and 
discrimination.
Prejudice and discrimination occur with respect to 
differences in race, ethnicity, gender, language and a variety of 
other social categories. 
Thus, stereotypes and prejudice is a widespread 
phenomenon, present in all societies of the world. Our society 
often innocently creates and perpetuates stereotypes, but these 
stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution 
when the stereotype is unfavorable. Social perception involves the 
development of an attitude towards another person or group of 
persons.
ATTITUDES / BELIEFS 
ACTIONS / BEHAVIORS 
STEREOTYPES 
PREJUDICE DISCRIMINATION 

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A stereotype is an attitude towards a person or group on the 
basis of some physical characteristic or physical fact. A 
"stereotype" is a generalization about a person or group of persons. 
We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain 
all of the information we would need to make fair judgments about 
people or situations. In the absence of the "total picture," 
stereotypes in many cases allow us to "fill in the blanks." For 
example, if we are walking through a dark lane at night and 
encounter three senior citizens wearing kurtas and having walking 
sticks, we may not feel as threatened as if we were met by three 
college-aged boys wearing jeans and leather jackets. Why is this 
so? We have made a generalization in each case. These 
generalizations have their roots in experiences we have had in the 
past, read about in books and magazines, seen in movies or 
television, or have had narrated to us by friends and family. In 
many cases, these stereotypical generalizations are reasonably 
accurate. Yet, in virtually every case, we are resorting to prejudice 
by ascribing characteristics about a person based on a stereotype, 
without knowledge of the total facts. For instance we may assume 
that a person from ‘A’ community will be illiterate or backward. 
Sometimes we may have positive over generalizations or 
stereotypes like all Tamilians are good in Mathematics.
Television, books, comic strips, and movies are all abundant 
sources of stereotyped characters. For example the Sardar jokes in 
movies and joke books depicting them to be foolish, Afro-
Americans portrayed as being unintelligent, lazy, or violence-prone. 
As a result of viewing these stereotyped pictures or news items, we 
encourage prejudice. So generally a prejudice would emerge from 
a stereotype. 
Social psychologists define a stereotype as the cognitive