theories explaining prejudice

theories explaining prejudice

Prejudice is the tendency of individuals to feel and think negatively about members belonging to other groups. Discrimination itself is an attitude or a feeling. Several theories explain prejudice. Scholars divide prejudice into two significant methods, namely, the personality centered approaches, which are usually psychological and culture-based sociological in the environment.

Personality -centered theories.

Both frustration-aggression theory and the authoritarian personality theories are under personality-centered opinions. A psychologist known as John Dollard attributed to the Frustration-Aggression theory. This theory is also known as ‘displacement’ theory, ‘scapegoat’ theory, or even ‘kick the Dog Syndrome.’ Dollard gives six beliefs that contribute to prejudice. The six are needs, frustration, aggression, displacement, weak victims, and rationalization.

All human beings have needs, which could be biological such as hunger and sleep or socially induced needs, such as proper housing and well-paying jobs. It’s not apparent that human beings need all satisfied. Sometimes our needs get blocked, and as a result, we get frustrated. Frustration automatically leads to aggression. Once an individual gets frustrated, they become angry, and following is aggressive acts, and they get the urge to destroy. The hostile persons displace their anger to people whom they see to be their source of frustration, their scapegoat.  Most communities do not accept acts of hostility and aggression. Instead, they embrace socially acceptable ways to vent our anger is. Through this, the behavior the behavior is made to appear to be rational and morally acceptable. Once an individual justifies their behavior by finding some convincing reason for their hatred for a minority group, it is known as rationalization.

T W Adomo contributed significantly towards the study of the authoritarian personality. He says that there are people who always see their ways as right and for the others as wrong. These people tend to view others as minorities. These attitudes are formed during the childhood of the individuals, resulting from being raised in homes with harsh discipline, by uncommunicative and distant parents. The tough parenting makes the child fear all authority though they cannot express these feelings to their parents and other influential people. They, therefore, displace their anger and hostility on people who are not like them.

Culture-based theories of prejudice.

These theories are sociological. They are three, namely; functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism theory. Functionalists believe that everything in society is there because it has a purpose. For instance, during world war 1, Germany lost. The losing in the war made her undergo a harsh economic crisis during the 1920s and 1930s, which created a bad feeling for the entire country. As a result, the Germans used hatred of the Jews in the Nazis functionally. Hitler and his people blamed the Jews for their problems. The Jews in this scenario were the scapegoat.

Karl Marx’s’ writings and Philosophy explain conflict theory. He examines the social world and sees the existing conflict between groups; for example, the owners and the workers. From this perspective, the capitalist system seems to be the cause of prejudice. The capitalist system pits groups against each other. Each group tries to derive the best things, such as good jobs, education, proper housing, among others.

The competition to get good things makes the minority groups be rivals, and the more they fight against each other, the less the power they have against the rich and powerful in society.

The third theory is symbolic interactionism, which focuses on the micro-level of analysis, which is looking at the individuals and small groups within the society. We have stereotypes and labels that we apply to people, which leads to selective perception. Selective perception is when we only spot certain features of somebody but remain blind to all the other elements.

The theory which best explains prejudice is the frustration-aggression theory. The theory systematically explains the everyday events that nearly every individual experiences in their lifetime. Everyone has their needs. Needs People do not always meet their expected needs, and this frustrates us. Following frustration, individuals react by getting angry, and they displace their anger to the minority. The weak victims are defenseless in most cases; they receive other people’s aggression.  Rationalization is applied where an individual gives justification for his or her hate against the minority group. The sequential flow of these beliefs of prejudice takes place in our lives now and then.

I strongly feel that prejudice is wrong. Giving negative judgment towards people from the minor group makes them feel threatened. Individuals may lose their self -esteem, and that would make them inferior and defenseless, giving a pathway for bullying. Individuals may have poor performances to learners who are studying in institutions where prejudice is on the frontline. Also, they may suffer from mental health and physical health once they realize that all fingers are pointing at them.

Prejudice is a complex issue, but I still believe we can eliminate it. There are issues which, when considered, prejudice will reduce. A persuasive communication or talk can focus on one through social media platforms, more so, the televisions as to deliberately change the attitudes of people towards others. Also, Instilling education, as part of our daily programs, will help curb prejudice. Education informs and enlightens individuals regarding different issues. With the open-mindedness of schooling and its learning approach towards prejudice, learners will, without a doubt, end prejudice practices in their institutions. Engaging a group or groups of people to interact with another helps to solve misunderstandings, hostility, racism, prejudice, among others.