Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Pride and preconceived idea EssayWhen prejudice occurs, stereotyping and discrimination may as well result. In many cases, prejudices are based upon stereotypes. A stereotype is a simplified assumption about a group based on previous assumptions. Stereotypes rout out be both positive (women are warm and nurturing) or negative (teenagers are lazy). Stereotypes can lead to faulty beliefs, but they can similarly result in both prejudice and discrimination. jibe to psychologist Gordon Allport, prejudice and stereo types emerge in part as a result of normal clement thinking.In ordering to make sense of the world around us, it is important to kind information into moral categories. The human mind must think with the aid of categories, Allport explained. Once formed, categories are the basis for normal prejudgment. We cannot by chance avoid this process. Orderly living depends upon it. This process of categorization applies to the social world as well, as we sort people int o mental groups based on factors such as age, sex and race.However, researchers have found that piece when it comes to categorizing information about people, we tend to minimize the differences between people within groups and exaggerate the differences between groups. In one classic experiment, participants were asked to judge the eyeshade of people shown in photographs. People in the experiment were also told that In this booklet, the men and women are actually of equal height. We have taken care to match the heights of the men and women pictured.That is, for every woman of a particular height, somewhere in the booklet there is also a man of that same height. Therefore, in order to make as accurate a height judgment as possible, try to judge each photograph as an individual case do not rely on the persons sex. In addition to these instructions, a $50 cash prize was offered to whoever make the most accurate judgments of height. Despite this, participants consistently rated the men as being a few inches taller than the women.Because of their prejudgment that men are taller than women, the participants were unable to dismiss their existing categorical beliefs about men and women in order to judge the heights accurately. Researchers have also found that people tend to view parts of outside groups as being more homogenous than members of their own group, a phenomenon referred to as the out-group homogeneity bias. This perception that all member of an out-group are alike holds true of all groups, whether based on race, nationality, religion, age or other naturally occurring group affiliation.