Today it is common to hear the words stereotype, prejudice and discrimination in many social and professional contexts. This overuse of these three concepts can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings about what they really mean.

We must be aware that these are words that refer to important social realities and whose effects are the cause of pain for thousands of people on the planet.

For that reason, it is necessary to know the nature of these realities from the definition provided by Psychology.

Stereotypes

Definition and transcendence

Stereotypes are organized beliefs or ideas about the characteristics associated with different social groups : physical appearance, interests, occupations, ethnicities, etc. They are simplified images of how groups are seen and what they do. The categories are made up of interpretations, ideas and opinions about the elements.

From Psychology, these cognitions and interpretations about social groups are the stereotypes. We all have stereotypes because our mind organizes concepts in categories, and they are not always negative, they must be understood as two sides of the same coin.

The dangers of generalizing

In short, stereotypes are widespread generalizations about members of a social group that cause a tendency to accentuate similarities within the group, especially when the categorization has value or importance for the person making it and the differences with other groups.

If we know a black woman and a foreigner, we are classifying her in the groups of woman, foreigner and black race, due to classify her within these categories, stereotypes arise towards them of the three groups and in case they are negative, a series of beliefs and ideas are created about them that surely do not correspond with reality.

Stereotype formation is often socially motivated through observational learning. This is the reason why it is frequent the naturalness and spontaneity with which we learn the stereotypes in our social behaviour. In this case, t should be pointed out that we should be able to put reflection before the heuristic that implies generalizing in excess, especially in the case in which, more or less unconsciously, we have negative stereotypes towards a group of people. Broadening the focus and abstracting ourselves from the cultural background that imposes certain pre-established ideas on us can be key when looking at reality in a natural and non-stereotyped way.

Prejudice

Definition

Prejudices are the positive or negative feelings and emotions one has about a social group and its members . Affective evaluations depend on beliefs about the group. This is the affective component associated with the categories, the assessment. They are directly related to stereotypes, that is, if a stereotype is negative, negative prejudices may be generated, and if the stereotype is positive, positive prejudices may be generated.

Judging a priori

The basic difference is that prejudice is a kind of emotional evaluation, while stereotyping is a prior belief of a cognitive nature . In general terms, previous ideas and beliefs give rise to already “biased” evaluations in a positive or negative way. Those who identify with Atlético de Madrid value those who are members of the team more positively, while those who are members of Real Madrid will be valued negatively from the start. Prejudices and stereotypes are often present at the same time without originating in distinct phases.

Discrimination

Definition and examples

Finally, discrimination differs from the previous ones in that it is behavior itself. It is defined as differentiated and observable behaviour towards a social group or its members . In the case of the example of the black woman that we saw in the stereotypes, the people surrounding this woman, in addition to stereotypes, may develop prejudices and this may lead to discrimination, that is, a differentiated negative behaviour will occur or it may be positive for some others towards her person.

Analyzing prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination from Cognitive Psychology

To identify stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination we must study someone who belongs to a certain social group, and who because of being a member of this, is discriminated against by another person who comes from a different group. To analyze them, it is necessary to first observe the discriminatory behavior and from this, infer both prejudices and stereotypes, since this way, from the observable and objective we infer the emotional, which are the prejudices and the cognitive, which are the stereotypes.

As we can see, these concepts are related but different and it is necessary to know well the differences between them . Depending on the circumstances they may or may not show a relationship, that is, someone may develop stereotypes and prejudices but not discrimination, or they may only develop stereotypes but not prejudice or discrimination. Generally, stereotypes give rise to prejudices that can lead to discrimination.

Translating exposure into daily life

With these definitions in mind, we can know whether discrimination itself is taking place in our closest environment and more importantly, perceive whether there are indications in the form of stereotypes, prejudices or both that may lead to discriminatory behaviour.

It is in our hands to identify these situations and act to prevent them or, ultimately, to remedy them.

I recommend you read: “The 10 Reasons to Stop Judging Others”