Prejudices

Stereotype or prejudice?

A stereotype is a kind of “mental image”; a prejudice is a rigid, unchangeable judgment based on stereotypes.

Stereotypes and prejudice, therefore, are not the same thing: we could think of prejudices as “distorted” evolutions of stereotypes.

Not all stereotypes lead to a prejudice, but every prejudice is based on rigid, unchangeable stereotypes.

Prejudice: A Bit of Etymology

The word “prejudice” derives from Latin and owes its etymology to the words “prae” (meaning “before”) and “judicium” (meaning judgment, opinion): it means to judge before knowing, to judge prematurely.

Prejudice is unchangeable: it is rigid, set in stone, and not even new knowledge can challenge it.

Holding a prejudice involves harboring positive beliefs about one’s own social group and negative ones about a group different from one’s own.

Being convinced that one’s geographic origin or religious belief entails indisputable advantages over a different background or spirituality, for example, means holding prejudices.

Anatomy of Prejudices

Within every prejudice, we can identify an emotional component (aversion toward the other social group, preference for one’s own group), cognitive (altered perception, leading to the impression that people belong to unchangeable social categories with rigid traits), and behavioral (prejudice toward a social group also leads, for example, to avoiding contact with them or opposing them in a more or less overt manner).

The Self-Confirmation of Prejudices

Our minds crave consistency, and sometimes they seek it in inappropriate ways. Let’s consider an example.

If a person of African descent is lying on a bench, we might assume they are homeless and unemployed, when in fact they might simply be a worker on their lunch break.

When we form an idea, precisely because of this need for consistency and coherence, our brain tends to hold onto it without questioning it (which requires effort in terms of cognitive and emotional resources, among others).

When we harbor prejudices, the risk is that we become prey to our own preconceptions, which, on the surface, seem to give us security—but instead undermine various aspects of our lives.

In the next article, we will address the topic of gender stereotypes.

——————————————————

My current fee for an individual session is €80 (plus a €2 revenue stamp, bringing the total cost of the session to €82); a couples’ session costs €102.

All sessions last 50 minutes and at the end of the interview, I issue a health receipt that can be claimed as a sanitary cost when filing your tax return.

For consultations, psychotherapy, or information, you can contact me via WhatsApp message at 3280194286 or email me at info@giorgiaaloisio.it