“People are often biased against others outside of their own social group, showing prejudice (emotional bias), stereotypes (cognitive bias), and discrimination (behavioral bias)” (Fiske, 2015). Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination has evolved throughout time, however has continued to exist. Although the biases were more noticeable prior to the 21st century, the biases are still evident in all aspects of our daily lives. These biases occur at work, school, and in public. Biases have also become more unacceptable throughout time, which instead of making it disappear, has instead, made it less transparent to the naked eye (Richeson, 2016). Some argue that biases, such as prejudice and stereotypes are innate in every individual. Others argue that any and all biases are learned behaviors along with any other behavior in the nature vs. nurture debate. This paper will discuss the differences among the three categories of bias and the milestones of the world in this regard.
Many parts of the world have not addressed biases in law. The United States, however has addressed it many times throughout history (Bodenhausen, Macrae, & Sherman, 2016). These laws make it improper and often times illegal to discriminate against others based on color, creed, age, ethnicity, race, religion, and many other protected statuses, including disability status. These laws have taken many years to pass and being prejudicial toward individuals is extremely frowned upon. The same is true of stereotypes, however this occurs more often than prejudice and discrimination in plain sight with some having no issue with it or calling any attention to it. The following illustration depicts the differences between the three categories of biases:
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"Differences between Stereotype, Discrimination, and Prejudice".
Maltreatment or abuse of an individual based on an individual’s background or protected status is called a hate crime and has a very severe penalty in the United States judicial system. This has not, however always been the case as History has shown that the vast majority engaged in prejudice and hate crimes at various points in history (Bodenhausen, Macrae, & Sherman, 2016). Some notable events were slavery and forced labor. After the September 11 Terrorist attacks there has been notable prejudice toward Muslims and Middle Eastern nationality individuals. Most recently, there has been increased prejudicial bias toward immigrants of Latin descent. There have also been very public stereotypical remarks toward women. Although there has been public outcry against stereotyping Mexican people and women, it has continued among supporters of these beliefs.
Stereotypes that exist about Mexican nationality individuals is that they are all criminal, they are rapists, they try to steal all American jobs, and that they are dirty. Stereotypes about women are that they should stay home and take care of the children, that they should not have the same say as a man, that men are stronger, that they are better homemakers, and that they should leave leadership positions to men. Women and Mexican individuals fight everyday to overcome these stereotypes. When these stereotypes turn into actions such as hiring or firing because of the gender or gender identity as well as the background or nationality of an individual is showing discriminating or acting out of prejudice. Unfortunately, this is continuing to occur as well. Social dominance orientation is the belief that biases occur in all environments because of the natural group hierarchy in every society (Fiske, 2015).
Stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice are not the same, although they are often used interchangeably unfortunately. Many individuals do not understand that although all three of these are categorized as bias, they are different forms of bias in that one is emotional, one is cognitive, and one is behavioral. Prejudice is something people feel, Stereotypes are something individuals have as a belief, and discrimination is an act. Prejudicial acts are often categorized as being criminal when these acts are against a protected class by law.
- Bodenhausen, G. V., Macrae, C. N., & Sherman, J. W. (2016). On the dialectics of discrimination: Dual processes in social stereotyping.
- Fiske, S. T. (2015). Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. Retrieved from https://nobaproject.com/
- Fiske, S. T. (2015). Intergroup biases: A focus on stereotype content. Current opinion in behavioral sciences, 3, 45-50.
- Richeson, J. A., & Sommers, S. R. (2016). Toward a social psychology of race and race relations for the twenty-first century. Annual review of psychology, 67, 439-463.
