Prejudice and stereotype and two issues that affect people in society. Stereotype refers to an image or character that individuals make about other people who are different from them. Prejudice refers to preconceived ideas that are not based on truth or facts. There are various difference and similarities between stereotype and prejudice. One of the similarities is that the concepts are related to attitudes and beliefs that individuals have towards things and people. Stereotype and Prejudice are products of adaptive processes, which tend to simplify the complex world (Hinton, 2013). Also, the concepts are biases which maintain and create social inequality in society. Prejudice and stereotype have a pernicious and pervasive impact on how we respond to others. On the other hand, stereotype and prejudice have a various difference. Prejudice in most cases is not based on the truth. The perception of others originates from a lack of knowledge (Stangor, 2000). A stereotype can be based on the truth. Also, prejudice us a feeling that individuals have about other based on their relationship with a particular group. Stereotype entails prejudgment of individuals because of the group they are associated.
Prejudice can develop from stereotype beliefs. For example, someone belief that those who eat meat do not care about the environment and their health. This is a stereotyped way of thinking. On the same note, an individual may dislike meat eaters just because they eat meat. The feeling of dislike is derived from negative stereotype (Brown, 2010). In most cases, people believe that elderly individual in society is mentally unstable. When one sees an elderly person talking loudly alone, one will quickly conclude that the elderly is mentally unstable. In the real sense, the elderly is communicating using a phone. This shows that individual can draw a conclusion from their thoughts rather than noticing the facts. Stereotype drive individual perceptions to believe on their expectations.
Prejudice and stereotype affect the attitudes and behaviors of the individual. The concepts prejudice influence overall impression of individuals on other. For example, it influences the attitude of people to believe that a group of individual have the same attributes. It hinders the aspect of diversity in society (Hinton, 2013). Also, stereotype affects the community negatively. It can distance individuals based on the preconceived ideas that are false. Also, it leads to aggression, inability to focus and failure to make rational decisions.
References
Brown, R. (2010). Prejudice: Its Social Psychology. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hinton, P. (2013). Stereotypes, Cognition, and Culture. New York: Taylor & Francis Press
Stangor, C. (2000). Stereotype and Prejudice: Essential Readings. London: Wiley
