Psychology Insight on Why People Discriminate
I am including my essay question plus what I have already written.
I have tried to discuss the difference of social influence and discrimination onto different minority groups during the pandemic. I'm not sure I am making my point across clearly.
“With reference psychological theories critically discuss what insights might psychology provide explaining why some people discriminate. Consider a recent social event or phenomenon to help you explore this topic”
In this essay I will look to critically discuss the psychological theories of social influence and prejudice. Particularly their impact on racism in the recent social phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement that started during the pandemic. Specifically, how the pandemic influenced the levels of racism towards people of Asian origin, and if social influence surrounding the Black Lives Matter influenced the public attitudes towards black people but not Asian.
Social influence is the theory that the society around you can influence your attitudes or behaviours, or how you express them (Mcleod, 2019).
There are many different forms of social influence, but I will discuss informational influence and minority influence.
Informational influence refers to the idea that we are influenced by a person or group who we perceive to have accurate knowledge of a situation (Stangor, Jhangiani, & Tarry, 2015). The idea that we are listening to facts can change our beliefs and behaviours, an example of this is how a party leader or MP can influence his constituency because they believe in his knowledge.
Prejudice is a preconceived judgement of a person or group of people, based solely on the social group they belong to (E.g Race, Gender, Age) (Mcleod, 2008). Many racist attitudes or behaviours are developed from prejudice.
During the COVID-19 pandemic racism came to the forefront of conversation when the world was rocked by the death of George Floyd. We all watched from our homes as the awful tragedy took over our screens and the black lives atter movement subsequently took over our social media feeds and streets (Valeras, 2020). This highlighted the mistreatment of black men women and children to the shock of many who did not believe racism was so prevalent in our modern society (Valeras, 2020).
This opened a wide conversation with demonstrations taking place all over the world. Many people gained knowledge on prejudice and realised that although overt racism (outwardly vocal and aggressive forms of racism) is much less common, covert racism (subtle, disguised racism often unintended but implicit bias) is still happening day in and day out around the world (“Overt and Covert Racism,” n.d.).
The Black Lives Matter movement is an example of minority influence, this is when a person from a minority group or minority group begin to change the beliefs and attitudes of the majority (Waude, 2017). It cannot be questioned that this is a positive notion, however meanwhile there was a rise in anti-Asian racism all over the world. This raises the question, was the minority influence of Black Lives Matter distracting from the issue of racism on a whole?
It was widely reported that the covid 19 pandemic originated in the wet markets of Wuhan, china. China quickly isolated the area and put Wuhan into quarantine, however the media began reporting headlines such as ‘when will they learn’ pathologizing Chinese cultures and practices. The US president even calling the Covid 19 virus the “Chinese virus” in a speech that was shown all over the world, he often sent tweets blatantly blaming china for the outbreak of the virus. The media and politicians are perceived as people of power, who hold knowledge that the average person does not. They are majority groups who can create informational influence on the general population, who conform to their ideas so they can be perceived to be accurate in their own knowledge (Stangor, Jhangiani, & Tarry, 2015). This resulted in anti-Asian discrimination. Discrimination is actions or attitudes towards a person or group based on prejudice beliefs (Mcleod, 2008). There are reports of hotels insisting on Asian Americans being made to quarantine just for ‘looking Chinese’ (Yang, Nhan, & Tung, 2021). Asian British front-line staff being stopped in the street and told they are responsible for the pandemic and boarders to china being closed before the stay-at-home order (Yang, Nhan, & Tung, 2021).
The idea that Chinese people are solely responsible for the pandemic is simple untrue, but many around the world believed it completely (Cheng, Kim, Reynolds (Taewon Choi), Tsong, & Joel Wong, 2021).
The Black Lives Matter movement and Covid 19 related Anti-Asian discrimination are two examples of how social influence can change the beliefs and attitudes of the community. On one hand a minority group has begun to positively impact the attitudes and behaviours of the community by opening a discussion about racism. On the other, a majority group holding power has influenced the wider population by spreading misinformation negatively impacting their attitudes and beliefs. Although both topics are racism based it seems as though the influence has resulted in racism being subjective (“Overt and Covert Racism,” n.d.), the world leaders and media who are outraged by the death of George Floyd and condemn racism in this instance are condoning the discrimination of the Asian people during the Covid-19 pandemic (Jones, 2021).
This highlights the impact informational influence can have on a community, if we can be led to believe something we are so heavily opposed to can be acceptable if the situation fits
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https://www(dot)maxanders(dot)com/four-reasons-why-we-discriminate/
https://www(dot)apa(dot)org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/keita
Psychology Insight on why People Discriminate considering the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement
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Psychology Insight on why People Discriminate considering the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement
Discrimination and unfounded bias have been in discussion since the start of life. People discriminate for various reasons related to their psychology that affect their perceptions. Psychologists say that humans are naturally oriented to form categories about other people and objects (APA 2022). The attitude of people who discriminate is usually a direct reflection of their psychosocial complexities, in addition to the sociocultural practices that shape their lives, their economic forces, and the deeply integrated family and social beliefs. For instance, the BLM movement portrays and explains high-level discrimination against black people, primarily from police brutality and unjust killings. In the United States (US), it is recorded that people of black descent are more likely to be killed unfairly by the police than white people (Williamson Trump and Einstein 2018). Generally, discrimination emanates from deep and heavy generalizations concerning certain people and social groups. Therefore, people carry on false and unrealistic perceptions about others and groups while at the same time harbouring a moral sense and cognitive superiority concerning their groups (APA 2022). The essay will critically discuss psychological insights to explain why people discriminate, for instance, in the concepts derived from the BLM movement, referencing the psychodynamic and social cognitive theories.
The psychodynamic theory originated by Sigmund Freud to explain the processes and interpersonal links beyond an individual's conscious awareness. These processes are especially steered by childhood experiences still embedded in the unconscious. The psychodynamic theory proposes that the forces beyond a person's consciousness or awareness trigger and explain how the person behaves the way they do (Bornstein Maracic and Natoli 2018). The unconscious mind is composed of mental processes out of a person's awareness and significantly influence their judgements, behaviour, and feelings. Sigmund Freud described the unconscious mind as the primary source of human behaviour and the most significant since it cannot be seen (Berzoff Flanagan and Hertz 2021). Past experiences, especially those emanating from childhood, are stored in the unconscious part of the mind and usually influence decisions, motives, and feelings.
The psychodynamic theory posits several assumptions. It states that all forms of behaviour have an underlying cause. People behave the way they do due to the influence of their unconscious minds (Bornstein Maracic and Natoli 2018). An individual’s unconscious has different aspects that struggle against each other. These include the id, the superego, and the ego. The id is an instinctive personality component comprising all the biological characteristics inherited at birth. These features include sex, eros, and aggressive instinct (Hwang 2019). The superego consists of societal morals and values learned from parents and teachers. The ego exists primarily to create mediation between an unrealistic id and the superego, which entails the real external world (Luyten et al. 2017). Therefore, the ego forms the basic decision-making aspect of an individual’s personality.
Considering the key components and principles of the psychodynamic theory, discrimination against black people can be understood. The police and people conducting the injustices may have been conditioned to believe that black people are associated with crime and that nothing productive can come out of them. The notion is deeply integrated into their unconscious mind because while growing up, they might have seen other people talking ill of black people or outrightly discriminating against them. The ill notion, emotions, and feelings against black people emanate from their unconscious minds. The psychodynamic theory is, therefore, important in understanding discrimination against black people. First, it recognizes that their childhood largely influences the mental health and standpoint of people who discriminate. Second, the theory recognizes that people who discriminate are products of both nurture and nature (Luyten et al. 2017). They have internal drivers that influence their thoughts and actions. The psychodynamic theory, therefore, aids in understanding why people discriminate. However, the theory has a few limitations and is prone to criticism in its attempt to help understand why people discriminate. First, the theory fails to account for the ability of a person who discriminates to engage in meaningful thought and be in a position to alter their behaviour.
Another psychological theory that critically explains why people discriminate in relation to the BLM movement is the social cognitive/Learning theory (SCT). The theory proposes that for learning or for a behaviour to be adopted, an individual must interact reciprocally with the environment and the behaviour (Schunk and DiBenedetto 2020). SCT places a keen emphasis on social influence and its emphasis on internal and external reinforcements. It looks at how people acquire behaviour and the social environment in which they perform and execute it. Additionally, a person's past experiences are taken into account to explore whether a behaviour will take place or not (Schunk and DiBenedetto 2020). It is out of these past experiences that reinforcements and expectations are used to shape their likelihood of engaging in a particular behaviour and their reasons for doing so.
In the Black Lives Matter connotations, discrimination could be explained through the SCT. People’s behaviour and interactions can be explained through their social contexts, in how they influence and are influenced by their environment. What people see happening and how they see it is what they reproduce through their deeds (Usher and Schunk 2017). For instance, discrimination against black people spread through the influence of the social environment, entailing people to do and think in line with what they see being done. SCT assumes that people learn behaviours through critical observation of other people's behaviours and the consequences. Literally, black people are associated with violence and theft, arising from racial prejudice (Small and Pager 2020). The notion is far spread such that people will treat them in a manner that is in accordance with the set social assumptions, actions, and beliefs.
When police brutality against black people first surfaced, several white people agreed with it and praised the police for fulfilling their duty. The behaviour of the police was reinforced positively, making them imitate it again and again before the matter caught international attention. In SCT, behaviour that gains positive reinforcement is likely to be imitated and upheld (Usher and Schunk 2017). Therefore, the rate of discrimination against black people rose due to the appraisal that the police received from the white popul...