Discrimination and bias are by no means new concepts, though they have the potential, and tendency, to emerge every time we come across something or someone different from us. Their danger lies in the fact that when acted upon, they invariably lead to detrimental outcomes – vehement social identity clashes that only deepen further the social rift which has existed for as long as this country itself.
A simple reverse cause/effect analysis can identify the basis of the problem: Brutality and violence are born out of discrimination, which in turn is caused by prejudice and stereotyping. So there you have it: Something as destructive as violence originates from something as trivial as prejudice. Insignificant as it may seem, prejudice harms all whom it involves – those it targets as well as those who target – putting individuals under a great amount of stress and pressure even during the most benign social interactions.
In the simplest terms, prejudice is a straightforward process of pre-evaluating or pre-judging others that is based on a number of factors, the most common ones being race, gender, religious affiliation and sexual orientation. The human brain is peculiar that way: to help us make sense of things, it prompts us to assign labels to new and unfamiliar objects based on existing information about similar items. The cognitive component of prejudice, also known as stereotyping, is then followed by its affective and behavioral elements. Translation: having categorized new knowledge, the brain facilitates the follow-up attitudes and decisions regarding it. These emotions may result in discriminative behaviors, although as long as a person doesn’t act on his or her prejudice, discrimination can be avoided.
What about prejudice, though? Can we avoid it as well? Unfortunately, science tells us that prejudice is in our genes and eliminating it from the genetic material is not something we can do. According to a research study from Queen’s University (based in Ontario, Canada), individuals are programmed to treat each other differently based on similarities and dissimilarities they share. The study shows that individuals who share many common features tend to be somewhat altruistic towards each other and very spiteful towards those who are different from them. Dr. Krupp, the lead research psychologist, explains: “Similar individuals are more likely to share copies of each other's genes and dissimilar individuals are less likely to. As a consequence, evolutionary theory predicts that organisms will often discriminate, because helping similar partners and harming dissimilar ones increase the fraction of the discriminating party's genes in future generations.” To quote other research on buying behavior, we buy from people we like. Who do we like? People like US!
It is also well established by researchers that individuals tend to see those who are different from them as more homogeneous as a group, compared to their own group. Also known as an out-group homogeneity bias, the consequences of this phenomenon can be further exacerbated by the fact that individuals are prone to downplay the disparities within their own group and amplify those between different groups.
So the scientific evidence declares that prejudice is an inherent part of every person; we are genetically wired to be racist, sexist, ethnocentric, etc. However, does that justify the discrimination and consequential brutality that are so rife in our society? The answer is NO. We may not be able to free ourselves of prejudice, yet it is well within our power to decide how to act – or refuse to act – on it. While we may be triggered and sometimes respond in an automatic and somewhat unconscious manner, we can catch those triggers and make different choices about how we will react.
The first and most important step in overcoming our destructive tendencies is to actually admit that prejudice is a part of our identity. Without awareness and acknowledgement, any further steps are meaningless. There is not one individual who is completely devoid of prejudice, and those who declare otherwise may not be being totally honest with themselves. Prejudice shows itself in many, many forms.
Acknowledgment of our faults, while an essential basis for change, is nothing without a genuine desire to change. However, once you get these two down, you can proceed to more actionable transformations that will help you subdue your biases and become more open to understanding other people.
- Watch for your triggers. What things that people do, or about the way they look, trigger a negative response in you? Notice patterns. It is tempting to direct your anger or annoyance towards a person, or a group of people, rather than a particular behavior, yet it leads to problems in assuming that “everyone is like that” in a particular category or group. Your “trigger” (i.e., the thing that sets you off) then brings forth the reaction, oftentimes negative and undesirable, and you can’t take it back. As a first step, be watchful and learn to identify the triggers in order to stop yourself from forming biased conclusions.
- “Hear” your self-talk when you use judgmental or subjective words – “That person is a jerk,” for example. What in their behavior has labeled them “jerk” in your mind? We often make judgements about people based on an immediate reaction and the subsequent emotions. Being disgusted, irritated or angry then deepens our prejudice. If you can start listening to what you say in reaction to your triggers, it will give you clues about what bugs you. Stop the negative self-talk in its tracks. It isn’t benefitting you.
- Practice reframing – this means turning a negative, subjective comment into something more neutral. Stay away from the “wrong” label and practice thinking of it as “different.” When it comes to perceptions, “wrong”, “strange”, “obnoxious” and similar terms do little justice to your true understanding of a person. Instead of “He’s a jerk,” how about “He can be very forceful and it is hard for me to deal with it sometimes.” It doesn’t change their behavior, but it changes the filter you have on it and might make it easier for you to accept that person the way they are.
- Recognize that, on some level, we are all the same. There are certain truisms that run through just being human. And of course, some people are more different from us than others; however, essentially, we share many more traits in common that we do differences. If you don’t believe this, start with just having commonalities in physical make-up – we all breathe, sneeze, yawn, and so on. Find the common ground. It is always there.
- Cut someone a break just for the sake of it. We don’t always realize what other people are going through. We don’t always understand that what might not seem like a challenge to us is a very real problem to someone else. Remember a time you behaved in a way you might not be so proud of, to remind yourself you are not perfect either. Realize that everyone has their struggles and choose to see the struggling person, not the one you reject.
