Prejudice & Stereotypes

Prej·u·dice /ˈprejədəs/

“Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or experience”

We are born without any association with religion, caste or creed. The only thing that binds us is the people that brought us into this world with avidity. Our initial identities are sculpted by that relation, how we evolve from it truly varies.

Humans are engineered to be ‘group-living’ species with deep ancestral roots. This initial identity dictates what ‘group’ we belong to and partially influences the way we think about the world.

Prejudice stems from the way we think, accompanied by a deeper psychological need which is ultimately baseless and results in preconceptions, usually negative towards certain groups or individuals. This may lead to stereotypes and results in us assuming information.

I recently participated in an exercise at work around identifying stereotypes. Being a person of colour with a non-rhotic accent, participants approached me with observations that included ‘Good with Computers’, ‘Someone coming from a small village’ or ‘Doesn’t have a university degree’. Except for one, none of the observations were true. This shows how we preconceive information, well before meeting and knowing an individual. I have been personally guilty of this and have had preconceptions about people before performing tasks or even when I was migrating to a new country.

We experience being stereotyped every single day; it’s ingrained into our very existence through the social hierarchy. This has even influenced the way I have perceived and thought about society, peers, family and everything I have interacted with.

Lack of Empathy has been one of the leading causes of prejudice and stereotypes. We don’t put ourselves in someone’s shoes, think about how they would react in a similar situation and fail to gain an understanding of other people's actions.

In today’s world, we are more connected than ever exposing ourselves to increasing diversity. We should use this to our advantage and strive for ways to reduce prejudice and be better at understanding others.

August 07, 2020

Prejudice & Stereotypes

Prej·u·dice /ˈprejədəs/

“Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or experience”

We are born without any association with religion, caste or creed. The only thing that binds us is the people that brought us into this world with avidity. Our initial identities are sculpted by that relation, how we evolve from it truly varies.

Humans are engineered to be ‘group-living’ species with deep ancestral roots. This initial identity dictates what ‘group’ we belong to and partially influences the way we think about the world.

Prejudice stems from the way we think, accompanied by a deeper psychological need which is ultimately baseless and results in preconceptions, usually negative towards certain groups or individuals. This may lead to stereotypes and results in us assuming information.

I recently participated in an exercise at work around identifying stereotypes. Being a person of colour with a non-rhotic accent, participants approached me with observations that included ‘Good with Computers’, ‘Someone coming from a small village’ or ‘Doesn’t have a university degree’. Except for one, none of the observations were true. This shows how we preconceive information, well before meeting and knowing an individual. I have been personally guilty of this and have had preconceptions about people before performing tasks or even when I was migrating to a new country.

We experience being stereotyped every single day; it’s ingrained into our very existence through the social hierarchy. This has even influenced the way I have perceived and thought about society, peers, family and anything I have interacted with.

Lack of Empathy has been one of the leading causes of prejudice and stereotypes. We don’t put ourselves in someone’s shoes, think about how they would react in a similar situation and fail to gain an understanding of other people's actions.

In today’s world, we are more connected than ever exposing ourselves to increasing diversity. We should use this to our advantage and strive for ways to reduce prejudice and be better at understanding others.

Inspired by the common Stereotype in my life - The Wife!