Stereotyping and Prejudice
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Stereotyping and Prejudice
One explanatory mechanism for stereotyping and prejudice involves social identity theory. The premise in question primarily establishes an individual’s sense of self/identity within society as based on membership/affiliation with a particular group (in-group). In this respect, people amplify their group’s status to augment their image. As such, people will engage in stereotyping and prejudice by discriminating against those that are not part of their group (out-group). The theory best explains the respective phenomena since it posits that the in-group members will act prejudicially against out-groupers by focusing on characteristics they deem negative to augment self-image.
To decrease prejudice, Aronson’s Jigsaw Classroom can be applied as a plausible social intervention due to the role it assumes in endorsing inclusion. Accordingly, the approach is applied to learning groups comprised of six different persons with diverse backgrounds and characteristics. Each member also possesses an exclusive and unique piece of information that will be applied for the sole aim of finishing the assigned task. The ultimate goal – as far as the measure is involved – is to ensure that the members work collaboratively without necessarily concentrating on the disparities or characteristics that they possess.
The jigsaw classroom approach can be explicitly implemented among hate groups founded based on race. Race-based hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, tend to possess stereotypical and prejudicial notions regarding members from other ethnic origins. In this respect, the intervention can be applied to thwart or decrease the discriminatory ideals that the respective hate group possesses concerning other racial/ethnic classifications. Members may be grouped with other persons from diverse racial backgrounds and encouraged to engage in the resolution of a puzzle that necessitates their full cooperation as an outcome of the unique information that each of them possesses. Such collaboration may be productive in decreasing racial conflict.