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Metaphysical Materialism1248

How do I know if I am simply rehearsing my prejudices?

Since I sometimes came across people who accuse other people of this.
asked on Thursday, May 07, 2015 06:42:49 AM by Metaphysical Materialism1248

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Bo Bennett, PhD
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Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group. Simply acknowledging that you might be prejudice is a very good start—asking the question begins the critical thinking process. Prejudice includes the three components of attitude: affective, cognitive, and behavior, so you need to think about each area in terms of the possible prejudice. To illustrate this point, let's use an example from the headlines: the riots in Baltimore.

Affective. How do I feel about each "side" of this situation? Do I have negative feelings for the police or authority? Do I have negative feelings for those low on the socioeconomic scale? Usually feelings cannot be fully understood using reason (if we try, we often just confabulate —or make up reasons). Strong negative feelings for one of these groups is an indicator of prejudice.

Cognitive. If I were to describe each group as honestly as possible, would either description be overwhelmingly negative? If so, this is an indicator of prejudice.

Behavioral. How do I act towards a group? Do I discriminate in any way? Do my behaviors reflect the way I feel or what I believe about this group? If so, this is an indicator of prejudice.

Prejudice exists on a spectrum, so it is certainly possible for some people to be more prejudice than others, and a low level of prejudice does not have to be problematic, especially if it is mostly in the affective and cognitive domains. For example, if a White guy finds himself having uncontrollable negative feelings around a Black guy, but the White guy reasons that this feeling is an irrational response (perhaps conditioned from his youth) and behaves in such a way that the prejudice is undetectable, then not only is this not necessarily problematic, but it is commendable. Changing the way we feel is often a long process facilitated by deliberate reasoning. The more we reason that feelings we have are irrational, the more likely those feelings are to change.
answered on Thursday, May 07, 2015 08:11:23 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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Sam Spade
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answered on Friday, May 08, 2015 09:48:36 AM by Sam Spade

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