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FYS 101: Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

This guide is designed to support new students at SU.

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Terminology

Definitions from Wikipedia:

Bias is a disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-mindedprejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, or a belief. In science and engineering, a bias is a systematic errorStatistical bias results from an unfair sampling of a population, or from an estimation process that does not give accurate results on average.

stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group's personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information, but can sometimes be accurate.

Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavorable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's perceived personal characteristics, such as political affiliationsexgendergender identitybeliefsvaluessocial classagedisabilityreligion

sexualityraceethnicitylanguagenationalityculturecomplexionbeautyheightbody weightoccupationwealtheducationcriminalitysport-team affiliationmusic tastes or other perceived characteristics.

Discrimination is the act of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as racegenderagereligion, or sexual orientation. Discrimination especially occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in a way which is worse than other people are treated, on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in certain groups or social categories. It involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group.

 

Resources: Books

Resources: Podcasts

Resources: Videos

Resources: Scholarly Articles

This is a longitudinal study that focuses on the contact hypothesis for reducing prejudice between groups. The contact hypothesis is the concept that interactions between groups can reduce prejudice. Negative intergroup emotions and desire for social distance are the main indicators of prejudice in this study. This study was conducted with school students in Germany, Belgium, and England.

In this essay, it explores implicit bias and the practical and legal effects of it. It defines and explains implicit bias and predicts real world behavior in a statistically significantly way. For practical significance, these small burdens of casual bias accumulate over time and take an emotional toll on people. For legal reasons, understanding implicit bias is key for anti-discriminatory laws.

This is a cross-sectional study with Filipino American and Korean American participants. It focuses on two conflicting Asian American stereotypes of being a perpetual foreigner and a model minority. It focuses on how these stereotypes can have different effects by ethnicity, age, and nativity to the United States. The findings in this study are vital for better supporting Asian Americans deal with these adverse racial stereotypes.

In this article, it explains racial bias that is present in algorithms and examples of reported discrimination. It also examines the role of implicit bias during the design and execution of algorithms that reinforce stereotypes and inequalities. It explores social media sites, ride sharing services, and home sharing services.