In-group and Out-group

Social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as

being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not
identify. People may for example identify with their peer group, family, community, sports team,
political party, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nation. The terminology was made popular
by Henri Tajfel and colleagues beginning in the 1970s during his work in formulating social
identity theory. An ingroup is a group comprised of things, people, or other entities that are
similar to one another. Particularly in the case of humans, ingroups are defined by beliefs,
values, and identities. Within ingroups, there is a shared understanding that there is an element of
commonality amongst group members. An outgroup is a group defined by its dissimilarity to an
in-group. Where an in-group is unified by a shared element of identity, be it a belief or a trait,
and out-group is defined by its lack of that shared element.
The social groups we belong to, help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974) and people are often
biased against others outside of their own social group (out-groups), showing prejudice
(emotional bias), stereotypes (cognitive bias), and discrimination (behavioral bias).
Stereotypes, Prejudice and discrimination occur with respect to differences in race, ethnicity,
gender, language and a variety of other social categories. Stereotypes Prejudice and
discrimination is a widespread phenomenon, present in all societies of the world. Our society
often innocently creates and perpetuates stereotypes, but these stereotypes often lead to unfair
discrimination
Stereotype - A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image. A
partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation. A preconceived opinion;
bias; sentence passed before proper examination of the circumstances Stereotypes can be either
positive ("black men are good at basketball") or negative ("women are bad drivers"). But most
stereotypes tend to make us feel uniqueness of individuals by painting all members of a group
with the same brush.
A stereotype is an attitude towards a person or group on the basis of some physical characteristic
or physical fact. A stereotype is a specific belief or assumption (thoughts) about individuals
based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics.
Stereotypes can be positive or negative and when overgeneralized are applied to all members of
a group. For example, the model minority stereotype of Asian Americans as highly intelligent,
diligent and good at math can be damaging professionally, academically. We develop
stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to
make fair judgments about people or situations. Television, books, comic strips, and movies are
all abundant sources of stereotyped characters.
Social psychologists define a stereotype as the cognitive component of the prejudiced attitude. It
is defined as a generalization about a group whereby identical characteristics are assigned to
virtually all members, regardless of actual variation among the members. Stereotypes are
oversimplified generalizations about groups of people. Stereotypes can be based on race,
ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation—almost any characteristic.
Prejudice – A prejudice evolves from a stereotype. Prejudices can be positive as well as
negative. Positive stereotypes can also lead to discrimination but largely not as harmful as
negative. Based on our stereotypes if we start forming hostile or negative opinions of others or
when a person dislikes another for no good reason, or has formed a hostile opinion of someone
before even getting to know them it is prejudice. It is in other words a negative judgment or
opinion formed about an individual or group without knowledge of the facts. Prejudice are belief
about certain specific groups which may
not be expressed in behaviour. Prejudice is common against people who are members of an
unfamiliar cultural group. An example of prejudice is having a negative attitude toward people
who are not born in the United States.
Social psychologists define Prejudice as the affective component - hostile or negative attitude
toward a distinguishable group of people based solely on their group membership.

Explicit vs. Implicit Prejudice

Explicit prejudice occurs when an individual is open about and aware of their emotional biases.
On the other hand. Explicit prejudice, negative feelings about an out-group that are openly
admitted, is very difficult to measure because this is generally not socially acceptable.
Implicit prejudice is unconscious, meaning that the person who holds prejudices is unaware that
they exist. Implicit prejudice, which is the relatively automatic and unconscious in-group
preference.
Discrimination -- Discrimination is a major societal problem because it is so pervasive, takes so
many forms, and has such negative effects on so many people. Treating people in a less
favorable way because they are members of a particular group. Discrimination is prejudice in
action. When prejudice is expressed in behaviour it is called discrimination. When someone acts
on prejudiced attitudes toward a group of people this is known as
discrimination. Discrimination is negative action toward an individual as a result of one’s
membership in a particular group.
Social psychologist define discrimination as the behavioral component of the prejudiced
attitude - an unjustified negative or harmful action toward members of a group based on their
membership. discrimination—unjustified negative behaviors toward members of outgroups
based on their group membership
As a result of holding negative beliefs (stereotypes) and negative attitudes (prejudice) about a
particular group, people often treat the target of prejudice poorly. Discrimination can extend to
institutions or social and political systems.
Discrimination is a type of prejudicial treatment based on a person's social identity. For example,
if a person has a name that is typically associated with countries in Central or South America,
they may be denied a job interview simply due to the name listed at the top of their resume; in
this case, they have been discriminated against based on negative prejudices employers may have
about their nationality, ethnic group, language, and/or immigration status.
Individual Discrimination vs. Institutional Discrimination
Individual discrimination occurs when individuals act based on their personal prejudices
against specific social groups. An example would be if a white landlord refused to rent to Black
individuals based on their prejudice against Black ethnic groups. But small groups of people can
also practice individual discrimination based on their collective prejudice. For example, a group
of male employees may discriminate against a female employee by giving her menial tasks,
judging her skill level as less based on the stereotypes about female roles in society.
 Institutional discrimination is enacted on a societal level as institutions discriminate against
social minority groups by establishing a standard that solely represents the dominant groups in
society. In this case, individuals from minority groups will experience inequitable power
structures that are designed to deny access to specific social groups. For instance, healthcare
institutions have been known to discriminate against Black and Indigenous peoples by denying
them access to quality services. Ultimately, institutional discrimination affects government
policies, and thus, constitutional rights.
Why Do Stereotypes leading to Prejudice and discrimination persist?
Confirmation bias :
•People look for confirming evidence to support the stereotype they hold
Ethnocentrism :
• The belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or religion, region or language is superior to all
others and a corresponding disdain for all other groups.
• Aids survival by making people feel attached to their own group and willing to work on their
group’s behalf.
Intergroup conflict :
• People favour ingroups over outgroups in order to enhance their self-esteem
• Our self-esteem has 2 components: 1) personal identity 2) social identities (based on the groups
we belong to)
• People belittle “them” in order to feel secure about “us”.
Why Do Prejudice and Discrimination Exist?
Prejudice and discrimination persist in society due to social learning and conformity to social
norms. Children learn prejudiced attitudes and beliefs from society: their parents, teachers,
friends, the media, and other sources of socialization, such as Facebook (O’Keeffe & Clarke-
Pearson, 2011). If certain types of prejudice and discrimination are acceptable in a society, there
may be normative pressures to conform and share those prejudiced beliefs, attitudes, and
behaviors. For example, public and private schools are still somewhat segregated by social class.

What are the negative effects of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination on mental
health- People may experience mental ill-health and other challenges as a result of stereotypes,
prejudice and discrimination. People, who are the targets of stereotypes, prejudice and
discrimination may:
 have low self-esteem
 experience mental disorders such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
 begin to believe negative stereotypes about themselves
 experience intergenerational trauma
 feel like they lack control of their own life
 experience issues at school and/or work (e.g. bullying, harassment, etc.)
 start to lose hope in the future
 experience loneliness and isolation
 feel like they’re unable to trust others
 experience physical effects (e.g. trouble sleeping, etc.)
TECHNIQUES TO COUNTER PREJUDICE AND ITS EFFECTS :
prejudice is common in all human societies and exerts damaging effects both on the victims and
on those who hold such viewsConsidering the growing prejudice among people over
religion,region, language, race, it seems almost like prejudice is inevitable.
But stereotyping and prejudice can be definitely reduced to a largeextent by becoming aware and
educating ourselves. And with concentrated multi-pronged approach we can do many things to
counter prejudice.

1. Teaching children Acceptance Instead of Bigotry (narrowmindedness)

: Homes and schools are places where children learn to get their generalizations leading to
stereotypes. It is the responsibility of parents, teachers to bring their children up with acceptance
and positive attitudes towards other groups and be role models. Because often the attitudes and
prejudiced notions are not necessarily taught but ‘caught’ from adults and the environment the
children operate in.
2. Teaching children from an early age to respect all groups:
We must teach children, including ones very different from their own - prejudice can be nipped
in the bud or at least curbed. Valuing Diversity is very important. Ethnocentrism should be
discouraged. The education of young children should promote respect for a multicultural society
and tolerance and acceptance virtures that need to be developed quite consciously.

3. Increased Intergroup Contact-

Recent findings indicate that if people merely know that friendly contacts between members
oftheir own group and members of various out groups (groups in which we do not belong) is
possible, their prejudice towards these groups can be sharply reducedincreased inter-group
contact can remove prejudice and hatred. However, there are some conditions like the groups
interacting must be roughly equal in status, the contact situation must involve cooperation and
not competition.
4. Reducing Prejudice through Cognitive interventions:
Weakening stereotypes: Stereotypes involve category-driven processing -- thinking about
others in terms of their membership in social categories or groups. Stereotypes can be reduced if
persons can be made to engage in attribute-driven processing-- thinking about the unique
characteristics of individuals and objective judgment.
5. Cooperative activities: Cooperative activities such as team building exercises, workshops
involving games that help to remove bias and prejudice should be carried out in schools,
colleges, work places, etc. It is a good way to reduce animosity and bitterness that stems from
low self esteem and stereotyped attitudes. Thus, non-competitive contact between in and out
groups on terms of equal status and the pursuit of common, superordinate goals which are
attainable by cooperation is the
way forward.
6. Media responsibility: Instead of perpetuating stereotypes the media should take responsibility
to remove prejudices and negative attitudes. It is the responsibility of every individual to be
aware of the stereotypes and take care so as to not to
discriminate and create a more equitable society.
7. Role of educational institutions: Educational inequality leads to bias and discrimination.
High standards of educational experience, should be available to every student. In addition
schools and colleges have to deal with so many other situations
that cause prejudice and hatred. Efforts to address bias, prejudice and discrimination should be
comprehensive in nature.