Amongst Friends – January 2009
John Birchall
09 Jan 2009
In his first edition of Amongst Friends for 2009, John Birchall looks at a number of issues crucial to our societies today.
He examines what prejudice is and how it affects racism and discrimination - and proposes ways in which we can address such trends in our communities and promote understanding and peace.
Amongst Friends – January 2009 (Edition 1)
A warm welcome to 2009, let’s hope it is a year that sees us work together to better the lives of all Africans.
Before I begin the normal content of these monthly contributions to the InterAction I thought it might be interesting to look at some dates that might be worth noting in your diaries. I have also included some quotes, which in my opinion may be relevant to some of those participating in the programme.
Best wishes,
John
Some dates for your diary
20 January Inauguration of President Obama in the US. His stance on climate change, the Middle East and the war on terror may be closer than George Bush's to British interests, but arguments over trade protectionism are possible.
February Elections in Israel, which could influence progress on Middle East peace.
April G20 summit at which Gordon Brown will propose a global economic recovery plan. If other states follow his fiscal stimulus lead, it could be a triumph; if not, he will look isolated. A general election has to be held in the United Kingdom by June 2010
June European parliament elections
November Copenhagen climate change conference at which a successor deal to Kyoto must be agreed.
Some quotes to ponder
"Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.’’
Robert Kennedy
“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.’’
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’’
Martin Luther King
"’Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.’’
‘‘One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.’’
Mahatma Ghandi
Worth Looking At
Some articles you might like to read.
An interesting article by the respected UK journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts on the oil industry in Nigeria
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7808670.stm
An excellent account of the peaceful changes in government that are taking place in Ghana
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7810191.stm
Leadership
For those new to the InterAction there are a number of leadership articles in previous editions. Topics covered include: Democracy, Rights and Strategic Thinking.
In this edition we will examine:
• perception
• persuasion
BOTH are central to leadership and require considerable thought.
Perception
When referring to perception we mean the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. An example of this in terms of political leadership took place recently in Australia.
The domestic financial system was broadly immune to the financial crisis that developed in the second half of 2008. However, the Australian people were concerned that their banking sector would face a significant crisis.
Put simply they "perceived" that a crisis was imminent even though it was not. The government therefore had to assure all citizens that their savings were safe and so they announced safety measures.
Though these will probably not be needed the action was to alter the perception that something was going to happen. Public perception is important to monitor when leading any organisation.
In many countries large sums of money are spent on public relations campaigns. These are designed to boost or in some cases re-assure the public that a particular company or organisation is acting in the best interest of the consumer, or in the case of a government in that of the electorate. Reassurance
You may like to research the case of Perrier the French bottled water, which was thought to contain too much of a chemical considered dangerous to human health.
Despite an expensive public relations campaign to re-assure the public that their fears were not founded on scientific fact the business (a multi-national corporation) their market share dropped. It has never returned to its position of market leader in bottled water.
Let’s look in a little more detail at how perception arises and how it can be addressed.
What is prejudice?
Prejudice is defined as a positive or negative attitude based on information or knowledge that is either illogical, unrelated to reality, or a distortion of fact, and that is unjustifiably generalised to all the members of a particular group. As with other attitudes, prejudice can be thought of as consisting of three components: cognitive, affective and behavioural.
• The beliefs that make up the cognitive component of prejudice are called stereotypes. Stereotypes are categories of cognitions concerning the members of a particular group. These cognitions are usually simple, often over-generalised, and frequently inaccurate. These can be seen in attitudes to a particular colour of skin, ethnic origin or other distinguishing fact such as a religious belief. Put simply we are all capable of bunching together a large number of individuals and assuming that they will all behave, believe etc. in the an identical way.
Stereotypes are not simply abstractions about group categories. They can act as "cognitive filters" through which we select what information to use, what to ignore, and how to interpret it. So, in some countries all immigrants are "thieves". Some will be but to assume all are is wrong – alas, as some of you know the "foreigner" complex is apparent in many countries.
• A crucial factor in prejudice appears to be the affective component. Stereotypes do not exist in isolation. They are accompanied by emotions, which are usually expressed in terms that can be distributed along a continuum ranging from the intensely negative to the very positive. This is often seen in attitudes shown towards people who are involved in same sex relationships. Those who oppose such unions will blame these individuals for a variety of social changes. One example of this has been the belief that HIV/Aids are largely the results of homosexual behaviour within a section of society.
• Discrimination represents the physical component of prejudice. As society becomes more sensitive to racial issues, many people will resist expressing prejudicial attitudes. In fact, some may go so far as to behave in a manner that implies that they are more tolerant than they really are. This process is known as reverse discrimination. Positive discrimination is one policy to counteract open prejudice but it can become a problem in its own right as some will consider it to be treating some people, such as a racial minority with "special" status and not selecting people merely on ability.
How do people develop prejudicial attitudes?
Prejudice is a universal human experience because it has so many sources – psychological, social, economic and cultural:
• Psychological
○ Social cognition: When we follow heuristics or mental shortcuts, we sometimes make errors of judgement. These mental shortcuts also play a role in the development of prejudice. Two fallacies that promote the formation of prejudicial stereotypes are the illusory correlation - an apparent correlation between two distinctive elements that does not actually exist - and out group homogeneity - a belief that members of a group to which one does not belong are very similar to one another – this is partly the result of ignorance and is apparent in all societies.
○ Prejudices about individuals or groups are usually developed on the basis of perceived differences of one or more characteristics or traits. These differences may be physical, sexual, racial, national or religious, or may pertain to such particulars as language, accent, social status or age. Once persons have identified themselves as belonging to one group (the in-group) and others as belonging to another group (the out-group), regardless of the original reasons for this social categorisation, they will expect to find inter group differences and will go so far as to create them if necessary. You will all know of examples of this and the results of such behaviour can be catastrophic.
○ Scapegoat: The tendency for individuals, when frustrated or unhappy, to displace aggression onto groups that is disliked, visible and relatively powerless
○ Attribution errors: One reason stereotypes are so insidious and persistent is the human tendency to make dispositional attributions - that is, to leap to the conclusion that a person’s behaviour is due to some aspect of his or her personality rather than due to some aspect of the situation. This is known as the fundamental attribution error
○ Self-esteem: The tendency to perceive one’s own group as superior and that of others as inferior may be based on a need to enhance one’s own self-esteem. Thus, people who belong to groups that preach racial hatred tend to be those whose own social status is rather low
○ Frustration/aggression: According to Dollard frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration always gives rise to aggression and aggression is always caused by frustration. Frustration (being blocked from achieving a desirable goal) has many sources
○ Self-fulfilling prophecies: A self-fulfilling prophecy is a stereotype that induces a person to act in a manner consistent with that stereotype. Such a tendency is especially insidious because the behaviour of the person who is the target of the stereotype then tends to confirm the stereotype
• Social
○ Affiliation: Apparently, affiliation and prejudice are two sides of the same coin. That is, along with the tendency to identify with and feel close to members of our own group or clan goes the tendency to be suspicious of others
○ Groupthink: The tendency for group members, especially elite groups, to assume that the group invariably has the right answer. It occurs when a group seeks a solution to a problem without fully considering all the possible alternatives
• Media
○ Attitudes can be influenced by the media through selective or biased reporting in newspapers or by the repetition of stereotypes in television shows. Visible minorities are underrepresented in television commercials or magazine advertising in many developed economies.
• Social norms:
Social norms are rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws and implicit cultural standards
• Social learning
○ Role of the parents: Parents have a powerful influence, not only because they play a role in what the child learns from day to day, but because this learning forms the foundation for all subsequent experience. For prejudicial attitudes to be acquired, children must first become "racially aware". In the early years ethnic attitudes are based on emotions and needs. The child then moves on to a second stage in which perception is dominant. The third, cognitive, stage is reached by the age of seven or eight. It is at this point that the child learns that members of an ethnic group have psychological as well as physical and behavioural characteristics
○ Operant conditioning: Most of the reinforcements associated with acquisition of prejudice are likely to be verbal or nonverbal indications of approval, such as the comment "those people are dirty" followed by a smile and a nod which the child then makes it a part of his or her belief system
○ Modelling: Not all learning involves the active intervention of a rewarding or punishing agent. Children often copy behaviour they have observed. Models, usually individuals with whom the child identifies, such as parents or teachers, have been shown to be highly effective in teaching attitudes and prejudice
○ The prejudiced personality: Parents who have authoritarian traits teach their children that status is very important. In this case, prejudice is incorporated into a belief and value system that forms a personality in which the world is perceived in categorical black/white, superior/inferior, us/them terms
○ Peer groups: Like parents, the members of peer groups are effective in influencing attitudes and behaviour because they offer information, reward conformity and punish nonconformity
• Social categorisation: Several studies have found that people favour their own group over others. According to social categorisation theory, this is because people tend to divide the social world into two categories, "us" (the in group) and "them" (the out group). This division is both necessary and sufficient for discrimination
• Social Identity: Social identity theory sees group membership as providing individuals with a positive self-image, consisting of personal identity and social identity. The more positive the image of a group to which one belongs, the more positive is one’s social identity and hence self-image. The more favourable social comparisons are with other groups, the higher members’ self-esteem will be. This results in social competition, since every group is similarly trying to enhance self-esteem
• Conformity: Conformity is a frequent part of social life, whether we conform to gain information, or to fit in and be accepted. Again, a relatively innocuous social behaviour, conformity, becomes particularly dangerous and debilitating when we enter the realm of prejudice. Many people hold prejudiced attitudes and engage in discriminatory behaviours in order to conform to, or fit in with, the prevailing majority view of their culture
• Competition: Most social psychologists believe that competition is an important factor in the development of prejudice. The competition need not be for tangible goods, it can be motivated by a desire for social superiority
• Economic
○ Resources: When times are tough and resources are scarce, members of the in-group will feel more threatened by members of the out group, and will therefore show more of an inclination toward prejudice, discrimination and violence toward the latter
○ Relative deprivation: According to relative deprivation theory, the discrepancy between our expectations (the things we feel entitled to) and actual attainments produces frustration. When attainments fall short of rising expectations, relative deprivation is relatively acute and results in collective unrest and prejudicial attitudes
○ Realistic conflict: Sheriff's (1966) realistic conflict theory proposes that inter group conflict arises when interests conflict. When two distinct groups want to achieve the same goal but only one can, increased prejudice and discrimination is produced between them
• Cultural
○ Nationalism: In modern history, a movement in which the nation-state is regarded as paramount for the realisation of social, economic, and cultural aspirations of a people. Nationalism is characterised principally by a feeling of community among a people, based on common descent, language, and religion.
○ Ethnocentrism: The belief that one's own ethnic group, nation or religion is superior to all others
How do we reduce prejudice?
Berry states that in plural societies there are two important inter group issues: the strength of the desire to maintain one's cultural distinctiveness, and the strength of the propensity for interethnic contact.
There are four possible outcomes:
• Assimilation occurs when a group surrenders its cultural identity and is absorbed into the larger society (the "melting pot" concept).
• Integration is the result when the group maintains its culture but also interacts with other groups.
• In those cases where inter group contact is unwelcome and cultural integrity is maintained, the outcome will either be segregation or separation.
• The final possibility, marginalisation, results when the traditional culture is lost and there is little contact with the larger society
Socio-cultural researchers emphasise the importance of changing people’s circumstances, rather than waiting around for individuals to undergo a moral or psychological conversion. They have identified four conditions that must be met before conflict and prejudice between groups can be overcome:
• Both sides must have equal legal status, economic opportunities and power.
• The larger culture - authorities and community institutions - must endorse egalitarian norms and thereby provide moral support and legitimacy for both sides.
• Both sides must have opportunities to work and socialise together, formally and informally.
• Both sides must co-operate, working together for a common goal
Why does enhanced contact reduce prejudice and discrimination?
By enhancing or increasing contact between separated or segregated groups, prejudice and discrimination may be reduced for at least four reasons:
• Increased contact might be effective because it leads people to realise that their attitudes are actually more similar than they assumed. The recognition of similarity between people leads to increased liking and attraction
• Increased contact may have benefits through the mere exposure effect, according to which, the more we come into contact with certain stimuli, the more familiar and liked they become.
• Favourable contact between two groups may lead to an opportunity to disconfirm the negative stereotypes held about them.
• Increased contact may lead to a reduction in out group homogeneity, because the out group members lose their strangeness and become more differentiated. As a result, they are seen as a collection of unique individuals rather than interchangeable "units"
What is racism?
Racism is based upon two main ideas. Ethnic allegiance implies that those who belong to a particular ethnic group share common histories, traits and aspirations, and that all those of other ethnic groups are outsiders to be seen as different and possibly dangerous. Social Darwinism implies that those enjoying status and influence owe their position partly to their biological superiority and that it is necessary to protect and enhance their power for the overall good of society
Racism may be broken down into several key components: ethnocentrism, prejudice, stereotypes, social distance and forms of discrimination.
Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to evaluate and rank all outsiders in terms of one’s own particular cultural standards and values. Perceived physical differences are only one potential source for ethnic labelling. Many cultural and behavioural traits, such as style of dress, food habits, language, religion, and even certain occupations may be predominantly associated with a particular ethnic group, by outsiders.
In contrast to ethnocentrism, which focuses on the in-group, prejudice focuses on and is directed toward a specific out-group. Because prejudice, for the most part, is learned through the examples, exhortations and actions of persons whom the growing child trusts and respects, the unsubstantiated racist assumptions behind the prejudice remain unquestioned and untested.
Stereotypes are over-generalised, rigid, cognitive maps or pictures in our heads based on unsubstantiated and usually sloganised beliefs about members of a given social category.
Among the key components in the definition of racism is the notion of social distance. This concept refers to the quantity and quality of social interaction among individuals and groups. When social distance is reduced and members of different ethnic groups interact more frequently and more informally, social relationships tend to become more intimate and more individualised
How is racism related to prejudice?
Prejudice does not necessarily or invariably lead to discrimination. The distinction between prejudice and discrimination lies in the difference between what one thinks feels and behaves as against what one does and from a human rights point of view, a critical distinction between prejudice and discrimination is that prejudice, in and of itself, does not violate human rights; discrimination invariably violates human rights The manner in which racism evolved in Canada can be best understood by seeing racism as a ladder.
The racist ladder’s first rung is stereotypes, which are characteristics attributed to a particular group. They are often created and perpetuated by popular culture: newspapers, magazines, cartoons, and later movies, television and other media exploit them as cultural shorthand. Racist jokes also play an important role.
The racist’s next step is prejudice, which is the belief that stereotypes are true and that; consequently, all members of a group possess the same characteristics attributed to it.
Some issues to consider
1. Within your own society what are the main determinants of how individuals perceive: individuals, relationships and how they might vote in an election?
2. How might you encounter problems of perception in your working lives?
3. What methods might you use to try and persuade someone that their current perception is, in your opinion incorrect?
Persuasion
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on "appeals" rather than strength. We all use a variety of ways of trying to influence the way in which people perceive an event or situation. The following are just some of the ways we try and persuade people that a certain path, belief or whatever is best for them and often the group to which they belong.
• Reciprocation - People tend to return a favour. Thus, the pervasiveness of free samples in marketing
• Commitment and Consistency - Once people commit to what they think is right, orally or in writing, they are more likely to honour that commitment, even if the original incentive or motivation is subsequently removed
• Social Proof - People will do things that they see other people are doing. Most of us like to appear to be sympathetic to what others are doing. We seldom feel comfortable if we are not part of the mainstream of thought or action. So, conformity is a strong driver for allowing the individual to accept the "mean" that others have established
• Authority - People will tend to obey authority figures, even if they are asked to perform objectionable acts. This is often used in defence of those who have behaved in ways we normally consider to be morally unacceptable. An example of this would be that "they acted on the orders of others", which is often used when those charged of war crimes are examined in a court of law
• Liking - People are easily persuaded by other people whom they like. People were more likely to buy if they liked the person selling it to them. So, companies use attractive people to sell their products, sometimes in television adverts the use of children is a way of allowing adults to buy something they might not have purchased • Scarcity - Perceived scarcity will generate demand. For example, saying offers are available for a "limited time only" encourages sales Propaganda is also closely related to Persuasion. It’s a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience.
The most effective propaganda is often completely truthful, but some propaganda presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience.
Some issues to consider
1. Think of several different circumstances and decide what is it that persuades you to say, take part in a particular sport, support a colleague for promotion within your organisation or vote for a particular politician.
2. We are all subject to propaganda. When do you feel comfortable accepting the "messages" designed to influence you and when do you feel hostile towards these and why?
More next time when we look in more detail at propaganda.
In the next edition I will look at the modern world through the eyes of Charles Darwin. It is the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous work "The origin of species", so I hope you will find my meander interesting.
Best wishes and please keep in touch via: john_birchall@bsc.biblio.net
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