How to Overcome Prejudice
Assess your own biases., Keep yourself accountable., Recognize the negative effects of prejudice., Reduce self-stigma.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Assess your own biases.
In order to combat your own biases, you first need to know what they are.
In social psychology there are tools used to assess implicit feelings and beliefs about different individuals; these are called Implicit Association Tests (IAT).These tests will tell you your level of inherent bias toward certain groups of people.
You can take an IAT, created by Harvard University, on any number of topics including sexuality, religion, and race.
These tests can be found online. -
Step 2: Keep yourself accountable.
A prejudice is a kind of handicap to your perspective as it forbids you to think beyond your assumptions and builds a virtual wall around your objective thinking.
Your own implicit and explicit attitudes toward individuals of a different race, for example, strongly predicts how friendly you will be toward them (both verbally and nonverbally).Acknowledge your own biases and prejudices, and actively replace them with more reasonable alternatives.For example, if you think something stereotypical about a certain gender, religion, culture or race (i.e. blondes are dumb, females are moody, ), remind yourself that this is a bias against that group and that you are over-generalizing. , In order to reduce prejudice or bias in yourself, it may be helpful to identify and understand the effects that your biases can have on others.
Being a victim of prejudice or overt discrimination can result in devastating mental health effects.
Dealing with prejudice and discrimination can lead to low self-esteem and depression as well as reductions in adequate health care, housing, education, and employment.Being in a situation where someone is prejudiced against you can lead to a decrease in your self-control.Remind yourself that if you have biases against others they may lead to dire consequences for those individuals. , Some individuals may have internalized self-stereotypes or prejudices.Self-stigma occurs when you have a negative belief about yourself.
If you agree with the belief (self-prejudice), it can lead to negative behaviors (self-discrimination).An example of this would be if someone has a negative belief that his mental illness means that he is “crazy.” Identify the possible ways you stigmatize yourself and actively attempt to change these beliefs.
For example instead of thinking, “I’m crazy because I have a diagnosis,” you can change this to, “Mental illnesses are normal and a large amount of the population has them.
This does not mean I am crazy.” -
Step 3: Recognize the negative effects of prejudice.
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Step 4: Reduce self-stigma.
Detailed Guide
In order to combat your own biases, you first need to know what they are.
In social psychology there are tools used to assess implicit feelings and beliefs about different individuals; these are called Implicit Association Tests (IAT).These tests will tell you your level of inherent bias toward certain groups of people.
You can take an IAT, created by Harvard University, on any number of topics including sexuality, religion, and race.
These tests can be found online.
A prejudice is a kind of handicap to your perspective as it forbids you to think beyond your assumptions and builds a virtual wall around your objective thinking.
Your own implicit and explicit attitudes toward individuals of a different race, for example, strongly predicts how friendly you will be toward them (both verbally and nonverbally).Acknowledge your own biases and prejudices, and actively replace them with more reasonable alternatives.For example, if you think something stereotypical about a certain gender, religion, culture or race (i.e. blondes are dumb, females are moody, ), remind yourself that this is a bias against that group and that you are over-generalizing. , In order to reduce prejudice or bias in yourself, it may be helpful to identify and understand the effects that your biases can have on others.
Being a victim of prejudice or overt discrimination can result in devastating mental health effects.
Dealing with prejudice and discrimination can lead to low self-esteem and depression as well as reductions in adequate health care, housing, education, and employment.Being in a situation where someone is prejudiced against you can lead to a decrease in your self-control.Remind yourself that if you have biases against others they may lead to dire consequences for those individuals. , Some individuals may have internalized self-stereotypes or prejudices.Self-stigma occurs when you have a negative belief about yourself.
If you agree with the belief (self-prejudice), it can lead to negative behaviors (self-discrimination).An example of this would be if someone has a negative belief that his mental illness means that he is “crazy.” Identify the possible ways you stigmatize yourself and actively attempt to change these beliefs.
For example instead of thinking, “I’m crazy because I have a diagnosis,” you can change this to, “Mental illnesses are normal and a large amount of the population has them.
This does not mean I am crazy.”
About the Author
Kyle Miller
A passionate writer with expertise in home improvement topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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