Origins of Racism Essay

The author of this piece is Dr. Gordon Allport. He is the former head of Harvard’s Department of Psychology as well as the founding father of social psychology. Allport published many books including The Nature of Prejudice (1954). The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that in-groups are everywhere and identity is based on our in-groups. This essay is an excerpt from the book The Nature of Prejudice in 1954 and is a credible source because the principles Allport discussed are still studied by psychologists and researchers today. In the essay, Allport speaks of reference groups and how it relates to in-groups. According to Allport reference groups are the group that an individual wishes to be apart of, but an in-group is

As stated in "You May Ask Yourself" by Dalton Conley a reference group is defined as "a group that helps us understand or make sense of our position in society relative to other groups"(Conley 161). There are many reference groups that we all encounter and compare ourselves to everyday without even noticing that we are doing so. This groups can include classmates, clubs, teammates(if you play or played a sport), and many other groups that we could encounter on a daily basis. I found that I would often use the goalies on the opposing teams as a reference group to judge my performance as a lacrosse goalie. In doing this I either left a game feeling great, or

15. Which of these is an illustration of the concept of out-group homogeneity? 
A. Members of some minority groups are perceived as being very similar to the dominant group in society.
B. Members of a set of minority groups, such as Laotians, Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesians, are perceived as being similar enough to share a general category (Asian).
C. Members of all groups considered minority groups in a society are perceived as having the

<br>Outgroup homogeneity bias is the tendency to assume that there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of the ingroups as defined by the textbook. An illustration of outgroup homogeneity bias is found in the book when Williams's Uncle Jim "expressed his desire to be stationed in France, the captain became angry and said, "All you colored boys want is white women I thought you were different." (Williams, 94). This form of stereotyping may also be seen as subtyping. Subtyping is the ability of individuals to hold negative feelings towards a particular social group even though they may like individual members in the group. Another example of subtyping is revealed in the text when Williams begins to show interest in a sister of a White teammate. Even though the boys get along on the court, the teammate tells Williams not to mess with his sister and threatens violence if Williams continues to have any contact with her. The teammate probably would not have had a problem with Williams forming a relationship with his sister if Williams had been White.

Sherif at al developed an approach to explain intergroup relations as the `realistic group conflict theory` (RCT) (Brown, 2007), and it has a strong empirical support, and SIT also builds upon it. According to this theory, intergroup hostility is based on the competition for tangible resources, as its motivational factors. Sherif also argued that prejudice is a consequence of conflicting or compatible group goals. RCT also has its weaknesses as SIT points out, namely how non-material resources like a persons identity, religion, ethnicity are playing a part in prejudice and intergroup conflicts.

Briefly discuss how reference groups strengthen the impact of social proof. • Social proof is the concept that individuals will act according to the perceived values, actions, or attitudes of the larger group. • Reference groups, which are used as a way for the individual to measure their own actions and values against others, demonstrate the concept of social proof because we want to imitate and be included by the reference groups we choose. Because we have chosen our membership and aspirational groups, we are more likely to be influenced by them. 3.

“Power relationships are shaped by people’s mental biases and beliefs about individuals in other groups” (pg. 108 Social Inequality). Despite the creation of new groups,

Is it racism or economics which hinders many African American communities from progressing economically in the 21st Century? This research proposal will address this question by examining the social and psychological impact caused by racism and the economic impact it’s had on the African American community. This proposal will further investigate whether the emotional scars of slavery continue to hamper African American progress or if racism is actually the cause.

Reference Groups’ a term used where an individual, or groups of people, make comparisons to a group of people they don’t know directly. What is the point of this? Conley describes in the book we do this for the sake of making sense of our position in society in relative to the other. If you think about it, anything can really serve as a reference group. Whether it be school grades, income, or even how you dress, we typically look at a group of people and see whether we’re within the norm, doing better, or worse.

This is done deliberately through representations of the other by the dominant group, as they have the power to mark, assign and classify (Hall, 2001), to justify the subordination of these groups (Lorber, 1994). It is through these subordinate characteristics (stereotypes) assigned to the subordinate groups that they become the way in which the group is defined and hierarchically stratified on the basis of race, class, sexuality or gender and then become naturalised through discourse (Hall, 2001). For example black people are hyper-sexualised and characteristics such as barbaric and savage are associated with them (Hall, 2001). This then becomes the reason why black people are seen as inferior and in need of being subordinated, oppressed and marginalised. This is then articulated through discourse and by doing this the dominant group maintains power as it is connected with knowledge; knowledge that dominant groups aim to replace their own specialized thought so as to produce internalised oppression in subordinate groups (Collins, 1990).

We as humans tend to relate to those that are similar to us, and tend to alienate those that we deem as different than us. Whether it is by race, gender, culture, or religion, it is something that is almost always present in human interactions, and often times can be completely subconscious. In our textbook Interpersonal Communication by Kory Floyd, an ingroup is defined as “A group of people with whom one identifies.” An outgroup is conversely defined as “A group of people whom one does not identify.” Henri Tajfel first coined this terminology while he was working to devise his social identity theory. These ideas of classifying people into ingroups and outgroups can lead to many

Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.

Throughout history in America there has always been the idea of racism. When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still very apparent in America. It is true that since the end of slavery, the U.S. has made great strides towards becoming a less racist country. In reality, racism will never be extinct. In today’s society, all American citizens of all races have the same rights as one another, yet there is still racism. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people. It is human nature to make conclusions about other people, this is what leads to racism. Today’s racism is not limited to whites

However, many of the group-based stereotypes are incorrect and generalizing and it promotes further misunderstandings and prejudice. Prejudice is having a false attitude toward an out-group in comparison to one’s in-group. Prejudiced individuals are prejudging without knowing any information about the “Others” (Rogers and Steinfatt).

In order to find a definition that is able to capture what a reference group is in a comprehensive sentence, has been difficult and thus the following terms are the most relevant. The term reference group is defined as ‘A group of people that influences the decisions and opinions of a person or group’ (Cambridge, 2016). This term however, is very simplistic and more detail is required to fully understand what reference groups are. Hyman (1942) originally characterised the term in a social status study and this characterisation has been developed and refined numerous amounts of times since, (comb, 1943, Campbell, et al, 1960 and Shibutani, 1955). Park & Lessig (1977) provided their version