Sociology Research Proposal- revision

Introduction to the Topic of Racial Stereotyping and Prejudice

Stereotyping and prejudice have always been condemned since their repercussions are devastating. Many people dislike the idea of having a stereotypic mentality since it results in hatred and discrimination against others in society. Besides, it becomes worse when one travels in a place where there are stereotypic people since they hold many negativities and wrong ideologies concerning others. However, some people believe that certain driving forces make people stereotypic in society. Race, religion, political principles, and other affiliations are the main factors that make people develop stereotypic characteristics against each other. Therefore, stereotypic people will always act inappropriately when interacting with people associated with a different religion, race, ethnicity, or any other affiliation. Hence, some people will result in hating, discriminating, and treating others inappropriately due to the aforementioned differences.

The scope of the Topic of Racial Stereotyping and Prejudice

In most cases, the victims of stereotyping and prejudice are the visitors and people who travel to different places like countries with high levels of racism. Some countries and regions have demonstrated racial stereotyping and prejudice characteristics for a very long time which makes many people fear traveling to such destinations (Fiske, 2016). Shocking, even some of the most developed regions still demonstrate racial stereotyping and prejudice which impact their reputation negatively. The United States of America is one of the countries where a significant number of cases of racial stereotyping and prejudice have been reported. Studies and research indicate that African Americans, Hispanic, and people from other minority races greatly experience the challenge of racial stereotyping and prejudice. The whites perpetrate racial stereotyping and prejudice against others since their race comprise the majority. Not only in the USA, other regions like some parts of Russia have also been associated with behaviors of racial stereotyping and prejudice as well. This paper will discuss theories, past research, and establish their consistency on the topic of racial stereotyping and prejudice.

Theories that Address Racial Stereotyping and Prejudice

Analysts and scholars have developed theories that address and shed more light on the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice. For example, the classic theory offers crucial details regarding racial stereotyping and prejudice that help in enlightening learners and society at large on this issue. The classic theory talks about aversion and how it is used in inter-racial contact. The theory suggests that racial stereotyping and prejudice creates problems as a result of aversion or when people develop some level of discrimination (Sue et al., 2019). The workforce is usually impacted negatively in such a place since some employees get certain benefits and favors that others lack. The theory further suggests that racial stereotyping and prejudice create a situation where some people are abandoned and avoided which brings disunity. Avoiding and abandoning a person paves the way for disunity and conflict as the victims try to fight to be heard and considered just like other members.

The theory of ambivalent prejudice has also greatly analyzed the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice. According to this theory, some people, for instance, those belonging to minor races do not experience uniform antipathy. The theory suggests that these people face discrimination, hatred, and other forms of mistreatment from a section of people, but the rest treat them differently. These victims face many problems amid people with racial stereotyping and prejudice characters (Williams, Sng, &Neuberg 2016). However, some people treat these victims nicely creating a pleasing environment for them to live. This situation is best demonstrated by how racial stereotyping and prejudice happen in the United States. Not all parts and people of the country treat others, especially individuals from minority races inappropriately. Some parts of the country like in the major cities like New York acts of racial stereotyping and prejudice have significantly gone down.

Past Research on Racial Stereotyping and Prejudice

Williams, Sng&Neuberg are some of the researchers that have spent most of their time analyzing the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice. In their research, these scholars suggest that prejudice is described as an attitude that contains connotation on various issues and people. Besides, when people continually associate themselves with prejudice, the connotations that they attach on issues and people stick in their minds becoming part of their cognitive (Williams, Sng&Neuberg 2017). Therefore, at times, some end up hating and treating others inappropriately even without their consciousness because it became part of their cognitive. This is the reason as to why one will see certain people hating others even without valid causes. However, Williams, Sng&Neuberg’ research states that some people stereotype and hate on others even when they are consciously aware. A majority of these people who hate on others have negative personalities and undesired ego that make them feel superior to the rest. Hence, they end up hating inferior people for no apparent reason.

FitzGerald & Hurst are also key researchers on the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice. FitzGerald & Hurst claim that stereotyping is a situation that makes some people develop distinct images and description of people and things on their minds (FitzGerald & Hurst 2017). In their research, the authors suggest that the minds of stereotypic people show certain pictures and description that are associated with particular things and people. For instance, in the US, people with racial stereotyping and prejudice attributes view others as inferior and worthless, Therefore, whenever a person from the minority races is mentioned, these people only see useless or rubbish that no one would wish to associate with. In further expounding on this situation, the study suggests gives an example of how whites treat blacks and people from other minority races. It is claimed that there is a group of whites who distinctively believe that non-whites are inferior and less important people who should be disregarded.

Other studies suggest that stereotyping entails mental diagrams used when processing information on other individuals based on their social perspectives. Stereotyping makes people have an idea of what to expect when they see or interact with others. At times, the concept of stereotyping is used to suggest the same meaning as that of prejudice. This is because when we say that stereotyping makes people have an idea of what to expect from others is the same as pre-judging. Importantly, Stereotypes greatly contributed to the discrimination and perpetration of other injustices, particularly to minority groups across the globe (Williams, Sng, &Neuberg 2016). A majority of people who stereotype others tend to associate them with limitations and disadvantages. The main aim of people who stereotype others is to discriminate them and make others have the same perception towards the latter. Therefore, the stereotyped individuals may feel intimidated or of less important as compared to their counterparts. The whites in a nation like the US stereotype others by disregarding and disproving them which paves the way for discrimination, hate, and other racial-based problems.

Consistency in the Findings of Past Studies

To some extent, both past and past studies have shown consistency in addressing and analyzing the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice. Most of past studies show how people suffered as a result of racial stereotyping and prejudice. For instance, these studies indicate that people became victims of hatred, discrimination, being judged negatively, and other forms of mistreatments since there is a section of people with stereotyping and prejudice attributes. After that, conflicts, disagreements, and disunity were extensively experienced. People held negative ideologies and perception against other individuals who were mostly affiliated with minority races. In turn, the victims of stereotyping and prejudice engaged in wars and wrangles in attempt to make their pleas heard and receive fair treatment from their counterparts. Eventually, conflicts and disagreements increased as people remained disunited over time.

Conclusion

The body of the existing research does not contain flaws as far as the issue of racial stereotyping and prejudice is concerned. Various and crucial details on the topic of racial stereotyping and prejudice have been discussed well and exhaustively. For example, existing research has addressed how conflicts and disagreements increased to show how people suffered. Besides, details such as how people used to develop labeling and bias mentality help in explaining what necessitated the increase in racial stereotyping and prejudice. Therefore, there is not much that this paper can add to what the existing research has already offered. However, discussing how racial stereotyping and prejudice may affect people in the future will be necessary to know the right measures to take to enable the world to advance in desired ways.

References

Fiske, S. T. (2016). Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. NOBA Project.

FitzGerald, C., & Hurst, S. (2017). Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: a systematic review. BMC medical ethics, 18(1), 19.

Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2019). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. Wiley.

Williams, K. E., Sng, O., &Neuberg, S. L. (2016). Ecology-driven stereotypes override race stereotypes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(2), 310-315.