As we have entered the 21st century, it seems as though the world is becoming smaller day by day. The introduction of computer and the increasing accessibility to technology even in third world countries has made it much easier to interact with people on the other side of the world. As interaction with people from different cultures who hold different ideologies become increasingly common, it is important for us to understand what diversity means and how intergroup relations can be improved. Specifically, how concepts such as prejudice and discrimination can be understood using the social identity theory and social dominance theory.
Prejudice and discrimination exist as a result of one of the survival methods for our ancestors. In the past, prejudice and discrimination allowed the “outsiders” to be identified in order for our ancestors to prevent diseases and ensure the future of one’s genetic material. Prejudice is defined as opinions about a certain group of people that may or may not be justified. Even though prejudice can be positive, in the case of celebrities for example, it becomes dangerous when it is in its negative form. Negative prejudice can lead to people making assumptions about a person based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. An example of negative prejudice would be all Americans are lazy. While prejudice may be hidden if the person does not express those prejudiced opinions, while discrimination is the behavior which involves acting on one’s prejudice. These can include, not hiring someone based on their religion, not providing service for someone based on their race, etc.
While prejudice and discrimination may have ensured our ancestors’ survival, the diverse characteristics of our society make these behavior a cause of conflict and injustice. A recent example of discriminatory behavior occurred in New Mexico. The convenience store owner in a small town of MayHill clearly held prejudiced opinions of Muslims, believing that all Muslims are terrorists. It is clear that he decided to act on these opinions and participate in discriminatory behavior by putting up the sign “Obama and Other Muslims Not Welcome Here.” This discriminatory behavior is a clear example of injustice being served against Muslims, who may now have to travel for a much longer period of time in order to reach a convenience store. This discriminatory act may have worsened the conflict that may have existed within the community of MayHill (Burrows, 2017).
Now the question that comes to mind is, why did the MayHill convenience store owner choose to discriminate in the first place? One explanation could be described by the social identity theory. According to this theory, people behave differently depending on the situation. The key factor, as it relates to discrimination and prejudice, is that a person’s behavior may be motivated by their social identity when placed in a group situation rather than their personal identity. An in-group is a group in which a person feels comfortable in and is a part of while all other groups that a person feels threatened who may serve as competition for resources belong in the out-group. The convenience store owner saw Muslims as a threat to not only his peaceful life in the small town but their existence in the country meant competition for his small business. By being placed in the social situation of either choosing his in-group of non-Muslims versus the out-group of Muslims, he chose to protect the interests of his in-group.
Another important question that must be answered in the case of MayHill convenience store discrimination is why did the store owner choose to discriminate against Muslims? According to the social dominance theory, people are compelled to protect their in-group at all times (as compared to the social identity theory which states that people will only protect their in-group under certain situations). People also feel obliged to maintain societal hierarchies, and any attempt of a group trying to move up the hierarchy results in conflict. Since 9/11, Muslims have faced a large amount of discrimination in America. In the past few years, Muslims have been trying to move up the hierarchy and protect their own in-group through formation of groups such as Council on American-Islamic Relations. Many groups feel threatened by this attempt to move up the hierarchy and it has been seen as a source of competition for other groups. This has resulted in an increase in conflict between Muslims and other groups within the United States. In an attempt to keep Muslims in the lower hierarchy, President Trump, for example, recently released a statement stating that America will prioritize Christian refugees over Muslim refugees (Burke, 2017). So, it is not surprising that the MayHill convenience store owner is participating in discriminatory behavior in order to protect his in-group. The convenience store owner is a classic example of a person being affected by the social dominance theory since prior to putting up the sign against Muslims, he had placed a sign supporting the KKK (Burrows, 2017). As a result, he is consistently attempting to protect his in-group of White-Christian-Americans from any other group in the United States.
As shown in the example of MayHill convenience store, discrimination and prejudice need to be actively dealt with in order to allow for equality, justice, and peace within our communities. The social dominance theory and social identity theories can prove to be valuable ideas that can help explain discriminatory behavior, while helping for us to find ways to reduce conflict among various groups in our society.
References:
Burke, D. (2017, January 30). Trump says US will prioritize Christian refugees. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/politics/trump-christian-refugees/
Burrows , T. (2017, January 02). ‘Obama and other Muslims not welcome here’: Convenience store sparks outrage with racist ‘welcome’ sign . Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4081650/Obama-Muslims-not-welcome-Convenience-store-sparks-outrage-racist-welcome-sign.html
Nelson, A. (2017). Lesson 6. Applied Social Psychology: Intergroup Relations/Diversity. PSYCH 424 Course Content Site Lecture. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1834710/modules/items/21736674
Good post!
I would like to make a bigger accent on the intergroup relationships. Between people in society, there is a complex system of various relations. Social relations characterize society as a whole or relations between different social groups of people that make up a given society. Intergroup relationships are relationships that develop between individuals. Those connections are objective, while intergroup relations are subjective. This means that social relationships have little to do with the emotions of individuals and exist as if relatively independent of them, while intergroup relationships are always related to the emotions experienced by specific people. Social relations exist relatively independently from people themselves (people are included in these relations that exist outside them), and intergroup relations do not exist separately from the people who implement them (they express the inner world of a person, and their source is in the person itself). The concepts of intergroup relations, communication and “interaction of people have something in common and at the same time differ from each other in their content and scope. Common to all these concepts is that they all characterize the social or psychological relationships that develop between people in society and different social groups. This way we can conclude that the characteristics of these relations are reflected in the terms by which the corresponding relations are denoted.