Contact Theory Hypothesis

Prejudice and discrimination are prevalent in society and are in fact weaved into the fabric of our culture. Presuming that someone behaves in a certain or is a certain way could lead to unfavorable behaviors towards that individual. Holding and harboring negative attitudes toward an individual without logically understanding the thought process behind this presumption will influence how one will approach that individual.

Indeed, thoughts turn into actions when left unchecked. A primary example of prejudice turned into discrimination is age discrimination. There’s this negative connotation to older age groups, such that they are considered incompetent or weak. While it’s true that it’s in our human nature to experience weakness as we grow older, it’s not justifiable to have a negative attitude towards older age groups. Evidently, prejudice leads to ageism in the workplace and more broadly in the social and wellness aspects of the individual’s life.

Several medical complaints that are made by old individuals are often overlooked and brushed off as “hypochondria” or “hallucinations”. This behavior leads to repercussions (medical liability, worsened sickness, lack of trust). Many older people are presumed to be less functional and able in the workplace, and as a result, are denied job offers and promotions and are excluded in the workplace.

What many of us fail to understand is that prejudice leads to discrimination, and discrimination, in and of itself, generates a reaction from the person being discriminated against that aligns with the initial prejudice. There goes the destructive cycle of prejudice reinforced and strengthened by behavior invoked by discrimination. What needs to happen is to cut off this destructive cycle. Adressing the issue head on eliminates the negative attitudes and conformational behavior.

One strategy for reducing prejudice and discrimination was proposed by social psychologist Gordon Allport in 1954. To put it simply, if individuals of different backgrounds with varying mindsets and beliefs were exposed to each other in a continuous and natural setting, all the negative beliefs and attitudes are likely to decrease, Allport’s “contact hypothesis” states that “equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals” and “sanctioned by institutional supports” should reduce intergroup tensions and promote perceptions of common interests and common humanity.

 

Reference:

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. ProQuest eBook Central. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

2 comments

  1. I like the way you started the blog as I think it gives a strong message across about what you’re going to be talking about and how serious the issue is. You gave a very clear description of what the contract theory hypothesis is and how it’s something that is being done even in a subconscious level and they’re getting implicit attitudes without noticing and can be discriminating or prejudice in nature.

    I think this is something that should be taught growing up and it shouldn’t just be something we learn because we’re majoring in psychology because this is something that’s being done in such a young age and the fact that people don’t even realize what they’re doing can be bad for future generations. We saw in our lesson how another bias was being done in our own generation and how it’s discriminating in nature. (Gruman 2017)

    I really liked your post and I think you did a really good job describing the bias and how it works and how it’s working in our society. I like the strategy you said Dr. Gordon laid out on different cultures getting together. Good job here!

    Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. ProQuest eBook Central. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

  2. Prejudice and discrimination are two factors that separate and impact society in a negative way. It comes in all forms, including ageism, while I have never heard an elderly individual’s comments being called “hallucination” or “hypochondria”, I can imagine how offensive comments like that can be. One pushback I would have relates to the middle paragraphs. I do not think most of us do not know the severity of prejudice, it is that many of us have prejudices and do not know we have them. I like your use of the contact hypothesis, the use of positive contact in reducing the disconnect (Gruman et al., 2017). Ageism is a form of prejudice that is solely based on negative stereotypes of people who are older. The more positive the interactions, the fewer the negative stereotypes.

    References
    Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.

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