Summarize the theories of prejudice and explain how prejudice is measured

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The frustration-aggression hypothesis states that people who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal will respond with a pattern of aggression toward others. The object of their aggression becomes the scapegoat—a person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others. Scapegoats are often used as substitutes for the actual source of the frustration. For example, members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups are often blamed for societal problems (such as unemployment or an economic recession) over which they have no control. According to some symbolic interactionists, prejudice results from social learning; it is learned from observing and imitating significant others, such as parents and peers. Initially, children do not have a frame of reference from which to question the prejudices of their relatives and friends. When they are rewarded with smiles or laughs for telling derogatory jokes or making negative comments about outgroup members, children's prejudiced attitudes may be reinforced. Psychologist Theodor Adorno concluded that highly prejudiced individuals tend to have an authoritarian personality, which is characterized by excessive conformity, submissiveness to authority, intolerance, insecurity, a high level of superstition, and rigid, stereotypic thinking. It is most likely to develop in a family environment in which dominating parents who are anxious about status use physical discipline but show very little love in raising their children.