Introduction

Georgia (main character, is a female and is a black) who lived in the convent
when she was young, experienced a number of prejudice and discrimination because of
her skin colour and her background for being born out of wedlock. She had always been
the scapegoat of an elder nun in the convent to express frustration and anger. When she
was fifteen, she suffered an unexpected betrayal from her foster father (a white family).
However, as a victim, she was blamed for behaving as a whore. Most of the societies
were pointing at her. Her boyfriends parents stopped him from meeting her since the
incidence. She decided to escape. Years past, her resilience and determination had led her
to reach her fierce ambition. But when she came to the top, she found that the scars of her
past would ruin her in just a night.
In the novel Georgia by Lesley Pearse, the cases of prejudiced against minority
had directly complied the reality in society. Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination are
common in the society today. Even though they are gradually being reduced, it remains as
a serious problem. Everyone has the potential to become the victims and perpetrators of
prejudice, stereotype and discrimination. It does not mean that only the minorities will be
the victims and the majority will always be the perpetrators.

Question1.

Explain

the

definitions

of

prejudice,

stereotype

and

discrimination. Later distinguish these three concepts by providing real life

examples.
According to the definition in the book, Social Psychology, 8 th edition,
prejudice is having a hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group of
people based solely on their membership in that group. Typically, prejudice can be said as
an unfair attitude towards someone. When we are prejudice against a certain group, we
tend to form stereotypical beliefs and discriminate these prejudice victims. For example,
if a person is prejudiced against senior citizens, he or she might feel that senior citizens
are incompetent and senile, and tend to behave coolly or hostilely towards the elders.
A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people in which identical
characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual
variation among the members (Social Psychology, 8 th edition). A stereotype is a cognitive
process that can be either positive or negative. It is a belief in which a person classifies
others into specific categories without looking at individual distinctiveness. For example,
when someone believes that Asian people are smarter than others, they tend to assume
that every Asian is smart without realizing the individual differences among the group, in
which

some

of

them

are

less

competent

than

others.

Discrimination is an unjustified negative or harmful action towards a member of

a group, simply because of his or her membership in that group (Social Psychology, 8th
edition). Discrimination is the unfair treatment caused by prejudice. Besides, there are
many types of discriminations including age, gender, religion, races and so forth. For
example, black men are usually being treated differently from the whites in Western
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countries. The landlord of an apartment rather rents his unit to a white than the black,
even though both of them are able to fulfill the conditions set by the landlord.
In general, prejudice is an affectively based attitude, which is more on the
feelings and emotions towards the object while stereotype is primarily based on beliefs
and thinking. On the other hand, discrimination will always involve behavioural
component or actions. For instance, people often feel awkward to see boys learning ballet
(prejudice). Most of them think that all boys who learn are girlish and sissy (stereotype).
Therefore, they might want to be distant from the boys who are learning ballet or even
snickered behind them and give them scorns.
There are factors that lead to these three phenomena. Firstly, the pressure to
conform normative rules shows that when a society is common with the stereotypical
information and discriminatory actions, the people living there will have a high tendency
to practise prejudice in daily life. Next, social categorization refers to the situation that
people have the tendency to group someone based on their traits and characteristics. They
also tend to see identify their own group as the superior one compared to others, behaving
in an ethnocentric way by rating the characteristics of in-group members as better.
Besides, human tend to form attributional biases which lead them to fundamental
attribution error. Finally, realistic conflict theory holds that limited resources lead to
conflict between groups and results in increased prejudice and discrimination. When
people are trying to win out a competitive situation, they tend to be prejudiced against
others.

Question 2: Identify FIVE (5) criteria or factors employed as the basis of prejudice
and apply each criteria or factors with the failure of logic.
There are reasons why people will have failure of logic. People who have
strong prejudiced against certain group, tend to form illusory correlation, which is the
tendency to see relationships between two events which are unrelated. When people have
persistent perceptions in their mind, they might establish any illogical theory which can
keep them in their stand of view and it becomes difficult to argue with them even with
logical reasons.
Besides, people like to perceive and categorize people based on the outer or
external features of a targeted group which cause them to form prejudice, stereotype and
discrimination. There are five criteria or factors employed as the basis of prejudice and
failure of logic:
Races and nationality
People make judgements of others based on their races, skin colours, religions and their
culture, which is known as racial prejudice without evidence. In Malaysia, which is a
multi-ethnic nation, we always generalize that Indian as aggressive. When an Indian is
fighting with a Chinese, most of the people will think that the Indian is cause of the fight.
We also tend to judge Malays as lazy while Chinese are petty of minor event. In reality,
these generalizations are out of logic and relationship without proven evidence.
Gender

Females have a higher possibility to be the basis of prejudice compared to men. For
example, females are deemed to be more talkative than men. However, both men and
women actually speak almost the same amount of words per day. Females are better in
doing house chores. In the actual world, not every female knows how to do housework.
Instead, some of the males are the one that often help out at home.
Appearance
People make automatic judgments of others base on physical appearance, that influence
how they respond to those people. People believe that what is beautiful is good, in
which physical attractiveness is related with the positives, or vice versa. As an example,
people think that those who have heavy weight can hardly run fast. Or, those who look
muscular are healthy. In the other side, people also think that people who walking in the
street and wearing formal attire with an office bag must be a high educated and
knowledgeable person. In fact, appearance is not related with education background.
Profession
People also make judgement based on professions. For example, people will always think
that professionals can make big money due to the profession they obtain. However, in
fact, not all professionals are rich as it depends on the effort to work and get good pay.
People also believe that experts are always right in what they have said. Actually, the
experts might only be professional in the fields that they specific in.
Social class

A social class is a group of people in a society who share a similar social and economic
status. Class differences normally involve inequalities and prejudices between members
of the different groups. For instance, people think that lower class people are uneducated
and upper class people are often being respected.

Question3. First, conduct a randomized survey in UTAR campus by recruiting 10

UTARs students who would be interviewed in regards of their impression or
perception pertaining all of the following groups:
a) Orang Asli
b) Single mothers
c) Younger husbands and older wives
d) Homeless senior citizens
e) Rape victims
Remember to record down all of the interviews into a video.
Next, observe and analyze the adjectives used by interviewees in describing the five
groups and relate them with the concept of stereotype.
Analysis of the Interviewees s Perception Towards The Minorities Group
Orang Asli
Most of the interviewees are having negative stereotype towards Orang Asli. They judge
Orang Asli based on their appearance and ability, like naked or unknowledgeable and
even contribute nothing to a nation. The interviewees are using internal attribution to
view the Orang Asli, leading them to have negative stereotype on the minorities.

Single Mothers
Interviewees see single mothers in two ways which is positive and negative. Some of
them have positive stereotype towards her ability of taking care her children by herself.
Others have negative stereotype towards her, believing that she must have hostile
behaviors since she was dumped by her husband or boyfriend. It depends on the
interviewees internal attribution.
Younger Husbands and Older Wives
There are almost equal amount of interviewees who are having positive and negative
stereotype towards this minority group. Some think that age is not a distance between
true love. But others think that the younger husband being together with and older wife is
because of her money. The interviewees view this case according internal attributions
which lead them to form positive and negative stereotype
Homeless Senior Citizens
Part of the interviewees show sympathy to them, thinking that they do not deserve this
treatment. Some of the interviewees judge them based on their appearance and their
lifestyle. Most of them think that homeless senior citizens are dirty. They judge them by
applying external and internal attributions. Those that judge them by using internal
attribution will form negative stereotype while from external attribution, they will have
positive stereotype.

Rape Victim
Interviewees think that rape victims are quite pity, if they were innocent. But on the other
hand, they judge rape victims by saying that the victims wear too sexy to attract the rapist
to rape them. They judge this case by using external and internal attribution. Those who
perceive them as unfortunates are having external attribution as they are considering
situational factors. Those that emphasize on the personality of the victims are having
internal attributions which lead to negative stereotype.

Question4. What are the impacts of stereotype on the lives of ALL five groups
respectively? Give your personal arguments whether those impacts are positive,
negative or both. Justify your arguments.
Stereotype is a cognitive process that can be either positive or negative. A
particular behavior can always be viewed as appropriate or vice versa depending on a
persons perception on a group of people. According to the University of Toronto
Scarboroughs Michael Inzlicht, people have the tendency to perform badly when they
feel that they are in the situation of being stereotyped. Using negative stereotype to judge
others, might jeopardize how they perform in the stigmatized group. There are impacts
due to stereotype, such as self- fulfilling prophecy, stereotype threat and loss of selfesteem.
Loss of self-esteem
Those who are being labeled negatively might end up with a lasting detrimental
impact, such as loss of self-esteem. Once people think in terms of the labels formed
towards them, they tend to lose self confidence in themselves as being stereotyped can
always change a persons view on himself or herself. As a result, people who are often
being negatively stereotyped will end up in absence of positives in themselves.
People are more likely to assume that females who involve in sexual attacks have
no one to blame for being targeted as rape victims. These are actually faulty assumptions
which lead to victim blame, causing the rape victims to be stigmatized and feel ashamed
of their life. They might suffer from depression, humiliation, low self-esteem in many
areas of their lives and other physical or mental obstacles. It will be hard for them to cope
10

with the unexpected incidence and at the same time the discrimination from the society.
Stigma associated with rape victims impact negatively on them which might possibly
drives them out of rationality and act in the way of hurting themselves due to profound
impact of depression they encounter.
Moreover, stereotype due to normative views create great negative impacts on the
homeless senior citizens. Stereotyping without true evidence will create unreasonable
fear of homeless people. This fear might unconsciously inhibit others to provide aids, and
make some who initially want to help become unwilling to do so. They will also form
perception that this is what the homeless earn, they have no one to blame to and they
should feel shameful for themselves. They receive judgement from others. They lose
confidence as they are expected for being incompetent, and there will be no employment
for them. Instead of being stereotyped by others, they rather choose to give up their
attempt to search for jobs.
The loss of self-esteem will lead to unconscious assimilation of societys negative views
towards a particular group. These internalized feeling lead to self-fulfilling prophecy
and stereotype threat.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-fulfilling prophecy shows that, when people have an expectation on others,
which influences how they act towards the person, causing that person to behave
consistently with peoples original expectations and making the expectations to come
true.

11

The Orang Asli who are the aborigines and minorities in Peninsular Malaysia
have always being stereotyped and treated unfairly. According to the Associate Professor
Dr Alberto Gomes, an anthropologist at Australias La Trobe University, this negative
stereotype has led the Orang Asli to carry a double life which means having a set of
rules within their own community but present a different face to the outsiders. From the
views of outsiders, Orang Asli are considered timid, shy and lack intelligence. In reality,
they are egalitarian, respectful of individual dignity and non-aggressive instead of
behaving like a beast. Besides, they have learned to protest their own right. This shows
that the way society expect and treat them cause them to behave as what is assumed but
not the true-self in front of the society.
This happens on the homeless senior citizens too. People tend to form expectation
that these senior citizens are lazy to seek for work. These expectations cause the society
to act in a way which makes their expectations come true. As an example, when the
employers think that the senior citizens are lazy and incompetent, they become unwilling
to employ them, causing them to become jobless and by the way, fulfill their expectation
that this group of people is lazy because they have no job.
Stereotype threat
Stereotype threat is the apprehension experienced by members of a group that
their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype. In the other way of saying, people
know the existence of stereotype towards their group and attempt to avoid what is
assumed to be.

12

For younger husbands and older wives relationship, people always judge that
this type of relationship is more likely to be troubled as it deviates from social norms and
has large age difference. They will label these older women who involve with younger
men as cougar. These negative core beliefs bring to unhelpful assumptions which might
be indirectly humiliate or insult the true love that develops. In this sense, older wives and
younger husbands might try to protect and success in managing their marriage but fail to
experience a fulfilling and open relationship due to the fear of how society views them
which will in turn results in failure.
Stereotypes as a source of motivation
However, not everyone in the stigmatized group will behave as expected; some
will even be motivated to perform better to prove to the society. As an example, being a
single mother has a lot of stigma attached to, such as lack of ability to raise their children
and can hardly provide their children with sufficient welfare, and depend mostly on
government and society aids. But, there are many single mothers nowadays do well in
balancing their life between raising their children and holding a job. They are able
manage the stereotypical views and treat them in a positive way, which enable them to
accomplish their goals and prove to the society that they are distinctive from the typical
single mothers.

13

Question 5: Demonstrate how the SIX (6) conditions of the Contact Hypothesis
can contribute towards alleviating the negative impacts of stereotype on ANY ONE
of the group in question 3.
The problem of discrimination and stereotype towards the minorities like the
Orang Asli, is a common behavior practised by most of the people. Although this is a
very common phenomenon exists in the society, but it must be stopped before it
exacerbates and becomes a bad culture of human being, as it is rather unfair to the Orang
Asli. Hence, the social scientists discover a way to cope with this problem and they name
this theory as the Contact Hypothesis. It is one of the vital ways to strengthen
relationships among human and reduce prejudice towards other ethnicities and minority
groups. It states that a better understanding and acceptance of others culture will be
established, if people were having appropriate interpersonal contact which is under
favorable situations. For the Contact Hypothesis to take place, some important
prerequisite like common goals, mutual interdependence, equity in status and support
from institutions, law or customs should be present.
Firstly, the majority group and the Orang Asli must have mutual
interdependence (the situation that exists when 2 or more majority groups need to
depend on one another to accomplish a goal that is important to each of them). In order to
reach the common target, both of the majority group and Orang Asli must be working
14

together and no rivalry action among each other. Not only the majority group shall
prevent stereotype on the Orang Asli, the Orang Asli shall not perceive that the majority
is still disdains them. Everyone will be cooperating in succeeding the goal, if both of the
groups believe on each other, show understanding, tolerating or even adopting the unique
culture of each other. In brief, the intergroup cooperation and interaction could definitely
make our country a harmonious one and diminish stereotype and discrimination.
Secondly, everyone of us needs to establish a common goal, which is important
to both Orang Asli and the majority group. By having a common goal as the guide of
living, the society, no matter the minority or the majority, will have to work together to
achieve that goal. As a Malaysian, we hold the responsibility to achieve our goal which is
to create a multi-culture and peaceful country with no prejudice. Our goal would not
realize in the absence of coorperation of any ethnics in our country as every group will be
are required to form comprehension and toleration towards the distinctive cultures and
traditions of various groups. If we were having a stereotypical thinking on the Orang Asli,
we might assume that they were totally different from us or they were still lagging
behind, then we might despise and repel the Orang Asli from our society, which will
become an obstacle for us to achieve our goal. Hence, by having common goals and
induction of the Orang Asli to our big family, stereotype and prejudice against them will
not happen.
Thirdly, every citizen in our nation shall know that everyone is in equal status
that is no one has a higher position to control others life. There is no doubt to conclude
that by practising democratic values and Egalitarian norms, the prejudice issues can be

15

minimized. The society must provide equal opportunity, welfare and treating both of the
majority group and Orang Asli fairly. When both of the groups are equity in status, no
slavery or destining the fate and life of others will happen. Hence, no sense of stereotype,
prejudice and discrimination will arouse, making each other to interact intimately and
living peacefully with each other.
Next, contact hypothesis will be more effective if it occurs in a friendly and
informal setting. In-group can interact better with out-group individually when the
situation is less tense which helps to reduce the hostile feeling and negative stereotyping
between each other. Surroundings play an important role to affect ones behavior whereby
a not suitable or stressful situation will cause both parties to become more cautious to
each other if both of them behave unfriendly or even hostility. On the other hand, when
the members of both groups are given an opportunity to interact with each other
personally, they will have a tendency to develop a better understanding between
themselves which will soon eliminate the in-groups stereotypical beliefs towards the outgroup.
Furthermore, an individual of the majority should realize that the out-group
members are typical of their group with multiple group members. They should attempt
to communicate to the distinct individuals of the out-group and they will be able to find
that not all the members in an out-group have similar characteristics. So, they will not
generalize everyone in a group with the same personality. As an example, an orang asli
who has achieved a highly authorized position in the society should not be viewed as an

16

exception. People should know that within the orang asli community, every individual
has distinctive personality and ability which will result in different performances.
Moreover, social norms that promote and support equality among groups are
essential to make the Contact Hypothesis to be carried out efficiently. Institutions and
authority that both groups made sense of, can give a clear definition regarding the proper
social norms, which can benefit both of the group, in the same time, perform surveillance
functions of the behavior of both groups. The social norms or laws that have been
legalized shall have the function of instilling positive experiences and image rather than
neutral image. For an example, a law like liberty of speech is to provide constructive
opinions, which are to bring improvement, but not to give a rise of controversy issues. In
brief, support of the institutions, law or customs could prevent amplification of preexisting negative impression among the groups, which is indirectly alleviating the
impacts of stereotype.

17

Conclusion
In conclusion, the society today is still practicing prejudice, stereotype and
discrimination. However, since the social norms are strongly discouraging the practices
of these stereotypical attitudes and behaviors, people are gradually decreasing them. But,
instead of eliminating the prejudice attitude, people are performing it in an implicit way
rather than explicit attitude. They might consciously announce that they have neither
prejudice nor stereotype towards the minority, but at times, they will involuntarily display
it.
Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination bring both positive and negative impacts
towards victims. The negative impacts will torment ones mental and bring down his or
her positive thinking. By viewing in another way, it can also be a motivating source to
encourage and build up the ones cognition to keep on moving forward. There are also
ways to prevent and reduce prejudice to ensure the peace and harmony in a society.

18

Reference
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M. (2013). Prejudice. Social Psychology. (8th ed.).
New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Cherry, K. (n.d.). What is prejudice. Retrieved March 14, 2013 from

http://psychology.about.com/od/pindex/g/prejudice.htm

Grobman, G. M. (1990). Stereotypes and prejudices. Retrieved March 14, 2013 from
http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html
Michael, E., May Chuen, E. (2012). Education and health awareness among indigenious
people: A study in Perak, Malaysia, Journal of Science and Technology, 2(8), 745-746.
Retrieved from
http://www.ejournalofscience.org/archive/vol2no8/vol2no8_9.pdf

Prejudice. Allydog.com. 1998.

http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?
term=Prejudice (14 March 2013)

South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. (n.d.). Case examples of discrimination.

Retrieved 14 March, 2013 from
http://www.state.sc.us/schac/case_examples_of_discrimination.htm

Stereotype. Allydog.com. 1998.

http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?
term=Prejudice (14 March 2013)

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