prejudice
After Trayvon: The science of protecting innocent black men
- written by
- Scott Sleek
Even though the death of Trayvon Martin drew much public attention in the last year and a half, the shooting of an unarmed, innocent black male is in no way an isolated case in America. Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-old African-American man in Florida, was recently killed by police officers when he...
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Does discrimination fit a prototype?
- written by
- Aaron Moss
In this blog post, I discuss what information people use to decide whether a behavior constitutes discrimination. Similar to the way people organize categories and identify objects, I review research showing that people rely on prototypes when deciding what is and is not discrimination.
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Does it matter if people are aware of their implicit racial bias?
- written by
- Aaron Moss
In this blog post, I discuss how people respond to information about their implicit racial bias—automatic attitudes and beliefs that favor one ethnic group over another. Although people can be defensive, emerging research suggests there are benefits to accepting implicit racial bias and being aware...
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Empathy and prejudice after attacks in Paris and Beirut
- written by
- Marly van Oirschot
In this blog, I will try to explain why we showed more empathy for victims in Paris than in Beirut, and how feelings of fear after such a terrorist attack can lead to prejudice against out-groups, especially against Muslims.
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Everyone is prejudiced, too
- written by
- Jarret Crawford
In this blog post, I will discuss new research in political psychology that is changing our understanding of what prejudice is, and who is prejudiced.
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Intergroup Contact Theory: Past, Present, and Future
In the midst of racial segregation in the U.S.A and the ‘Jim Crow Laws’, Gordon Allport (1954) proposed one of the most important social psychological events of the 20th century, suggesting that contact between members of different groups (under certain conditions) can work to reduce prejudice and
Invoking Pocahontas: An act of racism disguised as politics
- written by
- Amanda Sesko,
- X̱ʼunei Lance A. Twitchell
At a recent event honoring Navajo Code Talkers who are World War II Veterans, President Donald Trump stated, "You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas" [1] . This was not a first...
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Just a compliment? Why positive gender stereotypes can be more harmful than they seem
Most people would probably agree that “women can’t drive” is a sexist statement. But what about saying that “women are nurturing”? Isn’t that just a nice compliment? At first glance, these kinds of gender stereotypes often appear relatively harmless. In reality, they are anything but: seemingly
Political ideology is more than just “liberal” and “conservative”
- written by
- Jarret Crawford
In this blog post, I describe new evidence that thinking about political ideology on a single liberal/left to conservative/right spectrum masks important nuances in the origins of political ideologies and in the way that people apply those ideologies to important judgments, including those of other...
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The Double Edged Passion
Humans are passionate creatures. Our passions drive us, gives us a sense of belonging, and unite us as few other things can. Still, there are only a couple of passions that have been constants down the ages, passions that people from every place and culture can agree on. Love is one, but another is