A situation can influence an individual’s behavior, feelings, or thoughts. Although people’s behaviors are determined mainly by their beliefs, religion, and culture, an individual’s situation may make them not behave as expected (Spielman et al., 2020). For instance, if a person is jailed for five years, they are likely to change their behavior and act differently from how they behaved outside the jail because the situation forces them to change behavior. This shows that situations can significantly affect a person’s behavior.
Social groups impact the behavior of an individual. As people try to fit in a specific group, they are likely to change their behaviors to match the desired group’s preferred behavior (Spielman et al., 2020). This means that they have to change some of their perceptions to meet those of the desired group. For instance, if a person deflects from one religion to another or from one political party to another, they may have to change their perceptions to meet the new group’s expectations. This is because they seek to fit in the new group and look attractive in the group to gain some knowledge.
The third takeaway is that people can have negative feelings about individuals from other social groups based on information relied on them, experiences, or other pre-existing conditions. These negative feelings may sometimes lead to discrimination or prejudice against the affected social group (Spielman et al., 2020). Discrimination can be based on different factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. For instance, a person against same-sex marriage may have a negative attitude towards gay and lesbian couples. This is because the individual has already formed a negative perspective about them.
Question: Why is same-sex prejudice more prevalent than other forms of discrimination such as race, social class, and gender?
Reference
Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax.