Compare and contrast two approaches to the study of prejudice

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Compare and contrast two approaches to the study of prejudice

Prejudice in society today seems to be unavoidable. It appears on the news, is portrayed in film and evident in the history books. Prejudice can be defined as a negative attitude toward a particular social group and all its members. A prejudice attitude involves making prejudgements about a person of a group and applying generic attributes (Hogg & Vaughan, 2004). Allport (1945b) suggests that prejudice consists of three components. Firstly a cognitive belief about the group, secondly a strong feeling must be evident about the group and qualities they possess and lastly the intention to act in a certain way towards the group (cited in Hogg & Vaughan, 2004). Prejudice is a problem is society as it can lead to discrimination toward members of a certain group. In the most extreme cases genocide is the ultimate expression of prejudice toward a group. The most prominent example of this is the anti-Semitic actions of Germany in the Second World War. The atrocities that took place at the hands of the German army were high in people's minds and psychologists there after began taking an interest in the origins of prejudice