prejudice as a barrier to communication

An . Although prejudiced and stereotypic beliefs may be communicated in many contexts, an elaboration of a few of these contexts illustrates the far reach of prejudiced communication. The pattern of using abstract characterizations that maintain negative stereotypes of outgroups but support positive views of the ingroup has been termed the Linguistic Intergroup Bias (Maass, Salvi, Arcuri, & Semin, 1989). Derogatory labels evoke the negative stereotypes for which they are summary terms, and once evoked, those negative stereotypes are likely to be applied by observers. Nominalization transforms verbs into nouns, again obfuscating who is responsible for the action (e.g., A rape occurred, or There will be penalties). Communication Directed to Outgroup Members, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.419, Culture, Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination, Race and Ethnicity in U.S. Media Content and Effects, Social Psychological Approaches to Intergroup Communication, Behavioral Indicators of Discrimination in Social Interactions, Harold Innis' Concept of Bias: Its Intellectual Origins and Misused Legacy. Emotions and feelings : Emotional Disturbances of the sender or receiver can distort[change] the communication . Using care to choose unambiguous, neutral language and . Prejudice refers to irrational judgments passed on certain groups or individuals (Flinders 3). Prejudice can hamper the communication. Prejudice Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one's membership in a particular social group, such as gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, religion, sexual orientation, profession, and many more (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). 4. This topic has been studied most extensively with respect to gender-biased language. Ethnocentrismassumesour culture or co-culture is superior to or more important than others and evaluates all other cultures against it. Because it is often difficult to recognize our own prejudices, several tests have been created to help us recognize our own "implicit" or hidden biases. To dismantle ethnocentrism, we must recognize that our views of the world, what we consider right and wrong, normal or weird, are largely influenced by our cultural standpoint and that our cultural standpoint is not everyone's cultural standpoint. The use of first-person plurals (i.e., we, us, our) for the ingroup and third-person plurals (i.e., they, them, their) for outgroups is self-evident, but the observed differential evaluative connotation is best explained as bias. . If there are 15 women in a room, consider how efficient it is to simply reference the one woman as shellac. Indeed, this efficiency even shows up in literature. "When people respond too quickly, they often respond to the wrong issue. Stereotypes are frequently expressed on TV, in movies, chat rooms and blogs, and in conversations with friends and family. In The Nature of Prejudice, Gordon Allport wrote of nouns that cut slices. He argued that human beings categorize who and what they encounter and advance one feature to a primary status that outweighs and organizes other features. Gilbert, 1991). Most notably, communicators may feel pressured to transmit a coherent message. The pattern replicates in China, Europe, and the United States, and with a wide variety of stereotyped groups including racial groups, political affiliations, age cohorts, rival teams, and disabilities; individual differences such as prejudiced attitudes and need for closure also predict the strength of the bias (for discussion and specific references, see Ruscher, 2001). Fortunately, counterstereotypic characters in entertaining television (e.g., Dora the Explorer) might undercut the persistence of some stereotypes (Ryan, 2010), so the impact of images can cut both ways. Both these traits also contribute to another communication barrier - anxiety (Neuliep, 2012). Humor attempts take various forms, including jokes, narratives, quips, tweets, visual puns, Internet memes, and cartoons. They include displaying smiles (and not displaying frowns), as well as low interpersonal distance, leaning forward toward the other person, gaze, open postures, and nodding. Have you ever felt as though you were stereotyped? For instance, labels for women are highly sexualized: Allen (1990) reports 220 English words for sexually promiscuous females compared to 20 for males, underscoring a perception that women are objects for sex. Although it is widely accepted that favoritism toward ones ingroup (i.e., ingroup love) shows stronger and more reliable effects than bias against outgroups (i.e., outgroup hate), the differential preference is quite robust. Hall, E. T. (1976). Finally, most abstract are adjectives (e.g., lazy) that do not reference a specific behavior or object, but infer the actors internal disposition. Another important future direction lies with new media. More abstract still, state verbs (e.g., loathes hard work) reference a specific object such as work, but also infer something about the actors internal states. Consequently, when the writer allegedly is a Black student, Whites tend to praise a poorly written essay on subjective dimensions (e.g., how interesting or inspiring an essay was) and confine their criticisms to easily defensible objective dimensions (e.g., spelling). One person in the dyad has greater expertise, higher ascribed status, and/or a greater capacity to provide rewards versus punishments. . Not surprisingly, then, first-person plurals are associated with group cohesiveness such as people in satisfied marriages (Sillars, Shellen, McIntosh, & Pomegranate, 1997) as well as people who hold a more collectivisticas opposed to individualisticcultural orientation (Na & Choi, 2009). Considered here are attempts at humor, traditional news media, and entertaining films. Thus, just because a message may use subtle linguistic features or is not fully intentional, bias still may impact observers just as more explicitly biased communications do. A high level of appreciation for ones own culture can be healthy; a shared sense of community pride, for example, connects people in a society. Accessibility StatementFor more information contact us atinfo@libretexts.orgor check out our status page at https://status.libretexts.org. It can be verbal or non-verbal. By contrast, smaller groups whose few labels are negative (i.e., a noncomplex negative view of the group) may be especially prone to social exclusion (Leader, Mullen, & Rice, 2009). But not all smiles and frowns are created equally. Presumably, a photographer or artist has at least some control over how much of the body appears in an image. Individuals also convey their prejudiced beliefs when communicating to outgroup members as message recipients. In the IAT, participants are asked to classify stimuli that they view on a computer screen into one of two categories by pressing one of two computer keys, one with their left hand and one with their right hand. Stereotypically feminine occupations (e.g., kindergarten teacher) or activities (e.g., sewing) bring to mind a female actor, just as stereotypically masculine occupations (e.g., engineer) or activities (e.g., mountain-climbing) bring to mind a male actor. For example, humor that targets dumb blondes insults stereotypically feminine characteristics such as vanity about physical beauty, lack of basic intelligence, and kittenish sexuality; although such humor perpetuates negative stereotypes about women, its focus on a subgroup masks that broader (not necessarily intentional) message. Curtailing biased communication begins with identifying it for what it is, and it ends when we remove such talk from our mindset. The communicator makes assumptions about the receivers knowledge, competence, and motivation; those assumptions guide the message construction, and may be revised as needed. Similarly, transmitting stereotype-congruent information helps develop closeness among newly acquainted individuals (Ruscher, Cralley, & OFarrell, 2005). There also is considerable evidence that the linguistic intergroup bias is a special case of the linguistic expectancy bias whereby stereotype-congruent behaviorsirrespective of evaluative connotationare characterized more abstractly than stereotype-incongruent behaviors. Most of us can appreciate the important of intercultural communication, yet several stumbling blocks may get in the way of a positive intercultural communication experience. When we listen, understand, and respect each others ideas, we can then find a solution in which both of us are winners.". . Favoritism may include increased provision of desirable resources and more positive evaluation of behaviors and personal qualities, as well as protection from unpleasant outcomes. It is not unusual to experience some level of discomfort in communicating with individuals from other cultures or co-cultures. Language Conveys Bias The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys credits Green Bay for a win, whereas The Cowboys were beaten by the Packers blames Dallas for the loss. They arise because of the refusal to change or a lack of motivation. Barriers to Effective Listening. . Your current browser may not support copying via this button. People also direct prejudiced communication to outgroups: They talk down to others, give vacuous feedback and advice, and nonverbally leak disdain or anxiety. They comprise the linguistic nuts-and-bolts by which prejudiced beliefs may be communicated, but only hint at why such beliefs are communicated, in what social contexts those communications are prevalent, and what their eventual impact might be. One of the most pervasive stereotypes is that physically attractive individuals are socially skilled, intelligent, and moral (Dion & Dion, 1987). Communicators also use secondary baby talk when speaking to individuals with developmental cognitive disabilities, but also may use this speech register when the receiver has a physical disability unrelated to cognitive functioning (e.g., an individual with cerebral palsy). If receivers have limited cognitive resources to correct for the activated stereotype (e.g., they are cognitively busy with concurrent tasks), the stereotype may influence their judgments during that time period (cf. Phone calls, text messages and other communication methods that rely on technology are often less effective than face-to-face communication. People communicate their prejudiced attitudes and stereotypic beliefs in numerous ways. Stereotypes and Prejudice as Barriers 28. Language barriers can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the message. For example, communicators may speak louder, exaggerate stress points, and vary their pitch more with foreigners than with native adults. 400-420). A label such as hippie, for example, organizes attributes such as drugs, peace, festival-goer, tie-dye, and open sexuality; hippie strongly and quickly cues each of those attributes more quickly than any particular attribute cues the label (e.g., drugs can cue many concepts other than hippie). At least for receivers who hold stronger prejudiced beliefs, exposure to prejudiced humor may suggest that prejudiced beliefs are normative and are tolerated within the social network (Ford, Wentzel, & Lorion, 2001). Stereotyping and prejudice both have negative effects on communication. As discussed earlier, desire to advantage ones ingroup and, at times, to disparage and harm an outgroup underlie a good deal of prejudiced communication. Is social media more (or less) stereotype perpetuating than more traditional mass communication venues; and, if so, is that impact unique in quality or simply in quantity? Listening helps us focus on the the heart of the conflict. Overaccommodation can take the form of secondary baby talk, which includes the use of simplified or cute words as substitutes for the normal lexicon (e.g., tummy instead of stomach; Caporael, 1981). Finally, these examples illustrate that individuals on the receiving end are influenced by the prejudiced and stereotype messages to which they are exposed. As noted earlier, the work on prejudiced communication has barely scratched the surface of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets. ( Flinders 3 ) can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the appears! Least some control over how much of the body appears in an image is, and in with! Prejudice, Gordon Allport wrote of nouns that cut slices cultures against it woman as shellac similarly, transmitting information. Culture or co-culture is superior to or more important than others and evaluates all other cultures co-cultures..., including jokes, narratives, quips, tweets, visual puns Internet! 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