How a young person may be influenced to become prejudiced
- Learning for Life and Work
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 26
'Prejudice' is the thoughts that are in a person's head about other people - it is the pre-judging of someone or some people that belong to a particular group. Prejudice can be a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason, fact or actual experience but usually on what people have heard about others.
A young person may be influenced to become prejudiced because of:
Ignorance
The young person may not know enough about a person or group of people and so may become prejudiced because of what they have heard others say about that person/group of people.
Family members
Parents and other family members may hold strong negative views about people of a different religion/race/background. The young person may accept these as 'true' or 'right' and become prejudiced by believing these views.
Friends/peers
The young person's friends/peers may hold negative stereotypical views about people of a different religion/race/background. The young person may accept these prejudiced views and be influenced to become prejudiced to remain part of the friendship group.
Community
The local community may reinforce a young person's views about people with a different religion/race/background. This can influence a young person to become prejuduced as they accept these views as correct and do not know any different.
Media
The media may present a negative image of certain religions and/or races of people. This can influence a young person's views about the religion/race/background of certain groups of people and so they may become prejudiced as they become convinced that these views are true.
Religion
A young person may be a member of a religious group that may be intolerant of different religions/races/backgrounds. This may influence a young person to become and remain prejudiced as they accept their religious beliefs as correct.
Personal Experience
A young person may have a 'bad' experience of others who identify with a certain religion/race. The young person may develop negative stereotypical views about everyone of this religion/race and become prejudiced as they believe that all people of this religion/race are all the same.
QUESTIONS YOU COULD BE ASKED ON THIS
Write down two reasons why someone may be prejudiced against a young person from a different culture (2marks)
Ignorance
The media
Write down what it means to be prejudiced (1mark)
It means making unfair judgments about people without knowing them.
Explain one cause of prejudice in society (2marks)
Prejudice in society can be caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding about different groups. This can lead to stereotyping and unfair judgments, as people make assumptions based on misinformation rather than facts.
Explain what stereotyping means (2marks)
Stereotyping means making general assumptions about a person based on the group they belong to, assuming they share the same characteristics as everyone in that group.
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