Question

1. What are some of the social and evolutionary processes involved in prejudice?
2. What are some effective ways to lessen prejudice?

Answer 1

The social and evolutionary perspective holds that prejudice evolved as an adaptive function as a result of living in groups. Living in cooperation with others allowed humans to gain more access to resources necessary for survival such as food, water, and shelter. Other advantages of living in groups included protection from outsiders and easier selection of mates and child rearing. At the same time, however, existence in groups made humans more vary of outsiders who offered potential threats to the survival of the group by possibly spreading disease, killing or hurting members, or stealing precious resources. In order to protect the group, and ultimately oneself, humans developed mechanisms to distinguish group members from outsiders. Over time, this process of evaluation may have become an unconscious process, leading to stereotyping and prejudice.