_Campbell Biemiller is a first-year journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about politics and entertainment for The Maneater._
In today’s society, everyone has to be something. Straight or gay, boy or girl, Democrat or Republican. Sometimes, these terms merge or categories morph into new sub-sections. There are bisexual, non-binary and left or right leaning political parties.
Despite some categories developing on a spectrum scale, everyone still has to be something. Many people can’t accept the concept that labels don’t have to exist due to the psychological barrier of needing to categorize.
Categorizing helps the human brain process the world. It provides a sense of control for our brains, which lack understanding of the greater processes of the universe. The issue with this immediate categorization is the assumptions that come with it because they lead to oppression. This is not an excuse by any means, but a deeper understanding of the psychological processes may lead to reform of social injustices.
Those who make quick judgments or assumptions typically hate the idea of ambiguity and are more prejudiced, according to the Association of Psychological Science. People reach out for the easiest information to process because it gives them a firm answer, despite labels not being that black and white.
“Of course, everyone has to make decisions, but some people really hate uncertainty and therefore quickly rely on the most obvious information, often the first information they come across, to reduce it” Dr. Arne Roets of Ghent University said to the Association of Psychological Science. By immediately categorizing people, the mind adds properties to these groups so it’s easier to make decisions. One will seek out these properties, creating stereotypes and prejudice.
Once in categories, people begin to acknowledge individuals as the stereotypes of the social groups they identify with rather than a single person, attaching stereotypes and oftentimes minimal knowledge to that person. When debates spark, people tend to try and prove their side by generalizing themselves as a group.
If a man and a woman start a debate over women’s rights, the man will stand up for himself by examining the male population as a whole. The woman will do the same with the female population. He could say the feminist movement is focused on women gaining more power over men while she could argue feminism as men and women being equal. While these judgments are based on personal beliefs, they hold value in the greater identity of the genders as a whole. This principle can be applied to any group of people society has constructed.
Social categorization makes people perceive drastic differences between social groups, according to Dr. Charles Stangor in “Principles of Social Psychology.” He said we also emphasize similarities that aren’t really there between other groups.
As individuals, we feel the need to differentiate ourselves from others and compare our social standings in class, race and gender to those we wish to be like or to those we think we are better than in order to create change.
According to “Processes of prejudice: Theory, evidence and intervention” by Dominic Abrams, four areas are vital to understanding this concept — the way people of different social groups view members of other groups, the psychological bases for prejudice like people’s key values and social identity, how prejudice is expressed and how people’s experiences with social injustice shape them.
When people feel threatened, they develop prejudices toward the group or person they fear. Prejudices play a role when people discriminate against others or feel conflict with others.
In order to fix this innate social categorization that begins in early childhood, prejudice needs to be acknowledged as its own entity away from universal mutual respect or social harmony. Just how you can’t have good without bad or bad without good, social harmony comes from a universal understanding of society, including prejudices.
More information is needed on prejudice and how it affects people. We need safe ways of handling the issue that are effective to all members of society or further conflict will arise. Oppression and equality don’t function like a pulley system where they are inversely correlated. One will not disappear if the other is pulled too hard. Prejudice can be stopped once people as a whole understand group interactions and social constructs.
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_Edited by Sydney Lewis | slewis@themaneater.com_
