People interact with others everyday, and those interactions can be explained through intergroup relations. Intergroup relations refer to how groups can influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour (Wright, 2018c). These relations are pronounced by stability, but also change. Although some may argue these systems will not change, if effective strategies are implemented at various levels of analysis and if prejudice-reducing strategies are implemented with children then negative thoughts, attitudes, and actions of these systems can decrease and cease to exist.
The key towards change and reducing prejudice is to acknowledge differences between groups without perpetuating negative stereotypes. Acknowledging differences between groups is necessary …show more content…
This can occur through cross-group contact, education about diverse cultures, and inclusivity. Intergroup contact theory posits intergroup contact reduces intergroup prejudice when certain conditions are met, such as equal status between groups. In their metanalysis, Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) researched if mere exposure had positive effects and whether certain conditions helped reduced prejudice, and they found greater intergroup contact is associated with lower levels of prejudice and the effects often generalize beyond the immediate context. Therefore, if children are taught about diverse groups from an early age and have more cross-group contact, they may be less prejudiced. Some researchers even argue that aside from direct contact, extended contact and imagined contact can reduce prejudice in school contexts (Jones & Rutland, 2018). As exemplified by Cameron, Rutland, Brown, and Douch (2006), simply reading children stories about someone from their group having a positive cross-group interaction with an immigrant refugee child serves as an effective prejudice-reduction strategy. Reducing negative prejudices in children allows them to create more inclusive categories with the prototype being more representative of the
The key towards change and reducing prejudice is to acknowledge differences between groups without perpetuating negative stereotypes. Acknowledging differences between groups is necessary …show more content…
This can occur through cross-group contact, education about diverse cultures, and inclusivity. Intergroup contact theory posits intergroup contact reduces intergroup prejudice when certain conditions are met, such as equal status between groups. In their metanalysis, Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) researched if mere exposure had positive effects and whether certain conditions helped reduced prejudice, and they found greater intergroup contact is associated with lower levels of prejudice and the effects often generalize beyond the immediate context. Therefore, if children are taught about diverse groups from an early age and have more cross-group contact, they may be less prejudiced. Some researchers even argue that aside from direct contact, extended contact and imagined contact can reduce prejudice in school contexts (Jones & Rutland, 2018). As exemplified by Cameron, Rutland, Brown, and Douch (2006), simply reading children stories about someone from their group having a positive cross-group interaction with an immigrant refugee child serves as an effective prejudice-reduction strategy. Reducing negative prejudices in children allows them to create more inclusive categories with the prototype being more representative of the