The Importance Of Prejudice

I have learned that we have the research and the information that we need to mitigate prejudice. Even though we have concrete science that tells us how to reduce prejudice, we still live in a society riddled with hatred and bias. We have a desire not to appear prejudiced, and we often try hard to prove to ourselves and others that we are not biased (Harber, 2010; Harber, 1998). It is cognitively wearing to attempt to keep up this non biased ploy (Richeson & Shelton, 2003). Instead of spending so much energy and effort trying to appear not to be biased, let’s focus our efforts towards actually not being biased. The research shows that there are numerous things that can help reduce bias on an individual level. Practicing cooperation within …show more content…
First of all, I wrote a counter attitudinal essay about a subject that is immediately relevant to me. I am looking for research opportunities during the summer and many of the programs I was interested in were programs specifically for minority groups. Because of this I am not a candidate. I wrote an essay that argued why more programs like this should be available and the overwhelming benefits and necessity of these affirmative action programs, even though it might make it more difficult to find research opportunities. After writing this essay that was high in dissonance I hope to reduce that dissonance by viewing a group that I am prejudiced towards in a more positive light. Secondly, I recognize Regis’s overwhelmingly homogeneous composition and relative lack of diversity. While this is not ideal, I can still use the concepts provided by Keenan and Carnevale and increase cooperation within the groups that I identify with, in the hope that this will transfer over to groups that I am prejudiced against. I attempted to be more conscious of the ways I could bring harmony to a group and also how best to cooperate in different situations to reduce conflict and tension within the …show more content…
We hoped to do this by pledging to interact and engage with Nate when we could also relate to experiences or had something to add to the conversation. We tried our best to be welcoming and we had the conversation while sharing pie. The interaction began awkwardly as expected. Everyone introduced themselves and we began to talk. The ice was broken when we began talking about Louisiana crawfish. Everyone commented on different recipes or different experiences with crawfish. While somewhat random, the group contributed in a conversation in which we ended up laughing and conversation seemed a lot more natural after that. While Nate lead most of the conversations with his stories and life experiences, everyone contributed when there were places in which we could relate or add. Nate has a passion for being a youth pastor and was a fantastic story teller. He was open about his struggles with addiction and how he got clean but the real passion in his story was present when he spoke about the his plans for the future and how he is going to pursue his passions. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Nate and only wish I had gotten a last name so we could check up on him and see how starting a church in Colorado Springs is