http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Health/2007/09/25/study_few_do_not_form_racial_prejudices/1298/
Study: Few do not form racial prejudices
Published: 25, 2007 at 2:54 PM
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CHICAGO, 25 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers found just 7 percent of respondents do not have the usual human tendency to favor one's own group and not form racial prejudices.
Their study, published in the journal Psychological Science, found the 7 percent of people that showed no racial bias differed from biased individuals in a fundamental way -- they also were less likely to form negative emotional associations in general.
Robert Livingston of Northwestern University and Brian Drwecki of the University of Wisconsin asked white college students to do tasks that repeatedly paired unfamiliar Chinese characters with positive or negative images such as puppies or snakes. The results showed non-biased individuals were less likely than biased individuals to acquire negative emotions toward the character paired with negative pictures.
"Just as it is difficult to change visceral reactions to aversive foods -- for example lima beans -- through sheer force of will, it may also be difficult to change visceral attitudes toward racial groups by acknowledging that prejudice is wrong and wanting to change," Livingston says.
While reason may not change negative associations, Livingston and Drwecki argue negative associations could be reconditioned through positive interpersonal experiences or exposure to positive images of people of other races.
I'm afraid of yellow shoes..
And this: http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=2867
Of course we all form 'racial' prejudices. We are hard-wired for that sort of thing in our primitive brain, We are programmed to recognize the difference between 'them' and 'us.'
It is a tribal-survival technique which clearly was important during those ugly pre-history years of 'kill or be killed' mentality.
Not only are our eyes and brains wired to delineate color differences, which is a rather no-brainer, we are able to delineate facial structural differences without too much thought-- which was important to survival. The 'stranger' needed to be quickly identified otherwise our entire tribe might be wiped out by 'them.'
No doubt Neanderthals were quite easy to ID from a distance due to their facial structure and became easy targets of more aggressive humanoids.
Our job as teachers of our children is to de-program that from our children's natural instinct, the instinct to delineate 'them' from 'us.' Sadly most parents skip that child-rearing lesson...or worse!
posted by Man_with_the_muck_rake on Sep 28, 2007 at 07:57:16 am #