Social Categorization and Ingroup–Outgroup Bias Discussion response
Humanities
Respond in one or more of the following ways:
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- Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
- Offer and support an opinion.
- Validate an idea with your own experience.
- Make a suggestion.
- Expand on your colleague’s posting.
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Please include at least one references in the response.
Post 1 (Write a 50-100 words response to this post)
Social Categorization and Ingroup–Outgroup Bias
Social categorization occurs when there is a group whose beliefs are similar and that in that similarity, they are harmonious (Fiske, Gilbert, & Lindzey, 2010). The possibility of bias is in the perception of the group toward members of other groups or individuals whose belief system is dissimilar. In the Thrush & Stohlberg’s (2019) article, Democrats were experiencing inter-group disagreements on a subject that previously had been a mark of their alliance. The House brought the issue of biased language to a vote, however there was disagreement as to the extent that one can limit the speech to both satisfy the rules of the House and in keeping with the freedom of speech of American citizens.
The Democrats have always believed themselves to be the party of tolerance and inclusiveness and they believe the Republicans to be in opposition. The issue of group-level processes of the Democrats is their belief that they do not hold biases or display prejudices and that the Republicans are guilty of holding such biases. Decategorization lessens the group’s congruity and encourages individualization (Fiske, Gilbert, & Lindzey, 2010). In seeing each individual as their own entity allows those who are in the group to form opinions based on the person and not the group thinking. We all hold biases whether we believe we do or not. It’s only when we differentiate the person from the group do we uncover the relevant information about one’s personality.
References
Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (2010). Handbook of Social Psychology, v.2; 5th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Thrush, G., & Stolberg, S. G. (2019, March 10). After Week of Infighting, Democrats Wonder Where to Draw Line on Speech. The New York Times, pp. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/us/politics/ilhan-omar-democrats-free-speech.html.
