Prejudice is a preconceived notion that is not based on reason or actual experience. It is a feeling towards a person based on his/her affiliation towards a group. If I think have a certain belief towards a specific group of people based on their race, sex, or religion and I come across people belonging to such group, I may hold that belief towards them based on their affiliation to the group. These preconceived notions are then turned into stereotypes; a belief that that is unreliable and over-generalized about all members of a group that do not take into account individual differences of a group. These stereotypes exist because it help how we interpret and view other people in the world.
For example, I believe most Asians look alike. So when I encounter an Asian person, I often mistake them for someone else, or I can never tell them apart. Most of the times, my assumptions on the stereotype is correct but sometimes I’m wrong and feel stupid for assuming just because they’re Asian that they would be smart on the subject. Another example of a stereotype that I have is that Spanish people are typically loud. Spanish lady came on the bus and decided to sit directly in front of me. I noticed she was on the phone so I anticipated she
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The negative experiences I’ve had with this group of people have outweighed the positive experience. So my prejudice against them continues to grow. They’ll have an important event or a get together and often won’t involve their non Indian Guyanese friends to the functions or get together. I can’t have friend that doesn’t feel comfortable inviting me to most of the functions they hold with their friends and family. I guess this is a form of confirmation bias, don’t want anyone to ever think they’re better than me solely because of my skin