Essay - The Psychology of Racism Racial Prejudice Has Been an Unfortunate...

The Psychology of Racism

Racial prejudice has been an unfortunate part of human society since at least the dawn of history, and probably since human beings first formed societies ***** all (ADL, 2001; Gale, 2001). This is just one form of prejudice that can and has existed ***** that period; others include religious prejudices or even simple matters of gender or appearance. Careful research has shown that such ***** are a natural and intrinsic part of human group *****ation, which necessarily includes mistrust ***** and prejudice towards members of an outside group (Feinberg, 2000). Prejudice is something that all hum*****s have within them, whether they like to admit it or not. ***** only becomes truly negative, however, when it is acted on. Then, prejudice ***** discrimination (Feinberg, 2000). If the ***** is racial in nature, it ***** labeled racism.

Thus, it ***** be seen ***** while ***** is universal, racism is not—act*****g out our prejudices is not as inevitable as ***** having them (*****, 2001). What, then, causes some people to be racist, ***** others recognize the error of their prejudices (if they even recognize ***** prejudices at all) and do not act on them? A psychological analysis of what creates a racist ***** a non-racist individual sheds some light on the way the issue of ***** works in our ***** at large.

*****ccording to Clara Moskowitz in Discover Magazine, recent psychological research h***** shown th***** optimism and racism show an indirect relationship—***** more positive someone's general outlook on l*****e is, *****e less likely they are to ***** racist (Moskowitz, 2007). There ***** several theoretical explanations for this theory, and more research is necessary to come to any firm conclusions, but it seems like ***** research might give some real insights into the way the brain *****, and why ***** causes some people to develop in***** racist *****dividuals.

First, it is important to distinguish between two types of racism—individual racism, ***** inst*****utional *****. Institutional racism is *****ten much more complex, and requires a sociological as well as a psychological racism (Adams, 2007). It is very ***** tied to individual *****, but is a separate phenomenon strictly speaking. The research Moskowitz discusses in her article involves individual racism, and the way it forms—or doesn't form—in ***** minds. *****, many psychologists believe, is the result of repeated negative associations (*****, 2001). These negative associations most ***** formed as an evolutionary bonus—people who were more able ***** quickly ********** things that might kill them were ***** ********** to avoid or escape them, so the faster negative associations are formed the better survival skills the individual has—but ***** people do not form negative ***** readily, ***** these people exhibit almost no tendency towards racism or prejudice at all (Moskowtiz, 2001).

If it is true that some people ***** not form negative associations readily, ***** seems likely that there are also those who ***** them more rapidly than others, and these people would be more likely to be racist. Though ***** seems to be a