Q.Differentiate between prejudice and stereotype.

A stereotype is the cognitive component: it is a cluster of ideas or beliefs about the characteristics of a specific group, in which all members of that group are assumed to possess those characteristics. Stereotypes are often (though not necessarily) about undesirable traits. A prejudice, by contrast, is a complete attitude toward a group — usually a negative one — and, like any attitude, it has cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects. Its cognitive component is frequently the stereotype; this is accompanied by the affective component of dislike or hatred, and it may translate into discrimination (the behavioural component). So a stereotype is a belief (one part of the attitude), while prejudice is the whole negative attitude th …

Stereotype

A stereotype is a cluster of ideas or beliefs regarding the characteristics of a specific group, in which all members belonging to that group are assumed to possess those characteristics. Stereotypes are the cognitive component of an attitude toward a group. Often, stereotypes consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group, and it is this that leads to negative attitudes or prejudices toward members of specific groups.

Prejudice

Prejudices are examples of attitudes toward a particular group. They are usually negative, and in many cases are based on stereotypes. Being an attitude, a prejudice has all three A-B-C components:

• its cognitive component is frequently the stereotype — the beliefs held about the group;
• its affective component is the accompanying dislike or hatred; and
• its behavioural component, when the prejudice is translated into action, is discrimination — behaving in a less positive way toward the target group than toward a favoured group.

The key difference …