Russel McClain’s TED Talk. A Stereotype Shreat. Psychology Essay

Russel McClain’s Ted Talk
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Russel McClain’s Ted Talk
Question 1
The terms prejudice, stereotype, discrimination, and racism are commonly used interchangeably to signify the same thing. However, there exist some differences between the four concepts. Prejudice depicts the beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitude that an individual hold about a particular group of people. It is a prejudgment based on external influence rather than personal or direct experience. A stereotype is an oversimplified generalization of people based on their gender, age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, among others. Whether the generalization is positive or negative, stereotypes disregard individual differences. Discrimination involves actions against a group of people based on prejudice (age, religion, race, etc.). Discrimination is partially responsible for the world's high level of socioeconomic and environmental inequalities. Lastly, racism is an extreme form of prejudice that subscribes to the notion that some racial categories are significantly superior or inferior to others. In most cases, the racial majority takes advantage of the racial minority due to the superiority and minority beliefs.
Question 2
Stereotypes infiltrate our thinking, attitude, and perceptions. They make us act differently, especially towards negative stereotypes. According to Russel McClain’s TED Talk video, a stereotype threat is the “fear of conforming to a negative stereotype” (McClain, 2018). It is the tendency to act or behave in conformity with certain stereotypes. For example, a person might have conceived the belief that women perform poorly in mathematics compared to men. In this case, the person might develop a tendency to conceptualize that particular notion in reality by engaging both boys and girls in a math test. The sole intention of the individual will be to prove that girls or women are bad at math, but not to test their intellectual capacity. From another perspective, a person experiencing stereotype threat might opt to engage a set of White and Black people in games or activities that require strategic tactics to prove the stereotype that Blacks are not as intelligent as Whites. Stereotype threats impair our cognitive abilities, hence the ability to think or act “right”.
Question 3
Russel...