Explaining Racism and Ethnic Discrimination

Psychological Interpretations

Psychological theories can help us understand the nature of prejudiced attitudes and also why ethnic differences matter so much to people. Two psychological approaches are useful in this regard. The first begins with the fact that prejudice operates mainly through the use of stereotypes and vents their antagonism against ‘scapegoats’, people blamed for things that are not their fault. Scapegoating is common when two or more deprived ethnic groups come into competition with one another for economic rewards.

The second approach suggests that there may be some types of people, as a result of early socialization, who are particularly prone to stereotypical thinking and projection – the unconscious attribution to others of one’s own desires or angers. Theodor Adorno and his associates in the 1940s diagnosed a character type they termed the authoritarian personality (Adorno et al. 1950). The researchers developed several measurement scales for assessing levels of prejudice. On one scale, for instance, people were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements expressing strongly anti-Semitic views. Those who were diagnosed as prejudiced against Dalits also tended to express negative attitudes towards other minority groups. People with an authoritarian personality, the investigators concluded, tend to be rigidly conformist, submissive to their superiors and dismissive towards inferiors. Such people are also highly intolerant in their religious and sexual attitudes (Giddens 2010).

The characteristics of an authoritarian personality result from a pattern of upbringing in which parents are unable to express direct love for their children and are aloof and disciplinarian. As adults, these individuals suffer from anxieties that can be controlled only by the adoption of a rigid outlook. They are unable to cope with ambiguous situations, and they ignore inconsistencies, tending to think in a stereotypical way.

Adorno’s research was subjected to a barrage of criticism. Some have doubted the value of the measurement scales used. Others have argued that authoritarianism is not a characteristic of personality, but reflects the values and norms of particular subcultures within the wider society. The investigation may be more valuable as a contribution to understanding authoritarian patterns of thought in general, rather than distinguishing a particular personality type. Finally, such approaches presume that racism is a set of beliefs held by a small number of individuals who display particular psychological traits. Many sociological interpretations, by contrast, seek to locate the causes of racism and prejudice in the culture or structures of society itself.

Sociological Interpretations

The psychological mechanisms outlined above are found among members of all societies, and help us explain why ethnic antagonism is such a common element in different cultures. However, they tell us little about the social processes involved in discrimination. To study such processes, we must draw on sociological ideas.

Ethnocentrism, Group Closure and Allocation of Resources

Sociological concepts relevant to ethnic conflicts on a general level are those of ethnocentrism, ethnic group closure and resource allocation. Ethnocentrism refers to a suspicion of outsiders combined with a tendency to evaluate the culture of others in terms of one’s own culture. Virtually all cultures have been ethnocentric to some degree, and it is easy to see how ethnocentrism combines with stereotypical thought. Outsiders are thought of as aliens, barbarians or morally and mentally inferior. This was how most civilizations viewed the members of smaller cultures, for example, and the attitude has fuelled innumerable ethnic clashes in history.