Prejudicial attitude toward others has three components as follows:
Cognitive component (beliefs and ideas): we tend to categorize people in terms of the in-group (the group to which we belong) and the out-group (people different from us in some way). Stereotypes are beliefs or assumptions we hold about people, based on perceived differences we think describe members of their group. Stereotype: Two illustrations below cognitive components shows two dashed boxes. The dashed box at the top has 11 pairs of brown eyes arranged in 3 rows and 4 columns. Text below reads, cleaner, more civilized, smarter. The dashed box at the bottom has 17 pair of blue eyes arranged in 5 rows and 4 columns and a corresponding callout reads, when Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior was assassinated in 19 68, a teacher named Jane Elliott gave her students a lesson about discrimination. Because no African Americans lived in their Iowa town, she knew students would have trouble understanding what motivated the terrible act. Elliott invited the class to join her in an exercise in which one set of students was segregated into a negatively stereotyped out-group: Suppose we divide the class into blue-eyes people and brown-eyed people. Left bracket B right bracket brown-eyed people are better than blue-eyed people. They are cleaner ellipsis more civilized ellipsis smarter. (Peter, 19 71, p p 20 to 21).
Affective component (emotional evaluation): prejudice, or feelings of hostility, anger, or discomfort toward members of out-group. Text pointing to the words prejudice reads, social psychologists often use prejudice to refer to both these negative attitudes and the negative feelings tide to them. Prejudice: An illustration below affective component depicts two overlapping circles in which the left circled is labeled prejudice and its accompanying text reads, brown-eyes dislike blue-eyes, but have to be nice while in class. The circle at the right is labeled discrimination and its accompanying text reads, brown-eyes, who are required to sit at the front of the room, do not sit with blue-eyes, who must sit at the back. Text in the overlapping area reads, brown-eyes dislike blue-eyes and exclude them from games at recess. A callout below the illustration reads, in her exercise, Elliott created a situation in which discrimination initially existed without the presence of actual feelings of hostility or anger. Although prejudice and discrimination often go hand in hand, either condition can exist independently.
Behavioral component (the way we respond): discrimination or treating others differently because of their affiliation with a group. Can include showing hostility or anger to others, or can be more subtle, such as different body language or tone of voice. Discrimination: A black and white photo below behavioral component shows a teacher sitting in front of children in a classroom. A callout below the photo reads, during the exercise, a list of rules governed behavior for both groups. For example, only children with brown eyes were allowed to sit at the front of the room near the teacher. The effect of this manufactured discrimination surprised even Elliott. The brown-eyed children quickly became openly hostile toward the blue-eyed children. And the blue-eyed children were miserable. Their entire attitude were those of defeat. Their classroom work regressed sharply from that of the day before. (Peters, 19 71, p 25).