Racism Rooted in Our Evolutionary Past

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Psychologists have long known that many people are prejudiced towards others based on group affiliations, be they racial, ethnic, religious, or even political. However, we know far less about why people are prone to prejudice in the first place. New research, using monkeys, suggests that the roots lie deep in our evolutionary past.

Yale graduate student Neha Mahajan, along with a team of psychologists, traveled to Cayo Santiago, an uninhabited island southeast of Puerto Rico also known as “Monkey Island,” in order to study the behavior of rhesus monkeys. Like humans, rhesus monkeys live in groups and form strong social bonds. The monkeys also tend to be wary of those they perceive as potentially threatening.

To figure out whether monkeys distinguish between insiders (i.e. those who belong to their group) and outsiders (i.e. those who don’t belong), the researchers measured the amount of time the monkeys stared at the photographed face of an insider versus outsider monkey. Across several experiments, they found that the monkeys stared longer at the faces of outsiders. This would suggest that monkeys were more wary of outsider faces.

However, it is also possible that outsiders simply evoke more curiosity. To rule this out, the researchers took advantage of the fact that male rhesus monkeys leave their childhood groups once they reach reproductive age. This allowed the researchers to pair familiar outsider faces (monkeys that had recently left the group) with less familiar insider faces (monkeys that had recently joined the group). When presented with these pairs, the monkeys continued to stare longer at outsider faces, even though they were more familiar with them. The monkeys were clearly making distinctions based on group membership.

....

Some researchers believe prejudice is unique to humans, since it seems to depend on complex thought processes. For example, past studies have found that people are likely to display prejudice after being reminded of their mortality, or after receiving a blow to their self-esteem. Since only humans are capable of contemplating their deaths or their self-image, these studies reinforce the view that only humans are capable of prejudice. But the behavior of the rhesus monkeys implies that our basic tendency to see the world in terms of “us” and “them” has ancient origins.

Psychologist Catherine Cottrell at the University of Florida and her colleague Steven Neuberg at Arizona State University, argue that human prejudice evolved as a function of group living. Joining together in groups allowed humans to gain access to resources necessary for survival including food, water, and shelter. Groups also offered numerous advantages, such as making it easier to find a mate, care for children, and receive protection from others. However, group living also made us more wary of outsiders who could potentially harm the group by spreading disease, killing or hurting individuals, or stealing precious resources. To protect ourselves, we developed ways of identifying who belongs to our group and who doesn’t. Over time, this process of quickly evaluating others might have become so streamlined that it became unconscious.

Psychologists have long known that many of our prejudices operate automatically, without us even being aware of them. Most people, even those who care deeply about equality, show some level of prejudice towards other groups when tested using the IAT. Despite this overwhelming evidence that our brains are wired for bias, our society continues to think about prejudice as premeditated behavior. Our current laws against discrimination, as well as the majority of diversity training programs, assume that prejudice is overt and intentional. Rarely do we teach people about how automatic prejudices might taint their behavior towards others.

The fact that prejudice often occurs automatically doesn’t mean we can’t find ways of overcoming its negative effects. For example, there is evidence that when people are made aware of their automatic prejudices, they can self-correct. And when we are encouraged to take the perspective of an outsider, it reduces our automatic prejudice towards that person’s group.

more...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=evolution-of-prejudice&page=2

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Culture

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Psychologists have long known that many people are prejudiced towards others based on group affiliations, be they racial, ethnic, religious, or even political. However, we know far less about why people are prone to prejudice in the first place. New research, using monkeys, suggests that the roots lie deep in our evolutionary past.

Yale graduate student Neha Mahajan, along with a team of psychologists, traveled to Cayo Santiago, an uninhabited island southeast of Puerto Rico also known as “Monkey Island,” in order to study the behavior of rhesus monkeys. Like humans, rhesus monkeys live in groups and form strong social bonds. The monkeys also tend to be wary of those they perceive as potentially threatening.

To figure out whether monkeys distinguish between insiders (i.e. those who belong to their group) and outsiders (i.e. those who don’t belong), the researchers measured the amount of time the monkeys stared at the photographed face of an insider versus outsider monkey. Across several experiments, they found that the monkeys stared longer at the faces of outsiders. This would suggest that monkeys were more wary of outsider faces.

However, it is also possible that outsiders simply evoke more curiosity. To rule this out, the researchers took advantage of the fact that male rhesus monkeys leave their childhood groups once they reach reproductive age. This allowed the researchers to pair familiar outsider faces (monkeys that had recently left the group) with less familiar insider faces (monkeys that had recently joined the group). When presented with these pairs, the monkeys continued to stare longer at outsider faces, even though they were more familiar with them. The monkeys were clearly making distinctions based on group membership.

....

Some researchers believe prejudice is unique to humans, since it seems to depend on complex thought processes. For example, past studies have found that people are likely to display prejudice after being reminded of their mortality, or after receiving a blow to their self-esteem. Since only humans are capable of contemplating their deaths or their self-image, these studies reinforce the view that only humans are capable of prejudice. But the behavior of the rhesus monkeys implies that our basic tendency to see the world in terms of “us” and “them” has ancient origins.

Psychologist Catherine Cottrell at the University of Florida and her colleague Steven Neuberg at Arizona State University, argue that human prejudice evolved as a function of group living. Joining together in groups allowed humans to gain access to resources necessary for survival including food, water, and shelter. Groups also offered numerous advantages, such as making it easier to find a mate, care for children, and receive protection from others. However, group living also made us more wary of outsiders who could potentially harm the group by spreading disease, killing or hurting individuals, or stealing precious resources. To protect ourselves, we developed ways of identifying who belongs to our group and who doesn’t. Over time, this process of quickly evaluating others might have become so streamlined that it became unconscious.

Psychologists have long known that many of our prejudices operate automatically, without us even being aware of them. Most people, even those who care deeply about equality, show some level of prejudice towards other groups when tested using the IAT. Despite this overwhelming evidence that our brains are wired for bias, our society continues to think about prejudice as premeditated behavior. Our current laws against discrimination, as well as the majority of diversity training programs, assume that prejudice is overt and intentional. Rarely do we teach people about how automatic prejudices might taint their behavior towards others.

The fact that prejudice often occurs automatically doesn’t mean we can’t find ways of overcoming its negative effects. For example, there is evidence that when people are made aware of their automatic prejudices, they can self-correct. And when we are encouraged to take the perspective of an outsider, it reduces our automatic prejudice towards that person’s group.

more...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=evolution-of-prejudice&page=2

A friend of mine did a thesis on this and found something similar - that people's biases are automatic.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Good grief! Wary of outsiders does equate to racism. You want real research on this issue take a look at ones upbringing and not a animal known for drinking his own piss.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Good grief! Wary of outsiders does equate to racism. You want real research on this issue take a look at ones upbringing and not a animal known for drinking his own piss.

Racism is a form of prejudice, but not all forms of prejudice are racist. The research makes logical sense - that primates (humans included) thrive by forming groups and familiarity is a natural attraction. Think beyond people and about the last time you encountered something completely new to you. How did you react to it?

[_Simpson_ 250]

Racism is a form of prejudice, but not all forms of prejudice are racist. The research makes logical sense - that primates (humans included) thrive by forming groups and familiarity is a natural attraction. Think beyond people and about the last time you encountered something completely new to you. How did you react to it?

Fair enough but I believe this has more to do with being cautious of the unknown(a valid conclusion considering the thought process of a monkey) than any sort of prejudice.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Fair enough but I believe this has more to do with being cautious of the unknown(a valid conclusion considering the thought process of a monkey) than any sort of prejudice.

Racism is rooted in xenophobia.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

One post containing personal attack has been removed.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Racism is rooted in xenophobia.

ABC's Monday night football premiered in September 1970 with Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell. Whats your point?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

ABC's Monday night football premiered in September 1970 with Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell. Whats your point?

You do know why Cosell lost his job with Monday Night Football don't you ? It was over a remark he made a bout Art Monk of the Washington Redskins. It was taken as a racist comment when it obviously was not. Yet he got hook anyways.

[_Simpson_ 250]

You do know why Cosell lost his job with Monday Night Football don't you ? It was over a remark he made a bout Art Monk of the Washington Redskins. It was taken as a racist comment when it obviously was not. Yet he got hook anyways.

I did not know that, I'm going to look into it.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I did not know that, I'm going to look into it.

OK...I had the wrong receiver...it was Garret and not Monk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Cosell

"Little monkey" comment

During a Monday Night Football telecast on September 5, 1983, Cosell said of Washington Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett, "That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?" The Rev. Joseph Lowery, then-president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, denounced Cosell's comment as racist and demanded a public apology, but Cosell refused, citing his past support for black athletes and stating that "little monkey" was an affectionate term he had used in the past for diminutive white athletes (including Mike Adamle, who Cosell was on record as using the term 11 years prior), as well as for his own grandson.

Cosell left the Monday Night Football booth following the 1983 season, citing his waning interest in professional football.

[_Simpson_ 250]

"little monkey" I read that he had used that term with white receivers too. Reminds me of a story involving one of my teachers. He jumped down my throat when I called a black student Curious George, her name was Courtney George and she was known for always asking questions. He automatically assumed the monkey angle, a thought that hadn't even crossed my mind.

Edited July 26, 2011 by _Simpson_

[Kathryn41 3,205]

And another personal attack removed. The reporter, btw, was not the person attacked. Any further comments of this nature will lead to a thread ban.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Racism is rooted in xenophobia.

i agree. but, the meaning of that word has been bastardized here on VJ. its been used (wrongfully) to describe a fear of people of color. when it actually means an abnormal fear of foreigners, strangers, or of their politics and or culture.