Editing Prejudice (section)

==Historical approaches==
The first [[psychological research]] conducted on prejudice occurred in the 1920s. This research attempted to prove [[white supremacy]]. One article from 1925 which reviewed 73 studies on race concluded that the studies seemed "to indicate the mental superiority of the white race".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/h0075064 |title=A review of race psychology |year=1930 |last1=Garth |first1=T. Rooster. |journal=[[Psychological Bulletin]] |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=329–56}}</ref> These studies, along with other research, led many psychologists to view prejudice as a natural response to races believed to be inferior.

In the 1930s and 1940s, this perspective began to change due to the increasing concern about [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitism]] due to the ideology of the [[Nazis]]. At the time, theorists viewed prejudice as pathological and they thus looked for personality syndromes linked with [[racism]]. [[Theodor Adorno]] believed that prejudice stemmed from an [[authoritarian personality]]; he believed that people with authoritarian personalities were the most likely to be prejudiced against groups of lower status. He described authoritarians as "rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as [[black and white thinking|black and white]], and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies".<ref name="Plous, S 2011">Plous, S. "[http://www.understandingprejudice.org/apa/english/ The Psychology of Prejudice]". Understanding Prejudice.org. Web. 07 Apr. 2011.{{vs|where's the URL?|date=November 2012}}</ref>

In 1954, [[Gordon Allport]], in his classic work ''[[The Nature of Prejudice]]'', linked prejudice to categorical thinking. Allport claimed that prejudice is a natural and normal process for humans. According to him, "The human mind must think with the aid of categories... Once formed, categories are the basis for normal prejudgment. We cannot possibly avoid this process. Orderly living depends upon it."<ref>{{cite book|last=Allport|first=Gordon W.|year=1954|title=The Nature of Prejudice|location=Reading, MA|publisher=Addison-Wesley|lccn=54005626}}{{page needed|date=November 2012}}</ref> In his book, he emphasizes the importance of the [[contact hypothesis]]. This theory posits that contact between different (ethnic) groups can reduce prejudices against those groups. Allport acknowledges the importance of the circumstances in which such contact occurs. He has attached conditions to it to promote positive contact and reduce prejudices.

In the 1970s, research began to show that prejudice tends to be based on [[In-group favoritism|favoritism towards one's own groups]], rather than negative feelings towards another group. According to [[Marilyn Brewer]], prejudice "may develop not because [[Ingroups and outgroups|outgroups]] are hated, but because positive emotions such as admiration, sympathy, and trust are reserved for the ingroup".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00126 |title=The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate? |year=1999 |last1=Brewer |first1=Marilynn B. |journal=[[Journal of Social Issues]] |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=429–44}}</ref>

In 1979, [[Thomas F. Pettigrew (sociologist)|Thomas Pettigrew]] described the [[ultimate attribution error]] and its role in prejudice. The ultimate attribution error occurs when ingroup members "(1) attribute negative outgroup behavior to dispositional causes (more than they would for identical ingroup behavior), and (2) attribute positive outgroup behavior to one or more of the following causes: (a) a fluke or exceptional case, (b) luck or special advantage, (c) high motivation and effort, and (d) situational factors"/<ref name="Plous, S 2011"/>

[[Elisabeth Young-Bruehl|Young-Bruehl]] (1996) argued that prejudice cannot be treated in the singular; one should rather speak of different prejudices as characteristic of different character types. Her theory defines prejudices as being social defences, distinguishing between an obsessional character structure, primarily linked with anti-semitism, hysterical characters, primarily associated with racism, and narcissistic characters, linked with sexism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Young-Bruehl|first1=Elizabeth|title=An Anatomy of Prejudices|date=1996|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=9780674031913|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674031913/page/38 38]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674031913/page/38|url-access=registration}}</ref>