Why Is It…?

“Why Is It…?” was designed by Dr. Steiner to address readers’ questions about human behavior from a social psychological perspective in order to inform and stimulate dialogue about the ways in which our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the presence of other people. Dr. Steiner holds a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. In addition to working as a university professor over the last 15 years, she conducts individual and group consultations in matters of social relationships and behavior. Readers are invited to submit their questions anonymously in one paragraph or less to Dr. Steiner at [email protected].

Q: Why is it…that some people are so quick to judge others without even knowing them?

My mother has some very rigid ideas about people who come from different backgrounds. Whenever she encounters a person of a different race or religion, she automatically assumes that they are bad. How can she make such judgments about others when she doesn’t even know them?

A: We live in a socially diverse world. Throughout our lives, we are exposed to people from a wide variety of backgrounds that may differ from our own (such as race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, political affiliation, etc.). When trying to make sense of the world around us, we all engage in a process of social judgments to determine the nature of other people in relation to ourselves.

This classic question about human behavior is central to the study of social psychology and involves the dynamics of stereotyping, prejudice, and the methods we use when processing information about others. When making judgments about others, we typically engage in one of two options. We may rely on either category-based or target-based judgments.

Category-based judgments are formed on the basis of stereotypical information that we have about broad social categories (blondes are dumb, homosexuals are sinful, Jews are shrewd, etc.), and specific knowledge about the individuals in question is not taken into consideration. These “snap-judgments” provide us with swift, mental “short-cuts” to determine what other people are like. They may result in negative conclusions (as in the previous example) or positive ones (the U.S.A. is the best nation on earth). Whether positive or negative, category-based judgments are usually wrong (error-prone) and, in most cases, lead to erroneous conclusions about other people.

Target-based judgments, on the other hand, involve gathering information about each individual’s character prior to making conclusions about them (regardless of what social group they represent). Rather than using one’s social category as an automatic basis for judgment, here, we carefully consider the person (target) versus the social group (category) in our decision-making processes. Unlike category-based judgments, target-based judgments take time. They involve careful, deliberate and thoughtful assessments of others, and in most cases, are far more accurate and reliable when drawing conclusions of what others are like.

We are all raised with preconceived notions about social groups, and over time, we may come to rely on these expectations. In essence, we put our minds on “auto-pilot” and jump to conclusions based on the stereotypes we have learned about certain social categories. If we are to break this pattern of error-prone, category-based conclusions, we must reject this tendency and use our capacity for critical thinking – putting effort into gathering specific information about another person as a unique individual. In other words, we must take our minds off “auto-pilot” and assume the “manual control” over how we process information about others.

Few of us would appreciate being judged solely on the basis of our social group memberships. If someone were to presume that I, as a female, am delicate, do all the housework, and am obsessed with fashion, they would be seriously mistaken! Therefore, to render the most accurate impressions of others, we may draw from the wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. who said, (and I paraphrase) “Judge me not by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character.” While requiring more time and effort, these target-based judgments will result in more accurate and fair impressions of others and reduce the prevalence of prejudice and discrimination toward those who appear different from ourselves. Remember, beneath the surface, we are all truly more alike than we are led to believe.