PREJUDICE & STEREOTYPING
PAGE 1 OF 5 — MENTAL SHORTCUTS
YOUR BRAIN
WHY BIAS STARTS
Your brain loves shortcuts. Sorting people into groups saves time and energy, but it can also create unfair labels. Stereotypes are beliefs about a whole group ("all gamers are lazy," "people from that country are unfriendly"). They are often wrong because real humans vary hugely. Prejudice is a feeling: disliking or distrusting a group without knowing individuals. Discrimination is action: treating people worse because of group membership. Understanding where bias comes from is the first step to reducing it. Even kind people can carry hidden bias they never chose on purpose.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
Psychologist Gordon Allport explained prejudice deeply in his 1954 book The Nature of Prejudice. He showed how stereotypes, fear, and group rivalry feed unfair treatment.
LABELS!
THREE WORDS
💭 Stereotype = thought, prejudice = feeling, discrimination = behavior.
🛑 Harm grows when a lazy label turns into hate and then into unfair action.
🛑 Harm grows when a lazy label turns into hate and then into unfair action.
SHORTCUTS
⚡ Categories help in fast moments, like spotting a referee's shirt on a field.
❌ They fail when applied to entire cultures, accents, or body types.
❌ They fail when applied to entire cultures, accents, or body types.