Every day, most of us experience some degree of fear. Whether we’re afraid of being late for class, giving a speech in public, or crossing a busy street, we’ve all experienced that same rush of adrenaline. This fight-or-flight response is designed to keep us safe, priming us for action in stressful or threatening situations. However, our fear can extend far beyond something as benign as public speaking; it can also extend to people. When this fear of people who are different than us, otherwise known as xenophobia, leads to preconceived ideas about an entire culture, it can have disastrous consequences; on a fundamental level, all of today’s social problems–racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and so on–can be traced back to a sense of fear. Therefore, by examining the psychological and social factors that contribute to xenophobia, we can develop more effective solutions for deconstructing negative prejudices.
In order to understand the roots of xenophobia, one must first understand the way in which the brain processes and separates new information. Dr. Mark Covey, professor of social psychology at Concordia College, explains, “As children, we are taught to make associations between objects with similar characteristics that become more refined as we assign them meaning. Unfortunately, we often throw people into the mix.” As a result, the meaning that is assigned to a particular group is often determined by environmental influences, which means that prejudice and xenophobia are based on both cultural stereotypes and learned behavior. “Our culture implies, for example, that there are significant differences between men and women; [however] scientists have yet to find them.”
There are, of course, many factors that contribute to the development of xenophobic attitudes. One such factor is the media, which frequently perpetuates negative stereotypes of minorities, especially Muslims. The author F. A. Noor wrote, “Muslim identity and the concerns of Muslims are increasingly being defined in terms of an oppositional dialectic that pits Islam and Muslims against the rest of the world…images of Muslims as murderous fanatics abound in movies, videos and computer games” (qtd. in Espiritu). These stereotypes, though not representative of an entire populations, have devastating consequences for both the group they apply to and those who believe them. Those who hold these prejudicial beliefs “see the world as a more dangerous and threatening place than it actually is, while its victims often internalize them, so that their performance suffers” asserts Dr. Covey.
A classic example of the effects of prejudice and discrimination is the famous experiment conducted by Dr. Clark during the Brown vs Board of Education Supreme Court case, known as The Doll Test. A crucial piece of evidence in proving the psychological damage of school segregation, it showed that when given a choice between African American and Caucasian dolls, students overwhelmingly preferred the white doll, associating it with positive characteristics and the doll of their own race with negative ones (Brown). Even though schools have since been integrated, there is evidence that minorities still suffer from internalized stereotypes, a phenomenon coined by psychologists Joshua Arononson and Claude Steele as “stereotype threat.” When conducting experiments, they found that members of minorities categorized as academically inferior, such as Latinos, African Americans, and women, performed significantly worse on exams when reminded of their race or gender beforehand (Paul). In effect, this evidence shows that by either allowing stereotypes to govern our perceptions of people, or by allowing our culture to perpetuate them as fact, we are allowing unnecessary damage to be done to those around us, in addition to ourselves.
It should be noted, however, that just because a person holds prejudicial or xenophobic attitudes, it does not necessarily mean that they will engage in discriminatory behavior. Many elements play a role in dictating whether a person is encouraged or discouraged to act on their beliefs, such as economic disadvantage and a history of previous conflict. “When people fear that their security is being threatened, they are likely to find a scapegoat,” explains Dr. Covey. “This is why we tend to see a rise in xenophobic rhetoric during times of economic downturn.” This opinion appears to be corroborated by the findings of the 2015 American Values Survey. When asked, for example, whether immigrants strengthened the country or were a burden, respondents were almost exactly split down the middle (47% to 46%). Similarly, negative views of Islam have increased in recent years, with 56% of respondents saying that the values of Islam were at odds with American values and way of life, compared to 47% in 2011 (Cooper et al). Therefore, one could argue that in a state of such high anxiety surrounding issues such as immigration and cultural diversity, we are more likely to find those we don’t understand at fault for the problems our own country created.
So, what can we do about the issue of xenophobia? Are we doomed to a life in which our interactions with people are governed by our biases? Research suggests the answer is no. As Dr. Covey points out, “The more educated a person is, the more we see those types of prejudices tend to disappear.” The same can be said of individuals who are exposed on a regular basis to those who are different from themselves. However, even those who are less educated or who don’t live in a diversely populated area can become less prejudiced and xenophobic simply by challenging their underlying assumptions about people. If we catch ourselves thinking that people with disabilities are less intelligent than the able-bodied, for example, we can stop ourselves and ask, “Why do I think that? What evidence is there to support my belief? Is it possible that there could be another explanation?” In doing so, we become more critical thinkers, and we gradually distance ourselves from the cognitive simplicity that accompanies stereotypes and generalizations.
But what should we do if we see someone engaging in prejudicial or discriminatory behavior? Our social media feeds are saturated with examples of politicians and laypeople alike calling out others in the name of what they think is right. Yet, Dr. Covey asserts that resolving such conflict is often much more complicated than having the most convincing argument. “A lot of the time, people don’t seem to realize how much our beliefs shape our identity. I hate the [Green Bay] Packers, for instance, and that prejudice is an important part of who I am.” In other words, trying to persuade someone that their belief is wrong using only evidence may not be effective, because your viewpoint may run counter to the other person’s entire sense of self. In that situation, the catalyst for change has to come from an internal exploration by the individual of how their values and opinions have been molded over time.
We will never be able to eliminate fear from our lives; it is a vital part of our humanity. When it comes to our fear regarding those who are different from us, however, we do have a choice. We can choose to immerse ourselves in the traditions or cultures that scare us. We can choose to challenge the stereotypes we see in the media and our culture at large. We can choose not to let preconceived notions be the basis of our actions. We can choose to be educated citizens. Most importantly, we can choose compassion and inclusion over hatred and bigotry.
Works Cited
“Brown at 60: The Doll Test” NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Accessed 23 Sept 2017.
Cooper, Betsy et al. “Anxiety, Nostalgia, and Mistrust: Findings from the 2015 American Values Survey” Public Religion Research Institute, 17 Nov. 2015. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.
Covey, Mark. Personal Interview. 14 September 2017.
Espiritu, Belinda. “Negative media portrayal of Islam” WACC,15 May 2016. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.
Paul, Anne. “It’s Not Me, It’s You.” The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2012, New York ed., p. SR9.