Atypical Behaviour

Behaviour based on bias
– how heuristics and biases effect behaviour by perpetuating prejudiced views

A prejudice is a preconceived perception, usually negative, towards an individual or group. Prejudiced views and actions are everywhere in society and around us. There are numerous types of prejudiced views (such as prejudices against certain ethnicities), along with numerous origins for them, like upbringing - for example, if we grew up in an area where there were many crimes committed by people of a certain ethnicity, we may develop prejudiced views against them. As we get older, we learn more about these groups we prejudice against and these preconceptions can change or disappear. Yet, sometimes, prejudiced views may instead be perpetuated,
A reason for this is because we see less of the minority group so have less knowledge about their behaviour, therefore becoming aware of certain negative behaviours a small portion of the minority group demonstrate would lead to us overestimating this negative behaviour and putting more weight to it, leading to prejudiced ideas about these minority groups. This is very common among ethnic minority groups, as we see little of them in comparison to the wider population of white British individuals, leading to more weight on their negative actions and a generalisation that this group is more prone to destructive behaviours than the majority. This can prolong stereotypes about the minority group, such as them being ‘dangerous’, which can in turn perpetuate prejudiced views and actions such as stigmatising this minority
From learning about the different types of heuristics and biases, we can hopefully now be able to identity when or if we accidentally use them in real life, and even be able to rethink our actions and wonder ‘why are we acting like this?’ or ‘why am I treating others this way?’ We come to realise that our actions may not be justified through present behaviour but rather through preconceived ideas produced by heuristics and biases