Bias and Prejudice PDF

Bias and Prejudice ================== **Bias:** is a tendency to favor one person, group, thing, or point of view over another, often in an unfair way. From the definition, we have two key words: favor and unfair. Therefore, bias is an unfair favor. It is because a bias person would show favor to...

Bias and Prejudice ================== **Bias:** is a tendency to favor one person, group, thing, or point of view over another, often in an unfair way. From the definition, we have two key words: favor and unfair. Therefore, bias is an unfair favor. It is because a bias person would show favor to someone which may result to another\'s loss most especially if the other person is equally deserving. **Concept:** - - - **Towards:** If you\'re biased toward something, then you lean favorably toward it; you tend to think positively of it. **Against:** If you\'re biased against something, then you lean negatively against it; you think poorly of it. **Prejudice:** is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without prior knowledge, thought or reason. It simply means to prejudge others. An example for this is stereotyping. Stereotyping is having an over generalized belief about a particular group especially if it is negative, and is applied to every member of that group. -You did not do anything against the person but your thoughts, your advance or unreasonable thoughts about him/her especially if it is negative, it is already a prejudice.It is an act of pre-judgement. **Prejudice: Definition** **Racism :** a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce inherent superiority of a particular race. **Sexism :** prejudice or discrimination based on sex especially: discrimination against women **Homophobia :** irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals **Religious Prejudice :** discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion **Ageism :** the stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people on the basis of their age. **Nationalism :** a way of thinking that says that some groups of humans, such as ethnic groups, should be free to rule themselves. **Classicism :** A prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. Differentiate: **Bias:** - - - - - - - **Prejudice:** - - - - - Types of Prejudice ------------------ **Prejudice based on lifestyle:**means discrimination due to the the person\'s living conditions, behavior and habits. It shows that the person\'s way of life as typified by his manner, attitude or even possessions are unacceptable to others. **Lifestyle:** -hygiene -food you eat -culture and ethnicity(racism) **Prejudice based on disability:** Individuals with physical or mental impairent are discriminated. **What could happen:** -bullying -social isolation -inaccessibility to economic and educational opportunities **Prejudice based on social class:** This refers to the discrimination that occurs between or among social classes. A social class means a group of people in a society who has the same social and economic status. Class differences usually include inequalities and prejudices between members of different social classes Types of Bias ------------- **Halo Effect** The halo effect is a cognitive bias where our overall impression of a person or thing is influenced by a single positive trait or characteristic. **Example:** Beauty Bias: Imagine you meet someone who is physically attractive, and based on their looks alone, you assume they must also be intelligent and kind. As a result, you tend to overlook any flaws or negative traits they may possess and view them in an overly positive light. **Confirmation bias**: happens when people look for information or situations that support their preconceived thoughts or ideas. **Example:** a person might believe they upset people quickly. Later, they interact with a cashier at a store who is agitated during their brief exchange. The cashier is upset because they were late for work; however, the customer takes this as evidence they upset people quickly. Relevance and Truthfulness of Ideas =================================== **Relevance** A text is said to be relevant if it matches with a reader\'s goal therefore we can conclude that information that closely matches a reader\'s goal is more relevant whereas information that does not match the goal is less relevant regardless of its importance When we say that an information is irrelevant it means that it is an information not related to what is being discussed **Truthfulness** not all relevant information are truthful **Fact checking** must be done this simply means that the ideas or information are considered truthful once it is verifiable **The process of Fact Checking** 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Judge the Validity of Evidence Listened to ========================================== **Validity:** is the quality or being factually sound The state of being legally or officially binding or acceptable **Skills to employ to judge the validity of evidence listened to** - - - **Process of hearing** Receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating To know if the information presented by the writer is valid or not you need to extract the supporting supporting opinion(pros) and opposing opposing opinions(cons) about the issue **Types of evidence** - - - - **Tips you may consider when validating evidence** - -Is the person qualified to say something about a certain issue? -Is he an expert in that particular field? -You may also want to consider his/her educational background. - -It\'s a good idea to look for books published in the last 10 years. - -Is the book an objective source on the subject? -Does it look at both sides of an argument, or is it biased in favor of one side only? -Information in a biased source may still be useful, but the author may be overstating benefits, overlooking negatives, or otherwise reflecting only one side of an argument. - -An author may cite specific studies or other evidence to back up his or her assertions. Authors who list their sources are generally more credible, particularly if they reference recent studies or well-known authorities. -Use your judgment; a biased author may have found biased sources and/or may have taken information out of context to support a thesis. -Look at the author\'s evidence. Does the author cite specific evidence to back up his or her assertions?