Prejudice and Discrimination

6 min read Updated Apr 19, 2026

Three related concepts, often confused even in casual conversation. The MCAT wants them distinguished precisely.

Prejudice, Stereotypes, Discrimination

Stereotype. A generalized belief (cognitive) about members of a group. Can be positive, negative, or neutral. “Asian students are good at math.” “Athletes are popular.”
Prejudice. An attitude (emotional/evaluative) toward a group, usually negative. “I dislike doctors.” “I distrust politicians.” Prejudice is the feeling associated with a stereotype.
Discrimination. Unequal treatment (behavior) of people based on group membership. Refusing to hire someone based on race, gender, or religion is discrimination, regardless of whether you hold overt prejudice.

Stereotypes are thoughts. Prejudice is feelings. Discrimination is behavior.

You can have one without the others. Someone may hold a prejudicial attitude without acting on it (no discrimination). Someone may discriminate without explicit prejudice (e.g., following a discriminatory company policy). And systems can produce discrimination through structural factors without any single individual holding prejudice.

1940 black-and-white photograph of a Black man in a hat and suit standing under a 'COLORED WAITING ROOM' sign at a Jim Crow-era bus station in Durham, North Carolina, while a Carolina Coach Company bus is parked nearby — A Jim Crow-era bus station in Durham, NC (1940). Segregated waiting rooms are pure **institutional discrimination**: unequal treatment built into law and infrastructure regardless of any individual's prejudice. *Credit: Jack Delano / Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).*

In-Group and Out-Group

In-group. A group you identify with and feel belonging to.
Out-group. A group you don’t identify with.

Even arbitrary, temporary group assignments (split a room into “green dots” and “red dots”) produce:

In-group favoritism. Preferential treatment and positive evaluations of in-group members.
Out-group homogeneity. Seeing out-group members as all alike (“they all look the same”).
Out-group hostility. In extreme cases, treating out-group members as less than human (dehumanization).

Social identity theory (Tajfel) explains these effects: group membership is a core part of self-concept, so inflating the in-group’s status inflates one’s own.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentrism. Judging other cultures by the standards of your own. Tends to produce negative evaluations of practices that differ from what’s familiar.
Cultural relativism. Evaluating cultural practices within the context of that culture’s values, rather than imposing outside standards. The opposite of ethnocentrism.

Both are end-points of a continuum; most people sit somewhere between.

Individual vs. Institutional Discrimination

Individual discrimination. One person treating another unequally based on group membership. A manager refuses to hire a woman because of her gender.
Institutional (or structural) discrimination. Policies, practices, or systems that produce unequal outcomes for groups, even without any individual holding prejudice. Example: a hiring algorithm trained on historical data that systematically underrates Black applicants; a testing regime that correlates with parental income.

Institutional discrimination is harder to see and harder to fix because no individual needs to hold prejudice for the pattern to persist.

A photograph of a 1989 South African beach sign in three languages reading: 'CITY OF DURBAN: Under section 37 of the Durban Beach By-laws, this bathing area is reserved for the sole use of members of the white race group.' A young child in swimwear stands behind the sign at the water's edge — An apartheid-era beach sign in Durban, South Africa (1989). Apartheid is the canonical historical example of **institutional discrimination** - codified by national law, enforced by police, and producing systematic inequality independent of any one person's beliefs. *Credit: Guinnog via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).*

1956 black-and-white photograph of Rosa Parks, a Black woman in a dark suit and glasses, standing next to a uniformed white police officer who is rolling her finger across an ink pad at a station booking desk — Rosa Parks being fingerprinted in 1956 after her arrest during the Montgomery bus boycott. Her refusal to give up her seat became a flashpoint that turned diffuse **prejudice** into organized resistance against institutional discrimination. *Credit: Gene Herrick / AP, restored by Adam Cuerden via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).*

Stigma

Stigma is a negative social attribute that discredits or devalues a person. Three types:

Physical stigma. Visible body differences (scars, obesity, disability).
Character stigma. Perceived character flaws (addiction, mental illness, criminal record).
Tribal stigma. Group membership that is stigmatized (race, ethnicity, religion).

Self-stigma - internalizing the stigma, seeing oneself through its lens. Reduces help-seeking and worsens mental health outcomes.

Courtesy stigma - stigma extended to people associated with the stigmatized (family members of people with mental illness or addiction).

Erving Goffman theorized stigma as a “spoiled identity” - the stigmatized person has to actively manage information about the discrediting attribute.

Black-and-white circa-1940 portrait photograph of a young Erving Goffman, with thick dark hair combed back, looking directly at the camera in a dark jacket, white shirt, and dark tie — Erving Goffman (1922–1982), the sociologist whose work on **stigma as a "spoiled identity"** and on the dramaturgical performance of self underlies how the MCAT frames stigma, courtesy stigma, and impression management. *Credit: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).*

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Prejudice

Prejudiced expectations can cause the very behavior they anticipate. Rosenthal’s Pygmalion study showed this with teacher expectations; similar effects occur with racial and gender stereotypes in workplaces.

Teacher expects Student A to do well; treats them more warmly; Student A performs better.
Manager expects female employees to be less committed; gives them less important projects; they become less engaged.

The bias produces evidence that seems to confirm the bias.

Just-World Hypothesis (Revisited)

The just-world hypothesis (covered in Chapter 7) contributes to prejudice by justifying inequality. “If they’re poor, they must deserve it.” “If they were attacked, they must have done something to provoke it.” This reasoning blames victims and exonerates the system.

Power and Privilege

Privilege is unearned advantage conferred by group membership (being white in a predominantly white society, being male in a patriarchal system). Those with privilege may be unaware of it precisely because it’s the default - fish don’t notice water.
Power is the ability to influence others or control outcomes. Structural discrimination concentrates power in historically dominant groups; reducing it requires redistributing power, not just individual attitude change.

Distinguish stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination.

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Stereotype = generalized belief (cognition). Prejudice = attitude or feeling (evaluation, usually negative). Discrimination = unequal behavior based on group membership. Can occur independently.

What is out-group homogeneity?

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The tendency to see members of OTHER groups as more alike ('they all look the same') while viewing in-group members as diverse individuals. A cognitive bias that emerges even with arbitrary group assignments.

Define institutional discrimination and give an example.

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Discrimination produced by policies, practices, or systems rather than individual attitudes. Example: a hiring algorithm trained on biased historical data systematically underrates Black applicants, even if no individual holds prejudice. Harder to see and address than individual discrimination.

What is courtesy stigma?

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Stigma extended to people associated with a stigmatized individual - family members, caregivers, close friends. Commonly experienced by relatives of people with mental illness, addiction, or incarcerated individuals.