Causes of Prejudice

I agree with the way that Parrillo describes prejudices are formed. He presents several different theories that have been proven correct by studies. Parents, peers, experiences, and environment, or socialization, all have a big impact of development of prejudice. For example, someone who grows up with with parents who are racists and verbalize or act on those beliefs has a higher chance of agreeing with that and continuing to pass those views on to their children. When people in a certain social class feel that their security is threatened and they are able to blame it on another social class, they will act out against that opposing class. The acting out of one class on another is economic competition. Non-Jewish people feel threatened by Jewish people because of the stereotype that Jews are better with business than non-Jews. Society has widespread beliefs on a class level. For example, Chinese are good at math. Even though this is not necessarily a negative prejudice, it makes people feel threatened and prejudices are formed.