- What's up, All-Stars? Welcome to the School of Ireland. To be honest, this is a video I wish I didn't have to make, but unfortunately, there's a lot of hate and ignorance in this world. With that said, today we're going to look at the difference between a stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. 

The first thing you need to know is that a stereotype is a positive or negative, generalized belief about a group of people. And it's really important to understand that we shouldn't use positive or negative stereotypes, and I'll explain why. To say that one group of people is really smart or another is really athletic are two examples of positive stereotypes. 

Now some people may ask, what's the harm in saying those things? Let me show you. First off, what if someone used a positive stereotype about a group that you're a part of, but you don't fit that stereotype? How is that going to make you feel? For example, what if someone says, hey, this group of people is really, really smart? Well, what if you're a part of that group but you really struggle with school? I don't know about you, but I would feel really bad that I don't live up to that stereotype. Moreover, I would be even more upset when other people judge me for not fitting into the mold. 

Secondly, as Duke's psychologist Aaron Kay points out in an episode, a lot of positive stereotypes can be tied to negative ones. I'm paraphrasing what Kay said here, but to say that a group of people is good at sports may sound like a compliment, but to only emphasize athletic ability may take for granted the cognitive capability of individuals within that group. 

In other words, to say that a group of people is good at sports may suggest that people in that group aren't capable of becoming valedictorians. The very important point here is that positive stereotypes can completely ignore or undermine other skills that individuals possess, which can be harmful and hurtful. 

Moreover, as Kay mentions, even the people who do live up to positive stereotypes can't win. Because when you fulfill a positive stereotype, you might not get credit for the effort that you put in, and your success might solidify the stereotype in people's minds, leaving less room for them to think of you as your own person. So I hope you can see why positive stereotypes aren't all that great. 

Well, let's transition over to talk about negative stereotypes, which should be quite obvious why they should never be used. For this video, I'm just going to use one example of a negative stereotype, and then we're going to go ahead and tie it to the terms that I mentioned earlier. A classic negative stereotype is that white guys can't jump. In other words, white guys aren't that athletic. 

Well, we already know that a stereotype is a positive or negative generalized belief about a group of people, but what's the difference between this, a prejudice, and discrimination? Well, a prejudice is an undeserved, usually negative attitude towards a group and its members, and discrimination is an unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group and its members. 

Hypothetically speaking, if someone were to say, I don't want the white guy on my pickup basketball team because white guys can't jump, that's a prejudice. That's a negative attitude towards a member of a group based on a stereotype. 

Now, if someone intentionally doesn't pick the white guy for their basketball team solely based off the stereotype that white guys can't jump, that's discrimination. This is because the person picking teams took action-- or in this case, inaction-- to intentionally exclude the white guy from their basketball team. And as you can imagine, stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination are all a part of a vicious cycle that only exacerbate each other. 

With that said, there are two more important terms for you to know, and they are ethnocentrism and scapegoat theory. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's culture or group is superior to others. Some examples of this include the Nazis, the KKK, white nationalists, and the Hutu during the Rwandan genocide. 

In the same ballpark as ethnocentrism, there's also a concept called scapegoat theory, which is the tendency to blame someone else for one's own problems. This often results in feelings of prejudice towards the person or the group that one is blaming. 

An example of this can be found by studying the rise of the Nazi Party after World War I. The Nazis blamed Jews for the loss of the First World War, and also all the economic hardships that Germans faced in the 1920s and '30s, even though there wasn't any factual evidence to back this up. Unfortunately, using Jewish people as a scapegoat helped propel the ethnocentric Nazi Party into power, which led to even more tragedy down the line. 

So I know there's a lot of really heavy stuff to process in this video, but unfortunately, we live in a very broken world. But that doesn't mean you can't have a positive impact on those around you. So here's my challenge to you-- be nice, don't be a jerk, and treat others how you want to be treated. It's not that hard. I'll see you next time, All-Stars.