People are judged and treated not only based on who they are as individuals, but based on the various groups to which they belong. For example, almost universally, members of the national group within a country are viewed more positively and receive better treatment than immigrant groups. Traditionally, men and women have been seen as possessing different characteristics, and women have frequently been viewed as inferior to men, with consequences for their treatment in society. Thus, relations among individual members of social groups can be strongly influenced by stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.

Although stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination are conceptually related, they are not necessarily highly correlated. People may hold similar attitudes toward a variety of out-groups, whereas their stereotypes of these groups may differ considerably. For example, although people may hold similarly negative overall evaluations of two groups, they may perceive one group as lazy and unintelligent and the other as conniving and cutthroat. In such cases, the stereotypes differ but the overall attitude toward the two groups is the same. Of importance, prejudice is not always related to discrimination. One major reason for this lack of association is that people do not necessarily act on their attitudes, particularly when such behavior may be prohibited by society. For example, even though an individual may hold a negative attitude toward members of a particular ethnic group, that individual might not be able to overtly express this attitude or blatantly discriminate against a member of the group due to societal constraints.

Some people claim that prejudice and discrimination are things of the past and that they no longer influence individuals in society. Although it is the case that overt, blatant prejudice has decreased considerably in recent years, it seems to have been replaced by a more subtle, covert prejudice. This subtle prejudice may be the result of unconscious negative emotions toward a group (of which prejudiced individuals are not even aware). It may be expressed in situations in which appropriate behavior is not clear-cut and where a variety of explanations for the negative behavior are available. For example, an individual might not hire an immigrant job candidate based on claims about the candidate’s lack of local experience, rather than expressing negative attitudes toward the candidate’s group.

Prejudice and discrimination may operate at different levels of society. At an individual level, a single person may hold prejudicial attitudes and discriminate against members of other groups. At an institutional level, prejudice and discrimination may operate through the practices and policies built into the institutional framework, which may prevent the full participation of members of certain groups. At a societal or cultural level, prejudice and discrimination may operate through the beliefs and values of the society that encourage and justify discrimination against particular groups. In all cases, the consequence is that certain groups receive negative outcomes and are not able to enjoy the benefits of full participation in society.

(Esses MV. et al, 2002)