and discrimination, we're often talking about it

in reference to different racial groups

or different ethnic groups.

And by racial group, I mean a group that's been set apart

because of some kind of physical characteristics

that have taken on social significance.

And I think that this last part is really key,

because as a society, we really do behave as though

some physical characteristics have more meaning

than other physical characteristics.

For example, skin color.

We make a lot of judgements about people,

and we have a lot of stereotypes based on the color

of people's skin.

But the same is not true of eye color.

And remember that both of these things, both eye color

and skin color, are both genetically driven.

But we've attached a kind of meaning to skin color

that we haven't attached to eye color.

When we talk about ethnic groups, we mean groups

that are set apart because of national origin

or distinctive cultural patterns.

So, this would include Puerto Rican, Irish, and

Japanese Americans.

But this also includes groups like the Jews, who are

defined more by cultural traditions and practices

than nation of origin.

But while prejudice can be based on race and ethnicity,

it can also be based on other factors like power,

social class, or prestige.

By power, we mean economic and political power

or even the power to control your own life.

Groups with a lot of political power can get

their candidates in office.

And those candidates can then protect their interests.

The same cannot be said of minority groups.

These groups don't have as many members as majority groups,

and therefore, can't always swing the vote in their favor.

At the same time, unfair hiring policies

may lead to only low wage jobs being

available for minority groups.

Laws might also limit where people

live or eat or go to school.

And all these things can limit the sense of control

that people have over their own lives.

And that's actually not a very good house.

Hold on, I'm gonna take a moment to redraw that.

When we talk about social class, there's always

one important point to consider,

and that's that status is relative.

In order for people to be of a higher status,

by definition, there need to be people of a

lower status beneath them.

And this unequal status in society can often

set the stage for prejudice.

One of the ways that this can happen is that the people

on the top are often motivated to try to justify

and maintain the differences between themselves

and the lower class.

And this is related to what psychologists refer to

as the Just World Phenomenon,

which is an assumption that people make that the world

is just, and therefore, people often get what they deserve,

which means that good things happen to good people,

and bad things happen to bad people.

So people of a high social class might try to justify

their own position in society by saying that

people who are poor must be lazy,

that if they just worked harder,

they might be successful, too.

So, it's pretty easy to see how this phenomenon

might result not only in prejudice,

but also in discrimination.

For example, this belief might result in someone voting

against welfare programs that might aid the poor.

But what about prestige?

Well, prestige is often based on occupation.

And as it turns out, high prestige jobs,

like being a doctor of a lawyer,

often go to dominant group members,

while lower prestige jobs, like sanitation workers

or the service industry, are more likely to

go to minority group members.