Intolerance-acceptance-appreciation Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life
Framing intolerance (1)
Intolerance: A range of acceptability: Intolerance Tolerance Appreciation
Intolerance: any thought, behavior, policy, or social
structure that treats people unequally based on group terms
Framing intolerance (2)
Tolerance: The application of the same moral principles and rules, caring and empathy, and feeling of connection to human beings of other perceived groups (Hecht & Baldwin, 1998, pp. 66-67).
Appreciation: Not only accepting a groups behaviors, but also
seeing the good in them, even adopting them, and actively including the individuals of a group
Framing intolerance: Cognition
Attribution
Attribution and attributional bias
Attribution: a process by which we give meanings to our own behavior and the behavior of others
The fundamental attribution error
The tendency to overestimate dispositional influences and underestimate situational factors
Stereotypes: Oversimplified attitudes we have towards others because we assume they hold the characteristics of a certain group Prejudice: Hostility towards or avoidance of another, based on the group to which the person belongs
Framing intolerance: Cognition
Stereotypes Stereotypes function to help people make sense of the
world, based on categorization (the mental process of
grouping things, attributes, behaviors, and people into like clusters) People have stereotypes of other groups and of their own group All people have the tendency to rely on stereotypes We may stereotype a person differently depending on the group in which we mentally place them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvi2eZnphI&feature=youtu.be
Framing intolerance: Behavior
Arms-length prejudice (e.g., racism): Being socially friendly towards people from a group but not wanting closer social relationships with them Redneck prejudice (e.g., racism): A blatant intolerance we see when someone speaks openly and negatively about other groups
Framing intolerance: Policy and
social structure Social policy: Legal and social policy that discriminates based on group identity Redlining: When banks avoid giving mortgages to people wanting to purchase in certain neighborhoods or to people of different ethnic or racial groups Racial profiling: When law enforcement, store security, or other officials target people of a specific group for surveillance
Where does racism lie, and who can be racist? Dimensions of
intolerance
While these dimensions mention racism, they could apply to
any intolerance: Attitude or behavior? Overt or covert/subtle? (e.g., subtle and symbolic racism) Defined by intent or result? One of the biggest debates on issues such as racism and sexism is whether they are individual thoughts and http://mothership.sg/2016/04/foreign-student-in-nusexpressions writes-an-article-on-the-racism-she-faces-in-singapore/ or social structural?
Where does racism lie, and who can
be racist? Dimensions of intolerance Regardless of ones view, even if we define racism as social or individual, a person who experiences racism in a social structure that systematically opposes their group will likely experience it differently than someone who experiences it as an exception to the rule. http://limpehft.blogspot.sg/2013/07/just-how-racist-arechinese-singaporeans.html
Solutions for intolerance
A key point: We often use education as the solution for intolerancebut that works only if the only problem is ignorance. If there are systemic social, legal/policy, or media system influences on intolerance, educating the individual will provide only a limited solution. The most complete solution will take in the complexities of intolerance in a given historical, social, and economic context.
Solutions for intolerance:
Individual level Use contact hypothesis (or contact theory) to develop group events between members of groups Help people in the dominant group become aware of their hidden privileges Avoid simplistic solutions, such as promoting colorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYDzhrYwGTM blindness
Solutions for intolerance:
Communicative level Be aware of our own communicationthe jokes we tell, the way we talk about others, even our own nonverbal communication Promote dialogue over real issues (not just political correctness, which might change language, but not intergroup hostility) Address media imagery through social media, https://sg.news.yahoo.com/tan-kin-lian-alleged-racistprotest to media makers 033053745.html?linkId=12096543
Solutions for intolerance:
Structural level Group-based protest or petition appropriate to what government in ones country allows Investigate ways to change social structure, from classroom seating to school-funding models Talk to politicians to promote policies that enhance equality and respect between groups http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics35852724