Question

It is said that prejudice is caused due to ambiguous crisis situation. Explain the above with suitable example.

Answer 1

Prejudice can arise in ambiguous or crisis situations because uncertainty increases people’s reliance on stereotypes and biases to interpret events or assign blame. When a crisis is unclear (ambiguous), people feel anxious and threatened. They then often seek simple explanations by scapegoating or stereotyping groups they already hold prejudices against.

Example:

Imagine there is an outbreak of a new infectious disease in a city. The origin is unclear (an ambiguous crisis). In panic, people may start blaming a minority group, claiming “they brought the disease,” even without evidence. This scapegoating is a way of resolving uncertainty by directing anger toward an identifiable target.