"Research on the origins of prejudices reveals that parental and cultural attitudes and beliefs play a strong role in the emergence of prejudice in children. But is there more to 'Us vs. Them' than our upbringing and socialization? Evolutionary psychologists say there is."
"Evolutionary psychologists, such as Tooby and Cosmides, argue that we are born with certain behavioral traits that helped our ancestors survive and that the slow process of evolution has preserved in modern humans ingrained traits that are better adapted to the world of 200,000 years ago than today."
"Another example is xenophobia, or fear of outgroups. Before modern medicine, strangers were prone to carry unfamiliar pathogens that were far less dangerous to 'them' (because they had immunity) than to members of one's own group."
Out-group bias manifests across all societal levels, from school rivalries to political divisions and systemic discrimination. Research demonstrates that parental and cultural attitudes significantly influence prejudice development in children. Evolutionary psychologists argue humans possess innate xenophobic tendencies preserved from ancestral environments where fear of strangers provided survival advantages against unfamiliar pathogens. These evolutionary adaptations, while once beneficial, persist in modern humans despite changed circumstances. Understanding that biases originate from both nurture and nature enables individuals to acknowledge their prejudices and consciously prevent them from dictating behavior, offering a pathway to counteract these deeply rooted tendencies.
Read at Psychology Today
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