Prejudice (2nd Edition)

Prejudice (2nd Edition) is the magnum opus of Rupert Brown, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Sussex, UK. The Chinese edition is translated from the second edition of the original by Zhang Yanyan, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Jilin University, and is included in the "Contemporary Classics in Western Social Psychology" translation series published by Renmin University of China Press. Adopting a social-psychological perspective, the book systematically examines prejudice—a perplexing and persistent topic—treating it as a phenomenon that arises primarily from group processes while also shaping individual behavior and perception. While foregrounding intergroup dynamics, it also incorporates several classic approaches to understanding prejudice: personality-theoretical explanations such as authoritarian personality, social dominance orientation, and dogmatism; the developmental perspective on prejudice in children; and social-cognitive research on social categorization and stereotyping. The content unfolds roughly along the following lines: what prejudice is (Chapter 1); the prejudiced individual (Chapter 2); social categorization and stereotyping (Chapters 3 and 4); the development of prejudice in children (Chapter 5); intergroup relations and threat (Chapter 6); old and new forms of prejudice and implicit measurement (Chapter 7); the target's perspective and the consequences of stigma (Chapter 8); and how to reduce prejudice (Chapter 9). Each chapter concludes with a summary, notes, and further reading. The final chapter centers on the contact hypothesis, its application in settings such as schools, and its reconsideration, assessing from a practical standpoint the value of prejudice research in reducing prejudice. The book is accessible yet thorough, with cases drawn from everyday life; it can serve both as a specialized textbook in social psychology and as reading for general readers concerned with discrimination, stigma, and group conflict.