Prejudice

According to Parillio, the socialization process is one of the ways prejudice becomes instilled in a person. As an impressionable child with no preexisting concept of how the world works, people tend to absorb and believe unquestioningly the beliefs set forth by their parents and other role models in their society. A child who hears or sees stereotypes already existing in his society will pick them up and avoid that social group. This can occur explicitly, or the person may not even know why they are avoiding that group. Prejudice and other beliefs are instilled in this way. Religion is often passed down generation to generation, and in many cases children adopt the viewpoints of their parents when they are very young and as they get older. The only exception is during the fairly young stage, where young adults reaching maturity often question and rebel against the ideas of their parents. However, in rebellion, they are often following the patterns of their peers, so the socialization process holds. Many of my own beliefs have been instilled this way, from my focus on scientific explanations of the way the world works to my persistent frugality, all coming from my parents or other admired role models.