Exploring the Relationship Between Culture, Prejudice, and Cognition

This essay examines the intricate relationship between cognitive styles and prejudice, highlighting the role of cultural influences. It delves into the historical context of research on cognitive abilities and prejudice, addressing recent silences in the field due to potential confounds. The essay focuses on individual differences, such as cognitive styles and personality traits, as predictors of prejudice. It explores the impact of the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) on ideological belief systems and prejudice, outlining how PNS influences information processing and decision-making. The research discussed includes the effects of causal uncertainty on attitudes toward target populations, and the role of cognitive variables in stereotype and bias formation. The essay also references empirical studies that demonstrate the effects of lower cognitive abilities on prejudice, explaining that it is linked to the endorsement of right-wing attitudes. The study further explores the influence of causal understanding as an additional criterion and moderator. References to relevant research papers are provided throughout the essay.

Running head: CULTURE & PREJUDICE
Culture & Prejudice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
References........................................................................................................................................4
Introduction
It has been seen in the history that the leading researchers have proposed a theoretical
form of negative form of association between the cognitive form of abilities and the prejudice.
Very recently it has been seen that the field has been very silent in the for the topic and citing the

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concerns about the potential form of the confounds (Dittmar et al., 2014). Instead, the researcher
who focuses on the individual differences for predictors the prejudices that have been included in
the cognitive styles, the personality and the negative form of the bias are seen as the major form
of threats. However, there exists the solid form of the empirical papers that are been
demonstrated at the lower form of the cognitive abilities. Moreover, the effects of the lower
patterns of the cognitive ability on the prejudice are explained by the greater levels of the
endorsements of the right wing of the attitudes that are socially very conservative. For advancing
the scientific form of the discussion, the proposal of the Cognitive ability and the styles of the
Evaluation Models outline the cognitive psychological underpinnings of ideological belief
systems and prejudice (Ferraro & Briody, 2017).
The theoretical constructs of the Personal need of the Structure (PNS) is based on the
various forms of assumptions that have a certain form of ability for reducing the uncertainty of
the situations that are associated with the greater ability for meeting the various situations that
are needed to cope with the situations that are stressful (Boer & Fischer, 2013). The cognitive
form of the variables that are based on the individual are being characterised by the by the
representation of the simple form of information that can be generalized by the previous form of
experiences. The cognitive and individual form of variable PNS can be characterised by the
simplest form of the information that can be generalised from the previous form of experience.
Therefore, by organising the various forms of information into a relatively less complex
categories that can be used in the new and the ambiguous form of situations that are needed for
preserving and keeping the certainty. The research that is done on the are mainly associated with
the variables that are stereotype and possess different bias. The needs for the higher structure are
made for the rapid, simple and the exact responses that are being diverted away from the

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uncertain and the ambiguous form of the information. The individuals tend to feel very much
uncomfortable and uncertain for the situations that are very much uncertain (Boer & Fischer,
2013).
The people, who are very much expressive in disliking the uncertain form of situations,
tend to change their plans at the very last moment for achieving a higher score in the responses
for the lack of the structures. The various research studies indicated that both the factors of the
PNS scales have different form of relationships that have various forms of the individualistic
features that lacks the responses of the structure that correlates with the neuroticism and the
introversion, however, the desire for the structure does not exist.
Many researchers have noticed that people who have a high causal uncertainty doubt
on their own abilities for understanding the cause of the different forms of the social events. In
the above study, it has been seen that there exists a correlation between the affects of the target
and the causal form of the uncertainty on the various attitudes towards the target population. In
various studies it has been found that the participants are been liked by the causal form of
uncertainty target that are more than the high targets of the uncertainty (Malka et al., 2015). This
form of the preferences are stronger for the low relative to the high causal uncertainty for the
participants due to high causal uncertainty of the participants that are been held for more ideals
that are uncertain. However, it has been found that it has been examined that the individuals
tend to place upon the causal understandings as a additional criteria as a moderator. It has been
found that regardless of the causal level of uncertainty, the participants who are high in the
importance of the causal have liked the lower amount of target for the uncertainty that are more
than the targets of the causal uncertainty (Almond & Verba, 2015).

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The current study looks at the relationship between cognitive style and prejudice. This
area has been relatively underexplored, though researchers have found a significant relationship
between measures such as Personal Need for Structure (PNS) and prejudice.
References

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Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (2015). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five
nations. Princeton university press.
Boer, D., & Fischer, R. (2013). How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and
sociality? Explaining cross-cultural variability in attitude–value linkages.
DEN BOS, K. W., & Lind, E. A. (2013). The social psychology of fairness and the regulation of
personal uncertainty. Handbook of the uncertain self, 122.
Dittmar, H., Bond, R., Hurst, M., & Kasser, T. (2014). The relationship between materialism and
personal well-being: A meta-analysis.
Ferraro, G. P., & Briody, E. K. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor &
Francis.
Malka, A., Soto, C. J., Inzlicht, M., & Lelkes, Y. (2014). Do needs for security and certainty
predict cultural and economic conservatism? A cross-national analysis. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 106(6), 1031.
Sarooghi, H., Libaers, D., & Burkemper, A. (2015). Examining the relationship between
creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational, cultural, and environmental
factors. Journal of business venturing, 30(5), 714-731.
Zhang, S. S., van Doorn, J., & Leeflang, P. S. (2014). Does the importance of value, brand and
relationship equity for customer loyalty differ between Eastern and Western
cultures?. International Business Review, 23(1), 284-292.