Diversity and Relationships

This chapter outlines key issues in scientific literature concerning how evolutionary processes have shaped the human mind. To that end, psychologists have drawn on Charles Darwin’s sexual selection hypothesis, or how males compete for reproduction and the role of female choice in the process. Darwin argued that evolution hinged on the diversity resulting from sexual reproduction. Evolutionary psychologists posit that heterosexual men and women evolved powerful, highly patterned, and universal desires for particular characteristics in a mate. Critics, however, contend that Darwin’s theory of sexual selection was erroneous, in part because his ideas about sexual identity and gender were influenced by the social mores of his elite Victorian upper class. Despite this critique, some researchers argue similarly to Darwin that love is part of human biological makeup. According to their hypotheses, cooperation is the centerpiece of human daily life and social relations. This makes the emotion of love, both romantic and maternal love, a requirement not just for cooperation, but also for the preservation and perpetuation of the species. That said, researchers speculate that encounters with unfamiliar people, coincident with activated neural mechanisms associated with negative judgments, likely inspire avoidance behavior and contribute to emotional barriers. This suggests the need to further study the social, psychological, and clinical consequences of the link between positive and negative emotions.

What Is Diversity?

This introductory chapter traces the history of ideas about race and human classification systems, from the bible to the Classical period and on to the first “scientific” attempts to rank differences and ascribe characteristics to races. Starting with the view from the Tower of Babel came the notion that linguistic and cultural diversity was the Supreme Being’s punitive response to such human hubris of reaching for heaven on earth. Following that came a litany of scholars, scientists, and doctors, who established hierarchies that left white Europeans on the top of the intellectual period, and other races lagging behind. Among these was Hippocrates, who wrote that the forms and dispositions of human beings corresponded with the nature of the country, their region’s climate and topography. Meanwhile, the French physician Francois Bernier developed the first post-Classical racial classification system, basing it on physical attributes. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach was the first phrenologist, and although he also classified race, he asserted that all races belonged to a single species. Physician George Morton measured cranial size and then estimated brain size in an effort to rank humans based on intelligence. The chapter then looks at more modern concepts, such as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution; scientific rejection of the notion that races were biologically different; and UNESCO’s statement that social issues give rise to racism.

Categorizing

This chapter examines the psychological processes involved in stereotyping, or categorization. As the American psychologist Gordon Allport noted, the ability to categorize is critical to survival, helping people process information and respond in a timely way without reinventing the mental wheel. That said, such heuristics, or mental shortcuts, sometimes lead to false hypotheses and/or self-fulfilling prophecies. Moreover, in the cognitive approach to stereotyping, prejudice is a byproduct of categorical thinking—a person’s way of simplifying information, and not from pathological personality traits or conditioned behaviors. Therefore, by understanding the cognitive processes and “redirecting them,” prejudice might be eliminated. One way to accomplish this is through decategorization strategies that encourage people to see each other as distinct individuals. Personalization, that is, relaying information that expresses a person’s unique qualities, is one method researchers suggest might help people recognize that their stereotypes of another group are incorrect. This has led some researchers to use controlled psychology experiments to study “implicit” prejudice, or subconscious bias. The most common of such measures is the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which assesses strengths of associations between concepts by observing response latencies in computer-administered categorization tasks.

Diversity and Nations

This chapter conceptualizes the nation and nationalism, placing them in context with issues of wealth and income inequality, immigration, xenophobia, and diversity. The term “nation” may be defined in several ways, but generally a nation refers to a distinct, usually geographically or regionally bound people. Likewise, depending on academic discipline, nationalism has varied definitions, though the concept generally refers to the emotions wrapped up in a shared national identity. There are two dichotomous types of nationalism: civic and ethnic. Civic nationalism was found in Western societies, where individuals are seen as belonging to a political community consisting of people with equal rights and duties. People in these societies unite around political precepts, values, and respect for institutions. Conversely, in countries where ethnic nationalism is the norm, citizens belong to an ethnic community based on blood ties. Although this dichotomous view has its share of critics, the notion that civic meanings of nationhood correlate with a positive attitude toward immigrants while ethnic-based ideas of the nation promote xenophobia still holds currency. Meanwhile, although there is little empirical research concerning factors that influence nationalist thinking, one study found poor citizens’ national pride rises as income inequality increases, especially in countries where there are many migrants in the lower class.

Diversity and Social Justice

This chapter studies the evolution of the psychological concept of injustice, for which there is broad agreement, in contrast to individual ideas about what is fair and unfair, which differ greatly across time and societies. Charles Darwin argued that people have an innate sense of what “ought” to be, an idea that the psychologist Fritz Heider expanded on. Heider defined the sense of ought as beliefs about the “requiredness” of acting in a particular way. Requiredness to act, posits Heider, is rooted in the gap or incompleteness or injustice of a situation. Bringing about needed closure, then, is tantamount to the just and right. Heider’s ideas relate to Leon Festinger’s more recent concept of “cognitive dissonance,” which suggests that individuals feel tension or discord when grappling with two incongruent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes. The chapter then considers the conundrum that arises in instances when the human drive for fairness and justice cannot be rebalanced. For instance, neither the law nor individual attempts to restore justice could successfully redress the injustices of slavery and the Holocaust. In fact, research shows a neural foundation for the need for revenge and retribution. Injustice, then, becomes an intergenerational matter when injustices are not rebalanced between people. They simply extend to their descendants after the original people involved die.

Diversity and Groups

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the way evolving models of human organization—from hunter-gatherer to megacities—have an impact on human psychology, human relations, and the development of alienation. The idyllic paradigm, according to some researchers, was the low-population-density hunter-gatherer societies based on mutual exchange and shared resources. The principal organizing mechanism in these societies was kinship, which offered a defined behavioral guide. Eventually, the discovery and development of agriculture led to the Agricultural Revolution, and village-based sedentary societies supplanted the small hunter-gatherer units. Human interaction became more complex and impersonal in the higher-density towns and villages, and the sharing society evolved into one based on private property, trade, and the development of elite social classes. The next critical turning point following the Agricultural Revolution was the Urban Revolution. Several classical and contemporary theorists developed the concept of “social alienation” to describe the impact of the rushed pace of city life and the ephemeral nature of relationships on mental attitudes and social relations. Indeed, the rise of globalization, megacities, and migration in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century revived interest in the alienation theories of the 1950s and 1960s. The chapter then describes the American developmental psychologist Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial identity development.

Concluding Remarks

This concluding chapter highlights how diversity is a central feature of all social systems. Differences exist whether one is discussing individuals, groups, or nations. The chapter then looks at several statements by the United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regarding human differences that proved to be controversial. The final UNESCO document declares that all peoples of the world possess equal faculties and any differences are due to historical, political, economic, social, and cultural factors, not biological factors. It also stresses that the solution to the problems between different races of people rests on the shoulders of the individual. The individual is responsible for creating a culture of peace, respect, and tolerance. Education, according to UNESCO, can transform minds and lives, and drives the development of an individual. Indeed, people’s ability to learn from mistakes confirms that human beings possess the flexibility required for development. The flexibility to change is important because environments can change and unexpected outcomes can occur. The chapter then looks at two types of education that are needed for the study of the science of diversity: the “banking method” of education and “problem-solving” education.

Judging

This chapter discusses the limits of the cognitive view of the mind, most significantly that it attributed the skills and processes of judging, evaluating, and meaning making to pre-assigned information. However, the mind is not a machine of mere inputs and outputs. Instead, according to postcognitive researchers, the human mind is “embodied” and reliant on unconscious judgments and knowledge about the world accumulated intuitively in interaction with the world and other people. Therefore, the post-cognitive view posits that people are active—not passive—participants in the generation of meaning by judging, evaluating, and engaging in transformational interactions: they enact a world. The chapter then considers the limitations of laboratory-controlled studies concerning prejudice and conflict reduction and introduces the concept of “action research.” Coined by the psychologist Kurt Lewin, the term “action research” refers to the triangle of research, training, and action in producing social change. To date, the relatively few studies conducted in this area have yielded no reliable, durable, observable evidence, in part because most of this research has relied on traditional cognitive theories of the mind. Personal histories, memories, and emotions were not considered. The postcognitive revolution, however, recognizes the need for a parallel “affective revolution” to help understand how the emotions are related to the biology of cognition and more specifically to judgments. Moreover, the evolutionary advantage of an affective system is initially evident as a danger signal system.

The Self

This chapter analyzes research on the development of the self in relation to others and shows that the need for attachment and belonging is manifest before birth. In fact, studies have found that the fetus is sensitive to maternal stimulation. Through experience and memory, the fetus gets “familiar” with their mother’s voice. According to researchers, the findings lend support to the “epigenetic” model of the self, which presumes an interaction between fetal neural development and social experiences. In other words, pregnancy sets the stage for the mother–child attachment and emotional regulation that lie at the base of people’s social nature. Moreover, this neurobiological basis of attachment and the need to belong ensures people’s survival. While several psychologists contributed to the development of attachment theory and belongingness needs, and explored their implications and practical applications for psychotherapy and client interaction, perhaps the most significant figure in furthering this work was the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow theorized that the “need to belong” was one of five human needs in a hierarchy of inborn needs, along with physiological needs, safety, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

Diversity and Ethnic Conflicts

This chapter evaluates the cultural, psychological, and moral issues surrounding revenge, justice, and forgiveness. Revenge is conceptualized as symbolic behavior showing wrongdoers that insults will be met with reprisal. Viewed through Fritz Heider’s lens, revenge is also an effort to change the underlying belief-attitude of the wrongdoer, often through aggressive retribution predicated on indignation and sometimes hatred. The legal system has sought to efficiently preempt, neutralize, and dilute these emotions by permitting victims a measure of legitimate revenge under the aegis of public order. However, as ethnic conflicts show, the legal system cannot abolish the zeal for revenge. In ethnic strife, each side perceives itself as the legitimate victim, removing claims for justice out of the realm of right or wrong and framing them mainly as issues of ethnic identification. A case in point is the author’s 1992–1993 study of the children of Nazis and the children of Holocaust survivors. The conference findings showed that the views and feelings the participants inherited from their parents created a barrier to establishing equal moral relations. One potential antidote to this conundrum resides in Immanuel Kant’s mandate: sapere aude, dare to know. One specific method for persuading individuals to pursue this mandate and eliminate belief perseverance is through an exercise in hypothetical reasoning, which trains people to live with ambiguity and multiple truths, and to develop flexibility in their belief systems. Ultimately, however, the finest balm for suffering and injustice is compassion.