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CULTURAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 1

Cultural Aspects of Biological Psychology

Timothy E Weaver

MS General Psychology

PSY7310Biological Aspects of Behavior

2012 Fall Quarter

Dr. Linda Reed

November 24, 2012

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Prejudice is a biological as well as sociological trait genetically evolved for protection

but not so necessary as society progresses.

What is that gut feeling we all have when we encounter someone who is different then

us? Prejudice starts out as a small emotion and quickly works its way through our body,

manifesting as physical sensations. We develop an increased heart rate, increased

breathing, and greater awareness of our surroundings. In fact our bodies reaction can be

equated to fear, in a lesser form. We all experience prejudice feelings at some point in our

lives. Even if we understand the immoral implications of prejudice and we were brought

up to believe that prejudice is socially unacceptable. Its a widely held belief that social

upbringing is responsible for prejudice; however the evolution of genes, designed for

survival, are the primary ignition source. In order to combat prejudice we have to

approach the challenge from this genetic ignition source as well as from a sociological

perspective.

Prejudice sensations and reactions initiate themselves shortly after birth. An infant as

young as two days old will innately recognize faces as a greater stimuli than most other

objects. This is known as a built-in face recognition module (Kalat,2009). An infant

will initially show preference for faces that are upside right as opposed to upside down

regardless of whether that face is a real stimulus or not. Shortly after, the infant will

develop a preference for similar faces and slowly develop attention to deviations in faces.

This is a clear indication that from birth an infant is genetically designed to recognize

friend from foe. This evolutionary design is recognized as a protective instinct. The child

becomes acclimated to other faces of his own genetic make up in order to create

awareness of potential enemies so that his or her chances of survival will increase. This

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evolutionary design was, and perhaps is still necessary, however as societies advance

towards a unified prejudice free utopian society this genetic mechanism can prove to be a

hindrance.

Prejudice response to face stimuli is very complex. It would be simple to suggest that

one method of reducing prejudice in society would be to introduce many various faces

from different races to infants as they develop. By introducing faces of all races to the

child we could overcome this tendency to recognize unusual faces as enemies. It would

be logical to assume that the childs built in neurological response to the different stimuli

would cease. In some cases with persons that are genetically designed to accept these

differences, this would be true. If these individuals having this genetic design were to

accept such introductions and proceeded to prevail within the evolutionary process, then

prejudice would decline. For the rest of society, however, our neurological system is

designed to recognize genetic similarities and dissimilarities.

The complex process our bodies experience is thought to be a neurological function of

the fusiform gyrus, located in the inferior temporal cortex. This portion of our brain

increases in activity even when we may be looking at an image that has a blurred out or

missing portion where a face should be. Persons with damage to the fusiform gyrus,

recognized as prosopagnosia, have great difficulty with facial recognition. It is also

theorized that the fusiform gyrus is responsible for recognition of differences in objects

such as cars or other species, however it still appears to be more active with faces (Kalat,

2009). The face recognition process is also more prevalent within each individual species

and race.

The closer another life form is to our own genetic design the greater our neurological

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reaction is to that stimuli. For example if we look at an image of a disfigured bird, reptile

or dog, we would experience no prejudice neurological response; however, if we look at

an image of a monkey we would have a response because they more closely resemble the

human race. "We may not find an elephant's trunk ugly because it's so remote," Dr.

[Denis Dutton] said. "But the proboscis on a proboscis monkey is close enough to our

own that we apply human standards to it" (Rushton, Retrieved September 23, 2010). This

would become even more apparent if we saw this monkey acting as a human. We even

feel uneasy if we see an animal that has skin color that most closely resembles our own

(Rushton, Retrieved September 23, 2010). Think about the last time you saw the pink or

black underbelly of a dog, or the pink skin of a rodents nose. Our attention is drawn to

that particular feature and we feel an uneasy momentary sensation. This neurological

response becomes more apparent the closer we get to a genetic representation of

ourselves. We first recognize the major differences but as a genetic image draws closer to

our species we pick out the finer details. Even twins will recognize deviations as simple

as ear size and feel a tinge of discomfort with what he or she would consider abnormal.

These deviations continue to be recognized throughout development. It could be argued

that the neurological recognition process is one of the primary links towards bullying in

schools. Our genetic prejudice neurological response is not only a result of evolution

from a protective standpoint against enemies, but its also designed to promote the

reproduction and survival of our genes within our own race or group. These groupings

are referred to as in-groups and out-groups.

Within an in-group our motor neurons fire, giving us emotions such as empathy or

prejudice, however these neurons will not fire when exposed to an out-group. This was

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proven to be true even when testing the perception of an action as opposed to just visual

stimuli or face recognition. The prejudice response is actually amplified when there is a

perception of an action from the in- group counter part (Gutsell, 2010).

Another amplifier of prejudice is testosterone. Testosterone is a chemical hormone

linked to increased aggression in both males and females but primarily males.

Testosterone has been tested in both bio-sociological and psychological models in which

the findings have concluded aggressive behavior against con-specifics is more evident in

those with higher testosterone levels (Vedantam, 2005). Everyone experiences prejudice

to some degree, however the high levels of testosterone can lead to degrees of aggression

that can prove to be harmful to society. Some individuals experience extreme prejudice in

which they find themselves unable to complete simple tasks for fear of having to

encounter the objects of their prejudice. Often these individuals seek psychological help

because there prejudice is causing them difficulty with their quality of life. Lowering

levels of testosterone or inhibiting the function is thought to be one remedy.

Another recognized reason for the neurological response that leads to prejudice is

altruism. Altruism is when somebody does something that benefits another even though

that act may not benefit themselves (Kalat, 2009).

An altruistic action is most commonly performed for the benefit of an individual or

individuals within there own in-group. This theory is referred to as extended kin within

the socio-biological field. The theory is that individuals genetically evolved to perform

altruism in order to protect those with the same genetic make-up so they may replicate

(Rushton, 1998). By protecting or helping their extended kin they help guarantee the

survival of their genes. In order to recognize their kin though, they need to have this

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innate neurological face recognition response. The response helps them protect

themselves and advance in the evolutionary process but can prove to be detrimental when

it affects the in-group. This is when the response induces an action within the in-group,

leading to a prejudice act against kin.

As technology advances our societies we develop protective shield. We build shelters

to protect us from the effects of the environment; we develop arms to keep us safe, we

develop social programs to care for the underprivileged, and no longer have to fight for

food. The closer we get to a safe, protected, unchallenged, lifestyle the less we find a

need for our genetic similarity seeking neurological response. This is when the response

becomes detrimental to our survival. This is when a prejudice response is no longer

acceptable and needs to be curtailed in order to develop peace.

Society tends to compress prejudice into a sociological envelope without consideration

of its biological attributes. Along with psychiatric therapy, we need to acknowledge the

neurological process involved in the prejudice emotion. We need to focus on developing

inhibitors that will decrease the excessive firing of neurons within individuals that

struggle with excessive prejudice. At least until evolution has had time to sufficiently

accommodate the changes in society.

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Gutsell J., &. I. (2010). Empathy constrained: Prejudice predicts reduced mental

simulation of actions during observation of out-groups.Journal of Experimental

Social Psychology 46(5),841.

Kalat, J. (2009). Biological psychology (10th edition). Belomont, CA: Wadsworth.

Rushton, J. P. (Retrieved September 23, 2010). Genetic similarity theory and the roots ofethnic conflict. The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 23(4),477-

486. ,

Rushton., J. P. (1998). Genetic similarity theory and roots of ethnic conflict. The Journal

of Social Political, and Economic Studies, 23(4),477-486.

Vedantam., S. (2005). Psychiatry Ponders Wheter Extreme Bias Can Be an Illness. TheWashington Post,p.A..01.

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