Appraisals of Prejudice and Discrimination

The signal detection theory, developed by Feldman Barret, is now used in various disciplines of psychology and gives a great framework to understand the process of human judgment.

Abstract

It is natural for human beings to feel very insulted, angry, and mistreated when they suffer from prejudice or discrimination in any form and this feeling of hurt or anger, more often than not, transcends into the psychological makeup. The advanced cognitive appraisal perspective developed by Lazarus and Folkman gives a comprehensive explanation of an individual's perception of prejudice and discrimination. This chapter explains the use of signal detection theory (SDT) to understand and evaluate people's behavior when subjected to any form of prejudice and discrimination. The sensitivity of an individual to prejudice can also be understood if the underlying factors like nature and perceptions of an individual, nature of the stimulus, probability of occurrence, intensity, and imminence of stimulus are well understood. Response biases also act as a major contributor to the entire reaction process and this chapter explains the factors underlying this behavior in great detail. The signal detection theory, developed by Feldman Barret, is now used in various disciplines of psychology and gives a great framework to understand the process of human judgment.