PSYC1030 Week 8: Racism: Examples, Theories & Lived Experience

Prejudice is defined as attitudes consisting of cognitive, affective, and behavioural components.
Racism is a specific form of prejudice based on race.
Racism operates across multiple levels: Individual, Interpersonal, and Structural.

Aversive Racism: This theory describes individuals who see themselves as fair and non-prejudiced but still maintain implicit biases.
Implicit Bias: Automatic, unconscious associations learned through media, culture, and socialisation (Harvard University, $2023$ ).
Stereotype Threat: The additional pressure to prove oneself when faced with stereotypes, which can negatively impact performance levels.

Everyday Racism: Examples include being followed in a shop, assumptions about intelligence, and name-based discrimination in job applications where identical CVs receive different callback rates.
Structural Racism: Racism embedded within systems and policies (e.g., Education, Health, Media) leading to unequal outcomes across racial groups.
Epistemic Racism: The privileging of Western academic knowledge over other systems, which can exclude or devalue Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing.

Racism is linked to poorer mental and physical health outcomes, increased stress, and a disrupted sense of identity and belonging (ANTAR, $2026$ ).
A relational lens shows that racism disrupts identity, belonging, and connections to community and place.
Recognition is given to the Traditional Owners and the artwork A Guidance Through Time by Casey Coolwell and Kyra Mancktelow.

When you hear the word “racism,” what comes to mind in terms of words, experiences, and images?
Can bias exist without intention?
What helps people feel safe and respected in learning environments?
One thing you are taking away from today?
Final reflections or questions?