Humans, given our nature, naturally attempt to identify and classify one another through our subconscious. Upon encountering a stranger, there is already a preconceived notion of the character of a person due to a concentrated focus placed more on an individual's mannerisms, religion, race, gender, class, cultural beliefs, physical appearance, and less on their persona. Discrimination can be defined as treating people differently than others simply based upon their perceived group membership which carries heavy influence in society. But what causes discrimination? Well, discrimination itself has many influences from prejudice to stereotypes but three major and direct social factors include motivation, economic benefits, and unconscious behaviors.
Primarily, there are two types of motivation, internal and external. Internal motivation or intrinsic motivation refers to behaviors that are driven by internal rewards. In simpler terms, it means that the behavior you are performing naturally satisfies you. Depending on the person, discriminating against a person or group can be enjoyable because it yields a superior feeling. One can have such an overwhelming need for power that they are willing to putting others down in order to reach the top. An example of a character that was driven by intrinsic motivation would be Adolf Hitler. Hitler had a perfect vision of what his followers should look like; obsessing over his “Aryan” race with blond hair and blue eyes. This race was described to be the “genius” race. Anyone that did not fit into that description was disposable to him. He used his dictatorship to segregate the Jewish people who resided in Germany and enforced “Nuremberg Laws” that essentially banned Jewish people from simple rights such as voting, owning a business, and holding office. These laws also banned German-Jewish marriages and prevented Jews to work as teachers, journalists, actors, and other occupations as well. H...