"We always feel that others are prejudiced, but have we ever considered that we might also be one of

Gender bias is a topic that's often noticed, more specifically referred to as "gender stereotypes." A typical example is "STEM": the stereotype that women are not good at these subjects.

So how does gender bias form? Let's look at a related example:

According to the Developmental Intergroup Theory, Bigler & Liben (2007) conducted an experiment involving blue and red teams. Each team consisted of children aged 3-5. After some time, an interesting phenomenon was observed: whether from the blue or red side, they developed a sense of group identity.

• They preferred new members to join their team.

• They felt happier within their group.

• They liked their teammates more and spent more time with them compared to those from the other group. In contrast, the control group did not show this phenomenon. The conclusion is: Children learn to differentiate between groups based on their environment without any further explanation.

Now let's look at a more extreme example: prejudice.

In truth, everyone has prejudices, but if they're not voiced, who would know? Why do I say this? During elementary school, we were often influenced by our peers and began understanding different social groups, gradually becoming aware of socioeconomic status (SES). In simpler terms, we noticed that some peers had more expensive pencil cases, and the prices of some backpacks or clothes differed. Over time, prejudices decreased because we started to find our own place in the world. Then came the transition: from elementary to junior high and junior high to high school.

We lacked understanding of our environment, comparing ourselves to former classmates. But as we became familiar with the new environment and found our place again, prejudices gradually diminished.

So, prejudice is a necessary part of a child's exploration of the world. We can reduce our prejudices towards others by increasing our understanding of them. What's important is not to eliminate prejudice, but to learn how to handle and respond to it. This is especially important between men and women."