Prejudice: Source and propagation

Project Information

PSP

Grant agreement ID: 101063848

DOI

10.3030/101063848

Project closed

EC signature date 13 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 31 August 2024

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 206 887,68

Coordinated by

LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PSP (Prejudice: Source and propagation)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

To understand the propagation of prejudice, we need to understand the linguistic devices through which it is expressed. Prejudicial attitudes can be expressed through generic generalisations (or simply generics) like ‘Women are illogical’, which ascribe properties (e.g. being illogical) to groups (e.g. women). The standard analysis takes generics to express claims about the world. This project has developed a novel alternative analysis on which generic generalisations are analogous to exclamations like ‘Ouch!’, in that they function primarily express the speaker’s mental states rather than describing the world. In addition to advancing our understanding of the propagation of prejudice, this project has experimentally assessed the nature of prejudice, using a novel experimental paradigm.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A. Publications:
[1] Keeping Context in Mind: A Non-Semantic Explanation of Apparent Context-Sensitivity. 2024. Linguistics and Philosophy 47: 191-209.

B. Experimental Results:
[1] Significant results concerning the concept of prejudice

C. Future Publications
[1] A report in a psychology journal summarising experimental results.
[2] A paper in a philosophy journal explaining the philosophical significance of these results.
[3] An article in a publicly accessible outlet such as The Conversation, summarising our results for the public.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In addition to a novel theory of generic generalisations (A1), the project has found significant empirical evidence regarding the nature of prejudice (B1). A replication study is planned. Should these results be confirmed, they may be of significant interest to governmental and non-governmental organisation interested in combatting prejudice.

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