Why Human Prejudice is so Persistent: A Predictive Coding Analysis

Priors and prejudice: hierarchical predictive processing in intergroup perception

“…DIPT outlines that once a percept reaches awareness, it begins a cascading sequence of interactions between excitatory/inhibitory nodes ( Freeman and Ambady, 2011 ), which enables a convergence toward an eventual social percept. However, predictive processing suggests that agentic motives, the social environment, and social knowledge tune the types of information being attended to or sought out in the first instance ( Hung, 2023 ). This is particularly important in explaining how ambiguous stimuli are more likely to be perceived in line with preexisting stereotypes ( Hugenberg and Bodenhausen, 2003 ; Rahman and Sommer, 2012 ).…”

“…As discussed above, environmental cues can influence what percepts form during social perception, and agents’ stronger priors can be uniquely difficult to undo. This is a particular problem for prejudice, as the most strongly prejudiced beliefs could be the most difficult to undo ( Hung, 2023 ). Indeed, more strongly held beliefs are less amendable to update than those less strongly held ( Kunda and Sinclair, 1999 ; Sinclair and Kunda, 1999 ; Jost et al, 2017 ), decreasing the probability of belief update, independent of their accuracy ( Kunda and Sinclair, 1999 ; Sinclair and Kunda, 1999 ).…”

“…Moreover, what is being attended to is more likely to solicit a stronger prediction error signal when there is a mismatch between prediction and sense data ( Friston, 2010 ). However, when attention toward a stimulus increases, error signals will be given more weight, and when attention is decreased, error signals are given less weight ( Friston, 2010 ; Hung, 2023 ). This means that prediction errors not being attended to during perception will be ascribed less precision and thus be less likely to influence the posterior belief.…”

“…This means that prediction errors not being attended to during perception will be ascribed less precision and thus be less likely to influence the posterior belief. In terms of group-based priors, this means that counter-stereotypical information is down-weighted during the perceptual process due to the increased attention on stereotype-consistent information—particularly for stronger (i.e., more precise) prejudicial priors ( Hung, 2023 ). In a complementary fashion, the relative imprecision of sensory evidence (e.g., ambiguous stimuli) also allows priors to dominate.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue: Predictive Mind: From Neuroscience to Humanities

“…Thus, the perspective of predictive processing could become a predominant theoretical framework for explaining and describing core mechanisms of the human mind. Moreover, this perspective is expected to explain how shared mentality is formed among individuals, and how such mentality can change, in the context of time and culture (Hung, 2023;Kelly et al, 2019;Kesner, 2014;Schjoedt et al, 2013). Based on these conceptualizations, this special issue aimed at showcasing articles that highlight characteristics and functions of the human mind based on predictions and explain individual and social behaviors based on the perspective of predictive processing.…”