Diversity: At its most basic level, diversity is simply all the ways in which people are different. The most powerful differences are age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability. Other differences that affect how people behave, how they see the world, and the values they live by are educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, and work experience.
Culture: Within a group, culture is what everybody knows that everybody else knows. It is the deposit of knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation and that teaches us what is appropriate regarding all aspects of life. All human beings, all groups, have culture. Culture, to use a computer metaphor, is the software that "programs" people, telling them how to behave and delineating the rules of conduct.
Ethnocentrism: To be "ethnocentric" means one judges the actions/behaviors of others according to the values of one's own group. The ethnocentric person assumes her/his own culture's way of doing things is "right" and all others "wrong". All people are ethnocentric to some degree. However, extreme ethnocentrism can lead to prejudice, discrimination, scapegoating, racism, and genocide.
Stereotyping: A stereotype is a preconceived or oversimplified generalization usually involving negative beliefs about a particular group. Negative stereotypes are frequently at the base of prejudice. The danger of stereotyping is that it no longer considers people as individuals, but rather categorizes them as members of a group who all think and behave in the same way. We may pick up these stereotypes from what we hear other people say, what we read, what we experience, and what people around us believe. Even when a stereotype appears to be positive, the effects are negative because the person is still not considered as an individual.
Prejudice: An attitude, opinion, or feeling formed without adequate prior knowledge, thought, or reason. Prejudice can be prejudgment for or against any person, group, sex, or object. Any group can prejudge or be prejudged toward another group.
Discrimination: An action based on a prejudice. Discrimination often involves keeping people out of activities or places because of the group to which they belong. Any individual or group can discriminate against another.
Scapegoating: Scapegoating refers to the deliberate policy of blaming an individual or group when the fault actually lies elsewhere. It means blaming another group or individual for things they did not really do. Those that we scapegoat become objects of our aggression in work and deed. Prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory acts lead to scapegoating. Members of disliked groups are denied employment, housing, political rights or social privileges. Scapegoating can lead to verbal and physical violence, including death.
Racism: Racism couples the false assumption that race determines psychological and cultural trains with the belief that one race is superior to another. Based on their beliefs in the inferiority of certain groups, racists justify discriminating against, segregating, and/or scapegoating these groups. Racism is both individual and institutional. It is also defined as prejudice plus power.
Sexism: Sex prejudice with institutional power used to the advantage of one sex and the disadvantage of the other. Sexism is any attitude, action, or practice, backed by institutional power, that subordinates people because of their sex.
Disabledism: Any attitude, action or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of a physical disability.
Classism: Any attitude, action or institutional practice that subordinates because people of their economic status.
NOTE: It is important to note that each stage of prejudiced behavior feeds the next. Extreme forms develop only when the more subtle forms are permitted to flourish.
Adapted from: "Recognizing the Power of Diversity", Lee Gardenschwartz, PhD, and Anita Rowe, PhD, Physician Executive, Nov.-Dec. 1993, Vol. 19, Issue 6; Facilitating the Intercultural Communication Workshop, Janet and Milton Bennett; "Some Helpful Terms", A world of Difference Institute of the Anti-Defamation League; and, Conflict Resolution Across Cultures, Michelle LeBaron Duryea and Ken Hawkins.