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You can use this exercise in the “real world” whenever you or someone else is demonstrating prejudice toward anything
or anyone.
For example:
Your friend: “I hate her. She always makes the highest grade.”
You: “Why would you not like someone because they make an “A.”
Your friend: “You just don’t understand!”
You: “Why don’t you explain it to me?”
Your friend: “I look stupid because she always makes a higher grade than me.” You: “What would happen if she made a ‘F’ on a test and you made a ‘D’?” Your friend: “My parents would punish me.”
You: “Probably, but you would have made a better grade than her.”
Your friend: “But I would still get punished.”
You: “ So then, why are you making her grade so important? Could this be some Stinky Thinking?”
The purpose of the exercise you just read is to show you that your dislike for and prejudice toward someone or something may be based on their qualities or behaviors that have no impact on you. Have you ever heard an adult say something like, “I just hate the way he/she always does everything just perfectly?”
Is it irrational to dislike someone else because they try to do things correctly? Is our behavior toward them influenced by this irrational thinking? The answer to both questions is “Yes.”
This is an example of prejudice toward an individual rather than any definable group. It is just as destructive as any other prejudice and is usually the basis of gossip, “back stabbing” and other adult behaviors that cause life problems.
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