The AICUF Story!

Sherif and Sherif's (1969)’s seminal work illustrated the realistic intergroup conflict theory which interprets prejudice as arising from competition for highly valued scarce resources. Thus a win or lose situation is created in which the boundaries surrounding the group are rigid. The experiment was conducted on two groups of 11-year-old boys in a camp setting. Initially, a strong bond and cohesiveness were seen within the groups due to their ignorance towards the other group's existence. Subsequently, competitive games were introduced whose rewards constituted scarce resources like pocket knives. This resulted in the uproar of intense negative feelings and physical aggression. In an attempt to eliminate the prejudice, it was discovered that mere contact did no good and instead ameliorated the hostility. Only when the groups were forced to cooperate to fulfill a common goal like restoring water supply, did the boundaries disappear.  Now let us look at the correlation between m...

' Praejudicium ', the Latin word derived from 'prae' ‘in advance’ + 'judicium' ‘judgment’ is the root word prejudice.  This blog will thus introduce you to ‘The Psychology of Prejudice’. Prejudice is a negative belief about an individual belonging to a group purely based on their membership to that particular group. Pervasiveness and complexity are the two core elements of prejudice. It is pervasive in the sense that it is spread across all cultures, and is directed toward all kinds of different groups in society. Complexity is seen in that the explanatory factors exist at intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, and cultural levels. Thus, prejudice is not simply a preconceived notion about another individual, but a negative judgment that resists change, despite being aware of facts.  While we have understood prejudice so far in the context of another individual, negative attitudes, stereotypes and feelings extend to the entire group as well. Prejudice has been...

Every Year on the 1st of January, most of us make resolutions and promises to ourselves, thinking that this time it will be, "New Year, New Beginnings and New Year, New Me" but is it always true? Surely, the starting of a new year does give us a feeling of a fresh start. People make resolutions that they will start studying or start exercising or do something they have never done. But mostly it is something that they want to keep constant throughout the year, or they can keep doing it until the end of the year. Resolutions are mostly made to improve our lives. But it has been proved that more than half the people fail to keep their resolutions and just keep on going in a cycle every year where they make a new resolution and then fail to keep it.  I think resolutions are like promises to oneself and there shouldn’t be a designated time to make them. The start of the year is a beginning but I don’t think it’s something new, it is just the continuation of life from where we left...

Science and The Fabric of Society The past two years have been very enlightening to all of us. Many of our beliefs have been shaken and so have our false assumptions shattered.  We have always been a society-driven species. Our existence has been fueled by the warmth and care that our fellow beings and our loved ones extend to us. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the walls of fear and alienation among us. The tactile sensation, the warm and friendly hug, which is a sure sign of assurance and trust, transformed itself into a serious threat. Society was perceived as a threat to itself and we have witnessed and re-lived history. There have been tremendous losses, losses at personal and global scales, some being exponential. For many, there was a fight for time and a fight for survival. The human species, which is known to change the landscape of this mighty Earth, suddenly started starving for oxygen, one of the most abundant elements available to us.   In such...

The Uniqueness of this festival Oh, this festive is a symbol of happiness, It prepares our hearts to rejoice over the birth of newborn Jesus, So many albums on Christmas, so many new releases from last Christmas to Pentatonix's unique carols, From decorating the house to deciding the theme of the crib, Every aspect of this festival will make you euphoric, The presence of Christmas is what makes December everyone's favorite, And in November all everyone does is for December wait, Sweets are everyone's  treat At this festival, all the family members near far together meet, Secret Santa is the new trend, Makes even the adults each other's Santa friend Santa Claus for children brings the gift, Bells of the Carol ring Mistletoe blesses the lovebirds, Kindness to humanity is what this festival serves It brings together the people from different religions and so I say it unites, And with all the bad vibes it fights Winter just adds to the whole ambiance, Tis the c-son everyone...