Xenophobia is an obsessive fear of unfamiliar faces; hatred, intolerance towards someone or something alien, unfamiliar, unusual. Xenophobia is also called any hostility towards a foreign object, be it the historical heritage of another ethnic group or the traditions of a non-native cultural group.
Xenophobia: what does this concept mean and why is this phenomenon considered one of the most dangerous problems of modern humanity? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the very nature of this phenomenon.
Xenophobia is fear/intolerance of the unfamiliar/strange.
Hatred is the anger of weak people.
Alphonse Daudet
- 1.Why do people hate each other? 1.1.But is there any point in hatred?
- Xenophobia is fear/intolerance of the unfamiliar/strange.
- Anatidaephobia is the fear of being watched by a duck.
- Ergophobia is the fear of work
- Haptophobia - fear of being touched
- Social phobia - what is it, a disease of the mind or soul?
Why do people hate each other?
Unfortunately, hatred of each other always takes place in the life of society.
The reason for this may be that all people are different, individual and, accordingly, their actions and views on things are different. Often, differences of opinion lead to quarrels. Such a phenomenon as hatred of a person who is different in some way from all people was even given a name - xenophobia. Many people are accustomed to following stereotypes, thinking primitively and going with the flow of life. But in those moments when a person comes to such a team with his own fresh thoughts and tries to implement them, then all the other members of the team first of all begin to show a strong hostility towards the newcomer. It is possible that such activity by an employee will sooner or later cause hatred from his colleagues. After all, he does not behave the way they want. Here another human trait manifests itself - selfishness. And there is no escape from this, because essentially all people are born selfish. This is where people are programmed to envy and hate those who are doing better than themselves.
But is there any point in hatred?
It is unlikely that such a quality has ever helped anyone in life. Hatred can even ruin a person’s appearance, because a constant lack of mood and a sincere smile does not benefit the skin and nervous system. Is there anything that can be done to avoid the negative feeling of hatred?
To overcome hatred, you need to start loving. After all, how can you have time to enjoy life if you spend all your time on meaningless anger and hatred of others. You need to understand that by letting go of a negative attitude towards other people, you can establish good relationships with them and a lot of problems in life will immediately disappear. Going to work with a friendly team will be much more pleasant. If suddenly such a feeling appears towards a person who has done nothing wrong, you must first understand why hatred appeared towards him, what provoked it? Perhaps such thoughts will help control emotions and will not lead to conflict.
Of course, there is also justified hatred, when a person has actually done something terrible to another. There can be no talk of simple self-control here. A person must decide for himself what to do with the offender: punish him, or let life do it itself. After all, all actions in everyone’s life sooner or later return as a boomerang.
Possible reasons
One of the reasons for the development of xenophobia is the experience of violence from a stranger.
First of all, we will consider the factors that at the psychological level cause the development of xenophobia.
- Deviation in the formation of the psyche, which can be observed during prenatal development.
- Incorrect parenting. From childhood, a child is taught that it is necessary to be wary of strangers, that they will definitely deceive or cause pain.
- The instinct of self-preservation. A person experiences fear of strangers because there is a possibility of causing him pain.
- Serious psychological or physical trauma, personal experience. The xenophobe had previously been mutilated by a stranger.
The most common reasons for fear of strangers are social. In such a situation, fear of a stranger can develop into aggressive behavior directed at him. At the same time, there may be various motives for hostility towards people of a different nationality, appearance, which may manifest themselves as a desire to humiliate another person. If we consider the state level, then we are talking about laws that restrict people of a different race.
- Religious motive. Sometimes disagreements between adherents of different faiths end in hostility, which sometimes leads to bloodshed. For example, terrorist attacks in the Middle East based on religious grounds.
- Social and economic crisis. If there is a high crime situation in a country or in a particular city, then hatred and anger towards each other arises in society. For example, when some scarce product appears in a store, people try to get it by all means, swear at the same time, and may even start fighting with their rivals.
- Low level of education. A situation where a person is simply unable to communicate normally with other people, he is afraid that he will not be able to find common topics for conversation with a stranger.
- The media can also influence the development of fear. For example, the situation with the attitude towards migrants in the West.
You should know that xenophobia, which developed for social reasons, has already brought many troubles to humanity. If a phobia has developed due to the presence of a painful psyche, one cannot do without the help of a psychologist, and sometimes a psychiatrist, if there is a serious degree of manifestation of the pathological condition.
What is xenophobia: definition
Xenophobia is FEAR
. Exactly like that, with a capital “I” – irrational, inexplicable and poorly controlled. This is panicky rejection, rejection, hostility, hatred, the whole spectrum of negative emotions towards everything that falls under the category of “alien”.
The victim of this definition may be a representative of national minorities, a visiting foreign tourist, or just a stranger on the street - the reaction of a xenophobe will be unpredictable, from an attempt to avoid contact and gloomy withdrawal to open manifestations of aggression towards a stranger.
A xenophobe is a person who is afraid, and therefore does not accept, everyone and everything that is alien to him.
Xenophobia in a person arises at the personal level and when interacting with other people in small groups, but the results and consequences of its spread can be costly for the entire state. Unlike other common phobias, such as, for example, fear of spiders or closed spaces, xenophobia is a fear that brings discomfort not so much to the subject as to the external object at which it is directed.
The concept of “xenophobia” should be divided into medical and social aspects. In the first case, it can be manifested in the form of stupor, anxiety or a panic attack that occurs in a xenophobe when it is necessary to interact with strangers. Such people feel uncomfortable in a crowd, in a strange company, in a new city or place; even in a critical situation, a xenophobe most likely will not be able to turn to a stranger for help.
The second case is when interacting exclusively with social strata and groups, xenophobia is expressed in terms of wariness and mistrust to extremist aggression towards representatives of another race, ethnic group, subculture, etc.
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Do you know that:
If you delve deeper into the meaning of the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word “xenophobia,” you will find that xenophobic people, literally, are “fearful of strangers.”
The word "xenophobia", an elegant term for aversion to strangers, comes from two Greek terms: Xenos
, which can be translated as either "stranger" or "guest", and
Phobos
, which means either "fear" or "flight".
The word "Phobos" is the basic root for all English -phobia terms, but many of the definitions of phobias were actually coined in English or New Latin, using the combination of the new word with the prefix -phobia. The term “xenophobia” itself originated in New Latin and first appeared in print in English in 1903.
Why is xenophobia dangerous?
Xenophobia - what is it in relation to society as a whole? Psychologists believe that xenophobia is contagious, and this carries a certain danger, especially if a person in a leading position suffers from it. This is further aggravated by the leader’s charisma, which forces the masses to follow his lead, so to speak, and act under the influence of other people’s phobias. Particularly dangerous manifestations of xenophobia in its various forms are terrorism, persecution of entire nations and peoples, leading to their complete extermination.
Types of xenophobia
The presence of a tendency towards this phenomenon is not necessary and is not clearly expressed in every case.
Aggressive legal xenophobia is the propaganda of discrimination, extremism and violent methods of struggle. However, its hidden form, expressed in rejection based on persistent prejudices in relation to certain objects, is much more common. Depending on the orientation, these types of xenophobia
How:
- Racial/ethnic
. This includes racism, ethnophobia, anti-Semitism, Sinophobia, etc. - Religious
. A striking example is both the medieval Crusades and modern conflicts between representatives of Christian, Jewish and Islamic religious movements. - Territorial
. There can be both hostility towards foreigners in general and local divisions, for example, enmity between teenagers from neighboring streets or groups from different parts of the city. - Social
. This implies a division of society along any basis: from financial status to cultural preferences and appearance, the most common being sexism and homophobia.
Types and forms of xenophobia
There are two forms of manifestation of this disease:
- hidden - this is when hostility is formed on prejudices and is directed towards objects that do not fit into the usual way of life;
- open - formed on the basis of ideological views and is characterized by obvious aggressiveness aimed at strangers, manifested by discrimination, violence and extremism.
There are also four types of manifestations of the disease:
- religious is a stable, fanatical rejection of another religion and the people who profess it. Islam is particularly intolerant in the modern world. It is explained by fear of terrorist acts and explosions in public places, for which Islamic extremists claim responsibility. Resulting in hatred of all Muslims and Islam in general;
- racial xenophobia, also called ethnic, is manifested by persistent hostility and hatred towards representatives of another race (ethnicity). It is formed on a deep conviction of racial inequality and promotes the superiority of one race over another. In turn, it is divided into several subtypes, such as: anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews), sinophobia (hatred of the Chinese), ethnophobia (hatred of people of a different nationality), racism (hatred of people of a different race);
- social - manifested by aggression directed at specific segments of society. This is the rejection of such people as: gays or lesbians (homophobia), disabled people (handicapism), refugees (migrant phobia). Even financial status, appearance, accent, level of culture are reasons for the manifestation of social xenophobia;
- territorial - characterized by hatred of absolutely all foreigners who invade the territory that the xenophobe considers his own. What does xenophobia on a territorial basis mean in the broad sense? Often this type of xenophobia manifests itself as extremism, that is, xenophobes use forceful, aggressive methods to prevent violators from remaining on their territory. In a narrower sense, the manifestation of this type of xenophobia is a division along local lines: a war between neighborhood gangs or teenagers from different streets.
Study of the level of xenophobia in the modern world
The University of Bielefeld (Bielefeld, Germany) conducted a study among 650 respondents from the country between 2015 and 2021.
regarding the level of goodwill, or, conversely, hostility towards immigrants constantly arriving in the country. The PsyMod.ru portal has translated and adapted interesting and, at the same time, shocking data on xenophobia, which you can see in the infographic below.
Causes of xenophobia
Essentially, every person is a xenophobe.
This is inherent in us by nature: it is believed that primary socialization causes the need to unite on the basis of a common characteristic, to draw the line “We” - “They”. Xenophobia in the modern world is no less tenacious than hundreds and thousands of years ago. Massive trends towards multiculturalism and multinationality in modern states lead to the manifestation of natural instincts of protection, group self-identification, and fear of dissolving in the growing ethnic and cultural diversity. The threat to social identity is an important, but not the only reason for the manifestation of xenophobia among the population. It is generated by:
- an ideology that is fashionable and widespread in certain circles; upbringing;
- lack of education leading to fear of the unknown;
- as well as personal experience based on negative experiences and associations.
What does xenophobia lead to?
Exposure to xenophobia greatly increases the possibility of acute social conflicts leading to numerous casualties. In particular cases, this danger manifests itself in the rejection of all moral norms and prohibitions, which leads to impulsive and rash actions. After all, a sick person firmly believes that a “stranger” is capable of showing cruelty and sadism towards him or his loved ones, and therefore attacks first. This leads to self-harm and murder, which leads to the defendant's bench.
How to get rid of xenophobia
If we consider the situation as a clinical phobia, then its treatment directly depends on the degree of involvement and voluntary consent of the patient.
If a person is aware of the need to overcome, the origins of it and is ready for change, then a series of sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist (depending on the complexity of the case) is quite capable of solving the problem. Sometimes during therapy, medication is used to help the patient reduce anxiety and get rid of panic attacks in the presence of strangers. Less common, but no less effective, is the use of hypnotic suggestion.
Examples of manifestations of xenophobia
Today, xenophobia is also one of the components of such concepts as:
- chauvinism, fascism, Nazism, racism, anti-Semitism;
- sexism, ageism, handicapism;
- staurophobia, Islamophobia and others.
Chauvinism, fascism, Nazism, racism, anti-Semitism
These movements are united by fear or hatred, hostility towards people of a different race or ethnicity.
Chauvinism
The most acute form of nationalism, that is, the theory that one nation is superior to all others, is the most important, dominant, best.
According to one version, the term got its name from the name of an ardent follower of the aggressive policy of Napoleon Bonaparte - a soldier named Chauvin.
According to another, the French artist Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet created a series of pictures about the furious soldier Chauvin. His name and character gave rise to the term chauvinism.
Fascism
A movement that arose in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century. Its creator, Benito Mussolini, called the superiority of one nation over others as its main idea.
Nazism
A form of fascism that also includes racism and anti-Semitism.
The term originates from the German Nazi. These two syllables were taken from the name of a supporter of Adolf Hitler's German political party - "national socialist" (National-sozialist).
Racism
A concept built on the superiority of one race over others.
The term was coined by the French writer and sociologist Joseph Arthur de Gobineau. He was the author of a racial theory that exalted one race - the Aryan. Despite the fact that such a race did not exist. Languages from the Indo-European language family were called Aryan.
Supporters of Hitler's party took up Gobineau's theory. They considered the Aryan race to be the “superior” race and tried to get rid of other “inferior” and unworthy races, in particular the Semitic.
Antisemitism
Hatred of Jews; prejudice according to which Semitic peoples, particularly the Jews, are considered a primitive and inferior race.
Read more about Fascism.
Sexism, ageism and handicapism
These movements are united by fear of people who differ in physical parameters and gender characteristics.
Sexism
Infringement of human rights depending on his gender. The origin of the term is related to the women's rights movement that took place in the United States in the 1960s.
According to the ideology of sexism, women and men have different characteristics and parameters. These features determine what a man is capable of and what a woman is capable of. Accordingly, based on this, an assumption is made about what work they are capable of performing, what functions to perform, etc.
Ageism
Prejudice towards a person depending on his age (from the English age - age).
As part of the fight against ageism, the UN General Assembly declared October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons. Combating ageism includes raising awareness about the problems associated with aging and conveying the message that older people are not a burden to society.
Handicapism
The word comes from the English handicap, translated as “injury”, “physical or moral defect”.
Dislike or fear of people with physical disabilities, as well as people with mental abilities or psychological qualities different from the norm accepted in society.
Handicap means that a person, due to limited mental abilities or his psychological qualities, is not developed to the same extent as other people.
These movements are united by a fear of people who profess other religions or do not believe in God at all.
Islamophobia
Fear and hostility, even hatred towards people who profess Islam, as well as everything connected with it: customs, holidays, etc.
Find out also what Humanism, Morality, Anti-Semitism and Ethics are.
Prevention of xenophobia
In modern society, the concepts of “youth” and “xenophobia” are often linked through various extremist movements, such as neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, skinheads, etc. This type of xenophobia is, first of all, the result of ideology and education, and therefore requires mass prevention at the state level .
To prevent the emergence of xenophobic ideas among the younger generation, the following means are needed:
- Condemnation of xenophobia as an ideology.
- Promoting the principles of tolerance and tolerance.
- Replacing fear with curiosity through the study of the unknown, familiarization with foreign cultures, religions, nationalities through mass events.
- Timely identification of extremist tendencies and neutralization of groups supporting socially dangerous movements.
- Fostering the ideas of equality and respect at the level of the family, mass media, educational and educational institutions.
Origins of xenophobia
All people of the 21st century, advanced users of the World Wide Web and all sorts of nano-techno-gadgets, have preserved built-in biological mechanisms - a kind of software from the Stone Age.
At the dawn of human history, everything incomprehensible , different from the usual, caused fear, drawing in the imagination the image of Babayka. And much was incomprehensible to the caveman, so fears and hostility multiplied and were deposited at the level of instincts.
The appearance of strangers was especially frightening. It threatened the established way of life and meant a battle for territory or resources, similar to the one that took place on the Nostromo ship in the film Alien.
Even peace-loving strangers could bring with them microorganisms that were detrimental to the health of the natives (due to the lack of antibodies to them). They had to share sources of food with them - already meager. By introducing themselves into society, uninvited guests brought changes with them and knocked them out of their comfort zone.
There is an opinion among scientists that xenophobia is a form of archaic defense of the people, a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation.
One of the modern causes of xenophobia is globalization (the process of universal unification and integration). It gives rise to the fear of losing national and cultural identity and forces people to build a wall between their own and others.
One of the clearest examples of xenophobia
A teacher at a Jewish school in Arizona (USA) was fired after a series of comments she made on the microblogging service Twitter.
In one of the correspondences on the microblog, Bonnie Vern spoke insultingly and aggressively about immigrants in the United States, suggesting that they simply kill them all.
After such statements from the school teacher, students, their parents and relatives bombarded the school principal with condemning messages, arguing that a person with xenophobic and racist tendencies could not and should not be a teacher.
The wave of indignation and condemnation did its job - the teacher was fired, and her profile on the social network was immediately deleted with all her messages.
