What term describes a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority?

The term that describes a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority, is prejudice. Prejudice refers to preconceived, often unfavorable judgments and feelings about people based solely on their membership in a particular group. This can manifest in various forms, including negative beliefs or emotions directed at individuals due to their race, ethnicity, gender, or other characteristics.

In sociology, prejudice is recognized as a cognitive and affective response, meaning it encompasses both attitudes and emotions. It can lead to further social implications, such as discrimination, which is the act of treating people unfairly based on their group membership. While bias and stereotypes also pertain to negative evaluations, they do not fully encapsulate the concept of a broad negative attitude in the same nuanced way that prejudice does. Bias typically refers to an inclination or predisposition towards something or someone, whereas a stereotype is a generalized belief about a group. Prejudice encompasses these ideas but specifically denotes a negative bias or feeling towards an entire category of people.