Anti-Hero: A Psychological Analysis

Prejudice against racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and religious groups regarded as “out groups” forms a fundamental component of human social behavior, providing insight into the complex interactions between environmental, situational factors and neural processes, and how they dictate behavior. Through analysis of the anti-hero, natural human weakness and fault must be accounted for as a possible negative force influencing behavior and decision making, driving chaos and destruction. Therefore, by understanding the evolutionary roots and neurological causes of prejudice present in an anti-hero, a new level of comprehension of is revealed, their motivations uncovered. Although developed neurologically in the evolutionary process,

Specifically, these ancestors genetically adapted to be attuned and vary of outside groups who posed threats to various facets of life and wellbeing including physical security, health, and economic resources, and therefore the brain evolved “to respond to these kinds of threats in ways tailored to effectively reduce them” by evoking various emotional responses (Arizona State University). As a result, from a historical perspective, groups perceived as “posing threats to physical safety elicit fear and self-protective actions”, those viewed to be greedy and taking more than they give elicit anger and inclination toward aggression, while those historically perceived as health threats “elicit disgust and the desire to close physical”, formulating the basis of the diverse prejudice responses influencing society (Millett). The diverse forms of prejudice reveal motivation behind different kinds of discrimination, and comprehending these key differences provides insight to create corresponding, effective interventions to reduce prejudice against specific

In experimental studies, researchers utilizing functional MRI technologies have been able to detect by increased blood flow, to detect increases in activity of specific regions of the brain, while viewing images to trigger prejudice (Been). Primarily, the amygdala, a structure within the medial temporal role which serves a significant role in the “acquisition and expression of learned emotional responses”, most prominently fear, was quickly identified as a central component of prejudice due to the major amygdala activity increase with stimuli associated with out-group members members observed throughout experimentation (Amodio). Furthermore, an experiment involving white skinned participants viewing darker skinned faces while listening to rap music revealed that alongside the amygdala activity from which originates the central fear component of the prejudice response, the frontal cortices “generally thought of as areas of ‘higher’ brain function” served to “justify the feelings of prejudice felt by the participants listening to rap music” revealing the strong role of rationalization of inherent negative emotions in maintaining