Equality, Diversity and Prejudice in Britain: Results from the 2005 National Survey: Report for the Cabinet Office Equalities Review October 2006

Britain is an increasingly diverse and multifaceted society.

Consequently, manifestations of inequality, prejudice and

discrimination are potentially becoming more varied and

complex. The meaning of equality itself is a matter of

considerable debate. Perceptions, attitudes, stereotypes

and emotions permeate social relationships between

groups, whether conflictual or harmonious. How are

different groups perceived? How do images of different

groups map onto prejudice? To what extent do people

experience prejudice directed against themselves? There

is increasing interest in whether Britain is becoming a

more or less tolerant, accepting or indeed coherent

society.

This report describes the findings of a survey which

employed social psychological methods and measures to

assess a range of different aspects of prejudice towards

six significant groups in British society – defined by

gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and religion.

The report examines the values people espouse, their

experiences, and their expressions of prejudice, the

extent that ‘political correctness’ may affect expressions

of prejudice, the social stereotypes underpinning

prejudice, whether prejudice is expressed differently

towards different types of group, and the extent to which

British society is perceived as a cohesive whole or as

being formed of distinct and separate groups. It also

explores whether prejudice is predominantly an issue of

personal attitudes or whether it is rooted more in the

relationships between particular social groups.