Discrimination is the process of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, usually in a way that deprives them of their legal or human rights. The group may be identified by a feature such as race, gender, height, age, class, religion, disability or sexual orientation. Discrimination typically leads to groups being unfairly treated on the basis of perceived statuses of characteristics, for example ethnic, racial, gender or religious categories. It involves depriving members of one group of opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group.Introduction to sociology. 7th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc, 2009. p. 334.
Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices and laws exist in many countries and institutions in all parts of the world, including those where such discrimination is generally decried. In some places, countervailing measures such as quotas have been used to redress the balance in favor of those who are believed to be current or past victims of discrimination. These attempts have often been met with controversy, and sometimes been called reverse discrimination.
Etymology
The term discriminate appeared in the early 17th century in the English language. It is from the Latin discriminat- 'distinguished between', from the verb discriminare, from discrimen 'distinction', from the verb discernere (corresponding to "to discern"). Since the American Civil War the term "discrimination" generally evolved in American English usage as an understanding of prejudicial treatment of an individual based solely on their race, later generalized as membership in a certain socially disfavored group or social category. Before this sense of the word became almost universal, it was a synonym for discernment, tact and culture as in "taste and discrimination", generally a laudable attribute; to "discriminate against" being commonly disparaged.
Definitions
Moral philosophers have defined discrimination using a moralized definition. Under this approach, discrimination is defined as acts, practices, or policies that wrongfully impose a relative disadvantage or deprivation on persons based on their membership in a salient social group. This is a comparative definition. An individual need not be actually harmed in order to be discriminated against. They just need to be treated worse than others for some arbitrary reason. If someone decides to donate to help orphan children, but decides to donate less, say, to children of a particular race out of a racist attitude, they will be acting in a discriminatory way even if they actually benefit the people they discriminate against by donating some money to them.Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, "Private Discrimination: A Prioritarian, Desert-Accommodating Account", San Diego Law Review, 43, 817–856 (2006); Oscar Horta, "Discrimination in Terms of Moral Exclusion", Theoria: Swedish Journal of Philosophy, 76, 346–364 (2010). Discrimination also develops into a source of oppression, the action of recognizing someone as 'different' so much that they are treated inhumanly and degraded.
This moralized definition of discrimination is distinct from a non-moralized definition—in the former, discrimination is wrong by definition, whereas in the latter, this is not the case.
The United Nations stance on discrimination includes the statement: "Discriminatory behaviors take many forms, but they all involve some form of exclusion or rejection." The United Nations Human Rights Council and other international bodies work towards helping ending discrimination around the world.
Types
Age
Ageism or age discrimination is discrimination and stereotyping based on the grounds of someone's age. It is a set of beliefs, norms, and values which used to justify discrimination or subordination based on a person's age. Ageism is most often directed toward elderly people, or adolescents and children.Wilkinson J and Ferraro K, "Thirty Years of Ageism Research". In Nelson T (ed). Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002"Young and Oppressed". youthrights.org. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
Age discrimination in hiring has been shown to exist in the United States. Joanna Lahey, professor at The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, found that firms are more than 40% more likely to interview a young adult job applicant than an older job applicant.Lahey, J. (2005) Do Older Workers Face Discrimination? Boston College. In Europe, Stijn Baert, Jennifer Norga, Yannick Thuy and Marieke Van Hecke, researchers at Ghent University, measured comparable ratios in Belgium. They found that age discrimination is heterogeneous by the activity older candidates undertook during their additional post-educational years. In Belgium, they are only discriminated if they have more years of inactivity or irrelevant employment.Baert, S., Norga, J., Thuy, Y., Van Hecke, M. (In press) Getting Grey Hairs in the Labour Market: An Alternative Experiment on Age Discrimination Journal of Economic Psychology.
In a survey for the University of Kent, England, 29% of respondents stated that they had suffered from age discrimination. This is a higher proportion than for gender or racial discrimination. Dominic Abrams, social psychology professor at the university, concluded that ageism is the most pervasive form of prejudice experienced in the UK population.(2006) How Ageist is Britain? London: Age Concern.
Caste
According to UNICEF and Human Rights Watch, caste discrimination affects an estimated 250 million people worldwide and is mainly prevalent in parts of Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Japan) and Africa. , there were 200 million Dalits or Scheduled Castes (formerly known as "untouchables") in India.
Citizenship or nationality
Discrimination on the basis of nationality, citizenship or naturalization is usually included in employment laws.Race, Color, National Origin and Ancestry, State of Wisconsin It may vary from laws that regulate hiring and firing based on citizenship, to forced retirement, compensation and pay, etc., based on immigration status. In the GCC states, in the workplace, preferential treatment is given to full citizens, even though many of them lack experience or motivation to do the job. State benefits are also generally available for citizens only. Citizenship discrimination may show as a "level of acceptance" in a team regarding new team members and employees who differ from the citizenship of the majority of team members.Christiane Schwieren, Mechanisms Underlying Nationality-Based Discrimination in Teams. A Quasi-Experiment Testing Predictions From Social Psychology and Microeconomics , Maastricht University Citizenship discrimination can be sometimes connected with racial discrimination although it can be separate.
Class
Disability
Discrimination against people with disabilities in favor of people who are not is called ableism or disablism. Disability discrimination, which treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of "normal living", results in public and private spaces, services, workplaces, and educational environments being designed primarily for "standard" users, which can exclude or disadvantage individuals with disabilities.
Some studies have shown that employment can be beneficial for people with disabilities, helping to support mental health and overall well-being. Work may fulfill several basic needs, including social interaction, a sense of purpose, structured activity, and social status, thereby reducing social isolation. However, other research indicates that employment does not always produce positive outcomes, particularly when workplace environments fail to accommodate the specific needs of disabled individuals. In such cases, employment may contribute to stress, exclusion, or reduced well-being. Demographic changes, such as a decline in the working-age population in some regions, have also led to increased attention toward disabled individuals as participants in the labor market for economic reasons.
Empirical research suggests that repeated exposure to ableist microaggressions may have cumulative psychological effects. Studies have linked these experiences to increased levels of psychological distress, reduced self-esteem, and a diminished sense of belonging, particularly among students in higher education settings. These findings indicate that discrimination is not limited to overt exclusion, but also operates through subtle, everyday interactions that can negatively impact well-being over time.
Disability discrimination is also shaped by broader theoretical perspectives. The social model of disability emphasizes that disability arises not only from individual impairments but also from environmental, social, and institutional barriers that limit participation. This contrasts with the medical model, which focuses primarily on the individual's condition. The social model has influenced policy, accessibility standards, and advocacy efforts aimed at reducing barriers and promoting equal participation.
Some studies have shown that employment can be beneficial to people with disabilities, helping to sustain their mental health and well-being. Work can fulfil a number of basic needs for an individual such as collective purpose, social contact, status, and activity, therefore reducing social isolation.
Other research shows that employment is not always beneficial, particularly if a disabled persons needs are not considered. A decline in the working age population, particularly in Europe, is resulting in disabled people being seen as more of a valuable resource, within the labour market, for economic reasons.
In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates the provision of equality of access to both buildings and services and is paralleled by similar acts in other countries, such as the Equality Act 2010 in the UK.
Excellence
Language
Name Discrimination based on a person's name may also occur, with researchers suggesting that this form of discrimination is present based on a name's meaning, its pronunciation, its uniqueness, its gender affiliation, and its racial affiliation. Research has further shown that real world recruiters spend an average of just six seconds reviewing each résumé before making their initial "fit/no fit" screen-out decision and that a person's name is one of the six things they focus on most. France has made it illegal to view a person's name on a résumé when screening for the initial list of most qualified candidates. Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands have also experimented with name-blind summary processes. Some apparent discrimination may be explained by other factors such as name frequency. The effects of name discrimination based on a name's fluency is subtle, small and subject to significantly changing norms.
Political views Political discrimination involves treating individuals or groups unfairly based on their political opinions, political party affiliations, or activities. While many international human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, prohibit discrimination based on "political or other opinion," legal protections vary significantly by jurisdiction. Germany, France, Israel, South Africa, New Zealand, and Northern Ireland protect against political discrimination as of 2025.
In many historical and modern contexts, political discrimination manifests in two primary forms: