ABSTRACT

Since people have a lot of identities – gender, race, age, we

experience stereotype several times a day. Stereotyping is a form
of pre judgment that is as prevalent in today's society as it was 2000
years ago. It is a social attitude that has stood the test of time and
received much attention by social psychologists and philosophers
alike. The findings indicate that stereotypes have rapidly grown in
popularity for several specific reasons and it is also reported to
exert particularly harmful effects like discrimination. Based on
these findings, the purpose of this research is to provide a summary
and overview of published research on stereotype, increase your
understanding of the phenomenon known as stereotype and gain
strategies to reduce its occurrence and impact.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. i

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Discussion of findings ..................................................................................................................... 1

2.1. What are the concept of stereotypes? ..................................................................................... 1

2.2. How do stereotypes influence people?.................................................................................... 2

2.3. How can we prevent stereotypes? .......................................................................................... 3

3. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 4

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................ 5

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1. Introduction

If you are asked to call out words and phrases used to describe “old people”, what will your
answer be? Are they “gray hair”, “bad vision”, or “retired”? Whatever they are, most of the
things you wrote down, which used to describe certain groups of people, are stereotypes: the
brief descriptions lump everyone together and treat them as if they were the same. Indeed, from
the past to the present and towards possible futures, we can always find ourselves in a situation
where we make stereotypes for a large group of people. In today’s society, as the world we live
in is getting smaller and becoming more integrated, the term ‘stereotype’ even seems to be
more popular and be a part of our daily life. Devine (1989) suggested that stereotyping is a
natural process, which makes it inevitable. Every human being is intended to have them in the
way we think or behave, even if we want it or not, both intentionally and unintentionally.
Stereotypes, thus, weaken our ability to think critically and depress our performance in life
(Wei, n.d). In fact, a lot of discussions on this topic has been raised. This paper, based on
secondary research, provides the definition, effects of stereotypes and suggests some solutions
to reduce stereotypes in order to promote a bilateral relation in society and in the world.

2. Discussion of findings

2.1. What are the concept of stereotypes?

The definition of stereotypes derives from existing sources of information about specific people
and selective perceptions developed to explain their behavior, which is the core part of each
person.

In general, that people’s stereotypes comes into existence is to justify certain prejudices and
strengthen our better image in comparison with the others. Indeed, it is described by Brown
(1995, p.8) as “the holding of derogatory social attitudes or cognitive beliefs, the expression of
negative affect, or the display of hostile or discriminatory behavior towards members of a group
on account of their membership to that group”.

This better understanding of stereotypes now leads us to the earlier question “Where do they
come from?”. Basically, we interact with the “texts” of society, which are any and all aspects
of a culture (such as art, literature, music, and so on) and anything else that may be viewed,
heard, read, smelt, tasted, or touched and interpreted (everything ranging from conversations
between parents, teachers, friends, media, and beyond) (Jones, 2001). Over time, we read these

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‘texts’ every day automatically and abstract meaning from them via personal experience and
direct interaction.

As reported by Blum (2004), stereotypes come in many forms. Have you ever heard someone
say Asian people do better in school, older people don't know how to use technology or all
women are bad drivers? Researchers have discovered that stereotypes exist for different races,
cultures, gender, personality or ethnic groups. They can be accurate or inaccurate. They can
also be positive or negative. All in all, these types are damaging as people prefer to use
preconceptions to judge others rather than consider the individual’s own qualities (Blum, 2004).

2.2. How do stereotypes influence people?

Social psychologists have a long history of studying stereotypes and their effects on judgment
and behavior. As outlined in more detail below, stereotypes can influence how people are
treated and in turn elicit particular behaviors from the others that are consistent with those
(Snyder, 1992).

First of all, stereotypes create a misconception of how people are and how they live in other
cultures, religions, or countries, which could cause problems such as discrimination. Published
by Word, Zanna, and Cooper (1974), their study showed the effects of stereotypes in the context
of a job interview. White participants interviewed black and white subjects who, prior to the
experiments, had been trained to act in a standardized manner. They were treated differently:
while black applicants received shorter amounts of interview time and less eye contact, white
participants received more positive performance ratings. As a result, black participants are
more aware of negative stereotypes about their group, which in turn reduced their performance.
These stereotypes have been demonstrated for an array of social groups in many different areas,
including not only academics but also sports, chess and business (Word et al., 1974).

In addition, the kids are also victims of stereotypes as they affect them in many ways, such as
the academic area. In the article “Awareness of racial stereotypes happens at an early age, has
consequences”, Hyman (2003) shows us how stereotypes make the children perform poorly in
school. Examining the gender stereotypes on 400 children by the Journal Science, half of whom
were girls, researchers indicated that boys were trusted to be more intelligent than girls (cited
in Allen & Beall, 2017). From the very early ages, this concept of belief, which often come
from parents, teachers and media, creating confusion in kids and influencing their perception
and attitude. This is also creating a false idea of how the children should interact with other

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individuals. As a consequence, the kids are growing up thinking that they should be one way
that society thinks that is the ideal.

Finally, not only bad stereotypes cause negative effects in individuals but also good stereotypes
can be harmful. Worse, people are not aware of their hidden dangers. In the article “Why
stereotypes are bad even when they’re ‘good”, Burkeman mentioned sexism and racism as
problems created by good stereotypes. In a study led by Aaron Kay, a psychologist at Duke
University (cited in Burkerman, 2012), the participants read fake articles related to black people
without realizing this was a stereotype. The first article was positive when showing that black
people are better at sports. On the contrary, the next article said black people are less intelligent
and more prone to violence, and that was totally negative. Unsurprisingly, being exposed to
this phony "evidence" made people more likely to believe the stereotypes. Burkeman (2012)
reached the conclusion:

“When asked to estimate the probability that a hypothetical series of people

with typically African-American names might commit a crime, people
exposed to the positive stereotype rated that possibility as higher than did
those exposed to a negative one. The positive stereotype “good at athletics”
apparently led to stronger negative beliefs about black people than the
negative one “prone to violence”.

That is to say, the negatives effects that stereotyping causes in people are many, including
attributional ambiguity, discrimination and self-stereotyping. They pose a serious effect along
people’s academic path choices, performances at any level in their life as well as their job. This
also makes individuals who perhaps like different things or do different activities may feel
ashamed of doing so because of stereotypes. Inzlicht (2010) pointed out people can be affected
by stereotypes even after being exposed to them. In a given situation, they are more likely to
be aggressive, exhibit a lack of self-control and easily make irrational decisions.

2.3. How can we prevent stereotypes?

Stereotypes do not have a cause. They are a phenomenon. In order to prevent stereotyping,
individuals should train their brains, include exposing to various social groups and raising
awareness of the inner thoughts and emotions that affect actions and beliefs, objecting
generalizations and looking for media messages which are authentic, reasonable and positive
(University of Notre Dame, n.d). It is essential to encourage individuals to accept fears and
challenges, as well as promote internal motivation against prejudice. To avoid some stereotypes

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whose foundation is a generalization, learning to pause in the moment before making a
judgment and think “Can this possibly be true for all cases?” is another powerful tool (Erin,
2014).

On the other hand, increasing demographic diversity within organizations also prevents
stereotyping (American Psychological Association, 2012). The University of Notre Dame
recommends that while attending plays, churches, movies and concerts, people can broaden
their worldviews and celebrate diversity. Strategies, such as cooperative interaction, intergroup
contact, interpersonal friendships, recategorization, cognitive training, intergroup
differentiation, self-regulation, group work and cooperative learning can be used to overcome
prejudice and stereotyping as well (Allport, Contact Hypothesis 1954).

By noticing that differences are natural, people can learn not to judge others (American
Psychological Association, 2012). As stated by the American Psychological Association
(2012), based on unconscious bias, stereotypes are manifested in societal, family and individual
levels. Therefore, the attitudes individuals hold are in the context of history, sociocultural
practices, economic forces and sociological trends. Thus, people must put more efforts to
overcome stereotyping. Furthermore, they can express meaningful and honest discussions
about race, gender and age differences, in order to change societal attitudes and beliefs.

3. Conclusion

Instead of focusing on all the mistakes of each person, it is important to pay more attention to
how unique each person is. Stereotypes cause people to feel lonely and even sometimes
depressed. Their environment and social life may be affected, in an atrocious way. Therefore,
people should keep stereotypes out of the picture, even though sometimes they can be victims
themselves. By stopping judging people before getting to know them, we can change our
perception of the stereotypes that are deeply rooted in our society and make of this a better
society.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4157222/Girls-young-6-think-aren-t-
brilliant-boys.html#ixzz56CeFTjy0

American Psychological Association (2012). Race, prejudice and stereotypes: APA report on
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Brown, R. (1995). Prejudice: Its social psychology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell

Blum, L (2004). Stereotypes and stereotyping: A moral analysis. Philosophical Papers, 33(3),
251–289. doi:10.1080/05568640409485143

Burkeman, O ( 2012, December 12). Why stereotypes are bad even when they’re good. The
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http://sites.psu.edu/thenotsocommonplaceplace/2014/03/20/can-we-prevent-
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Hyman, C. (2003). Awareness of racial stereotypes happens at an early age, has consequences.
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