Stereotype is the common belief built in people where they make a judgment about certain groups of people even without knowing them. It also entails the thoughts adopted concerning particular groups or individuals in accordance to the way the carry out their activities. People always make assumptions whenever they fail to understand a particular subject which later develops to common knowledge. It may also be defined as the aspect of generalizing things where people make false assumptions. Many of the stereotypes built around people involve every aspect that can be used to describe them. For instance, the assumption that all black people are good athletes is a stereotype that generalizes all black people. There are negative and positive stereotypes that can drive people to live fearful lives. They are hurtful and wrong as they might give the false information about a certain group of people (Krieglmeyer, 2012).
There are various types of stereotypes used in defining groups or individuals of people according to what they are characterized in doing. These stereotypes are based on views held against groups or race of people which may have emerged due to incidents or false assumptions. The various types of stereotypes include: racial stereotypes, cultural, gender, sexual orientation just to mention but a few (Krieglmeyer, 2012). People form stereotypes because it favors them cognitively as they no longer have to consider information about every member in a particular group. It also helps in categorizing the members in the group by applying the general information to all members. Similarly, stereotyping occurs due to the fact that it gives people the satisfaction of their urge to understand and predict the social and physical world (Krieglmeyer, 2012).
Additionally, people stereotype others as a way of making them feel better about themselves. It brings about the assumption that their groups are better than others. It gives them a simple and efficient way of behavior. It may occur in situations where resources are scarce and people form groups to prejudice others and acquire the limited commodity. However, in situations where resources are plenty people stereotypes only bring about negative effects that cause hatred and disputes. Most of the time stereotypes are formed to instill fear and control over certain groups of people. This behavior of prejudicing others is brought about by the inclination of the view that a particular group carries out their activities in the right way (Ross, 2011).
Stereotypes exaggerate a particular group by assuming that people who belong to a certain category have the same personality traits. It is an occurrence that takes place in the brain which brings about the natural resemblance. For instance, Arabs or Muslims are normally associated with terrorist activities therefore people will form stereotypes that all Arabs carry firearms and are engaged in such activities wherever they are (Ross, 2011). This is a complete exaggeration as it brings about negative effects and may even cause hate crimes. The same case applies to black people who are associated to poverty. The assumption in many people is that all people based in Africa or outside the United States or any other white dominated country are poor (Ross, 2011).
Most of the assumptions or stereotypes made are normally false. Some give positive aspects about particular groups while others are completely wrong. For instance, cultural and ethnic stereotypes tend to categorize people according to instances that occurred in the past/ these instances only confirm their assumptions and they forget about the disconfirming scenarios. To some extent some stereotypes are true as they bring out the positive aspects that are related to particular groups of people. Some of these aspects include: the assumption that black people are good at sports, Italians are good cooks, women take time to respond to situations while men are spontaneous et cetera (Gupta, 2013). These instances are somehow true as they bring out the positive aspects that these groups are associated with. It also creates a good view of these groups as they enable effective interaction and gives some idea of what people are likely to be and the behaviors that are considerably acceptable (Gupta, 2013).
The reason why I believe some of these stereotypes are true is that they eliminate negative assumptions. They bring some form of contradiction to the prejudice given on them and enable people to want to know the truth. It creates an understanding about each of the groups as they get to realize that they share common factors in one area or another (Krieglmeyer, 2012). Similarly, these stereotypes are true due to the fact that they bring about a realization of what the people are truly about. For instance, assuming that Arabs are terrorists brings about the negative perspective of the people but ones their true identity is revealed, people get to know who they are and what they are. Similarly, most of the stereotypes made portray a good image of certain groups of people; therefore it promotes their identity and involvement in basic activities which may lead to convenient and effective interactions (Krieglmeyer, 2012).
Stereotypes in the past involved assumptions such as the role of women, or cultural factors that portrayed the characteristics of particular groups Women were perceived as people who take their time in everything they do. They were perceived as people who care too much about their physical appearance and the things that would keep them beautiful (Ross, 2011). In the past women would engage in activities such as being cheerleaders and like playing with dolls therefore they were perceived as people who only like girlish things and could not be involved in making decisions. Similarly, there were other cultural stereotypes that involved men in terms of fashion. Men would wear trousers that were sagging. Little did they know that this was a policy maintained in prisons where inmates were required to remove their belts to avoid suicide (Ross, 2011).
In addition to this, people assumed men were stronger and aggressive and therefore had to be involved in building the nations. The perspective of people who used such kind of stereotypes was that they did not want to get involved with others as they had their own fears (Gupta, 2013). Black people were considered illiterate and could not get to the level of the white people and therefore they were treated as slaves. The fear of the unknown was mostly used during those times. Insecurities and control were used to instill fear in others (Gupta, 2013). Black people were assumed as poor people who did not have any form of civilization. Therefore, the white people used them as slaves to carry out their activities. There was also the perspective that the white groups of people were better that the black or even Asian or any other. This created a scenario where judgments were made about certain groups (Gupta, 2013).
Finally, the media also played a huge role in creating the impression about certain groups. The positive and negative characterization of people brought about the issues of stereotyping. Women were perceived as inferior and thus denied some rights. There was also disparity in the roles given to both women and men.
References
Gupta, Vishal K.; Turban, Daniel B.; Pareek, Ashish (2013). Differences between Men and Women in Opportunity Evaluation as a Function of Gender Stereotypes and Stereotype Activation. Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, 37(4), 771-788.
Krieglmeyer, Regina; Sherman, Jeffrey W. (2012). Disentangling Stereotype Activation and Stereotype Application in the Stereotype Misperception Task. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 103(2), 205-224.
Ross, S. D., & Lester, P. M. (2011). Images that injure: Pictorial stereotypes in the media. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.
