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The Art Of Stereotyping
The Art of Stereotyping
Caleb Sloan
University of Kentucky
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The Art Of Stereotyping
Abstract
The following paper goes into depth about the passing of judgement, we know as
stereotyping. The paper will answer questions such as the reason why we as a society
stereotype and how to know if you are guilty of stereotyping. Among these basic
questions, I offer the advantages of disadvantages of stereotyping, the stereotyping
categories, the characteristics of stereotyping, and future research we can use to approve
and disprove of this social norm. The advantages and disadvantages look at how we
effectively and ineffectively judge others by their clothing style, group associations, etc.,
and the risks that are involved in doing so. This social norm of stereotyping goes far
beyond the basics of style and individuality. As you will later find out, stereotyping is
also based off of age, gender, and ethnicity. I will go into detail about different society
effects it has on individuals, from a person of a different culture or skin color, to the
impact it has in the common workplace.
Keywords: Stereotyping, Social Norms, Gender Roles, Ethnicity, Society
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The Art Of Stereotyping
The Art of Stereotyping
Every day, generalizations are made to achieve a better understanding of an item,
person, place, etc. For instance, we would categorize peppers, hot sauce, and buffalo
wings as spicy foods. This is a just a common generalization that society as a whole
would use to describe specific foods. This said, we use the same generalizations to
categorize people into specific groups. What comes to mind when you think of the life of
a high school band member? Geeky? Nerdy? Braces? Now, what about the high school
jock? Athletic? Preppy? Bully? These generalizations that you associate with a particular
group or person is the fine art of stereotyping and we are all guilty of this act. Although
many will argue that stereotyping is a dying generalization and passing judgment upon
others is slowly fading away, the truth is that we are all guilty of stereotyping others on a
daily basis in various forms.
The Basis of Stereotyping
Many questions are brought to attention when studying stereotyping, but we will
start with the basics and work our way up. To introduce the topic of stereotyping, you
must first ask yourself why we stereotype in the first place. Why do we as a society feel
the need to pass judgment on others on a daily basis? Psychologists say we categorize, or
stereotype, by age, race, and gender because our brains are wired to do so automatically.
"When you're a social animal, you need to be able to distinguish who's a friend and who's
a foe. You need to understand who's a member of your pack, who's a member of a
different pack," said John Dovidio, a professor of psychology at the University of
Connecticut. According to Dovidio, even those of us who believe that we don’t
stereotype, do. Dovidio says we categorize people immediately, automatically, and
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unconsciously based on a person’s race and gender among other things. (Strossell &
Kendall, 2006)
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Stereotyping
There are many advantages and disadvantages of stereotyping. To begin with the
advantages, stereotypes can be useful tools whenever you are put in a new environment
and need to make quick judgments and fast decisions. For instance, consider the scenario
of being surrounded by members of royalty or great political stature. One would be likely
to stereotype them as being formal and reserved. This stereotype will help you respond to
them in a respectful manner that mirrors their behavior. Next, Stereotyping can be used to
your advantage to simplify your surroundings so they are easier to understand.
Stereotypes enable you to categorize people into groups, which allow you to form
expectations about people and situations, making life more predictable and easier to
understand (Adler & Proctor, 2010). These are only a few of many advantages that
stereotyping presents.
If there are advantages, there has to be disadvantages. To begin, to stereotype
someone leaves room for error. Your judgment could be completely misguided (Oliver &
Sapna, 2013). A misguided judgment would influence you to act differently around the
person, which would lead to the possibility of offending them. One might assume that the
same group of people shares the same ideals and personality traits just because they have
something in common like their fashion sense or taste in music. Just because they may
look the same doesn't mean they feel the same or think alike. This is a form of prejudice
and can be difficult for the person who is being prejudged, who might feel that they are
misunderstood, particularly when a stereotype is racially motivated. The saying "Don't
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judge a book by its cover" is a universal explanation that ones appearance is not enough
to understand who he/she really is.
Stereotyping Categories
There are more ways to categorize people, other than their sense of style and
culture. We categorize people not only by what they wear or whom they associate with,
but also by their gender, age, and ethnicity. Gender stereotypes are nothing more than
generalizations about the roles of each gender. These gender roles are generally neither
positive nor negative. They are simply inaccurate generalizations of the male and female
attributes. For example, an example of a female stereotype would be to say that women
do not play sports and women are supposed to make less money than men. Contrastively,
a male stereotype would be to say that all men enjoy working on cars or men are not
supposed to do housework (Newheiser & Dividio, 2012). Simply put, these are false
generalizations that are made in accordance to gender.
Next, society also stereotypes people by their age. Age is a great way to
exemplify the maturity in ones self. However, many inaccurate stereotypes are brought
about by a persons’ age. Examples of this would be to say that all toddlers hate green
vegetables or all teenagers are rebels. These are generalizations that have exceptions.
There are toddlers in this world that may love peas or broccoli and there are certainly
teenagers who are not rebels.
Lastly, ethnicity plays a vital role in the way we stereotype. Stereotypes exist
about cultures and countries as a whole (Huang & Singer, 1984). These images of a
particular group can be used to communicate an underlying message of status, society,
and cultural norms. Stereotype examples of this sort include the statement that all Asians
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are bad drivers or all African Americans are better at sports. These generalizations are
false accusations of not only a group of people, but also an entire race and culture.
The Characteristics of Stereotyping
According to Leslie C Aguilar, Author of Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts, there are
three characteristics of stereotyping. In order to understand if you have stereotyped, you
can ask yourself if your generalizations fit these three characteristics. The first is that
your stereotype implies that all people in the group are the same. The second is that your
generalization contains a judgment. Notice that the judgment often reveals more about
the stereotyper’s beliefs or expectations than it does about the individual being
stereotyped. And finally, the third characteristic states that stereotypes are fairly
inflexible. (Aguilar, 2006) This means that when we run in to someone who does not fit
our stereotype, we are likely to make him or her an exception to our rule, rather than
question the validity of the stereotype. If your generalization is characterized by all three
of these rules, then you have in fact stereotyped.
Limitations
Ultimately, stereotypes are not inherently a bad thing. In fact, they can be quite
helpful in understanding a complex society in which nothing stays the same. Like
anything though, stereotypes has its limitations. There are certain aspects of stereotyping
that limit its justification. One limitation is that it influences a lazy behavior. Stereotyping
can prevent someone from going out and actually meeting people because of their
assumptions that they have already made. One might assume that they already know the
person based on their appearance. Moving on, like technology, stereotypes change with
the times; they are updated constantly. For example, in times past, sagging your pants
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was a sign of inferiority. Today, if you sag your pants, it is a sign of classlessness. The
stereotypes are changing every day, so one may have a completely different
generalization of a person or group than you do. These factors limit the justification of
stereotypes as a whole.
Future Studies
When it comes down to it, there is much to evaluate when researching
stereotyping as a whole and its future. As previously discussed, stereotypes change with
the times, so it’s going to be hard to predict the future of our common generalizations.
The best way to conduct research in the future is to look at the common trends of the
stereotyping generations. How does the impact of our preexisting judgments affect the
life we live now in comparison to a different time and place? When looking at different
cultures, do different societies stereotype to the degree of Americans? These are just a
few questions that need to be answered in future studies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, stereotyping, like anything else has its pros and cons. There are
advantage and disadvantages, as well as qualifications and limitations to stereotyping.
There is no denying that stereotyping plays a very important role in how we perceive one
another. From the high school generalizations to limiting others in the workplace and
from age to ethnicity, stereotyping will always exist. It is up to today’s society to accept
this notion and make the best inferences based on their perceived judgments.
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The Art Of Stereotyping
References
Adler, R.B., & Proctor, R.F. (2010). Looking Out Looking In. 13th Edition. Boston, MA.,
Cengage Learning, 86-89.
Aguilar, Leslie C. (2006) Ouch! That stereotype hurts. Communication Respectively in a
Diverse World. 62-66.
Huang, M. S., & Singer, A. E. (1984). Ethnic group stereotyping by police and university
students in New Zealand. Journal Of Psychology, 116, 89.
Newheiser, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2012). Individual differences and intergroup bias:
Divergent dynamics associated with prejudice and stereotyping. Personality &
Individual Differences, 50, 70-74.
Oliver, John S., & Sapna, C. (2013). When compliments fail to flatter: American
individualism and responses to positive stereotypes. Journal Of Personality &
Social Psychology, 104, 87-102.
Strossell, John & Kendall, Kristina (2006). The psychology of stereotypes. ABC News.