Stereotypes In Social Psychology Paper

Stereotypes are present in everyday life and they affect how were perceive other groups or individuals. As most individuals are a member of one societal group or another, it would be beneficial to examine why stereotypes form, and why some are more common than others. The purpose of this study is to identify circumstances in which an illusory correlation will be formed and how that may lead to the formation of stereotypes. An illusory correlation is the existence of a relationship, when no relationship actually exists.

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

Stereotypes have great impacts on people all over the world. One of the reasons why people believe stereotypes blindly is that they know less about the objects. In order to decline the uncertainty of this new object, people choose to believe the stereotypes to feel safer. For the purpose of understanding the world more objectively, we ought to treat stereotypes critically and at least not be convinced of stereotypes blindly anymore.

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

The concept of stereotype is defined as “a belief that associates a group of people with certain traits” (Kassin, Fein, & Markus et al., 2008, p. 133), which can influence a person’s thinking process and perception of others as well as the world. Stereotypes are related to other concepts, such as prejudice and discrimination, which strengthen the distortion of people’s reality. Another component of a stereotype includes the concept of outgroup homogeneity effect which is the “tendency to assume that there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups” (Kassin et al., 2008, p. 135). The concept of outgroup homogeneity effect refers to a misconception of others caused

Negative stereotypes could lead to many negative consequences. Fiske (2014), a professor of University of Massachuse refer that stereotypes are automatic responses, which have an impact on individuals’ decision

. As people grow older and realize their racial, religious, and cultural groups, they tend to differentiate themselves from other groups. The main reason we develop stereotypes is because it is just human nature for us to categorize people. Stereotypes are a way to simplify groups of people and establish identities, especially when one doesn’t know much about the group (“Overcoming Stereotypes”).

Stereotypes surround us everywhere we go; they are imbedded in our thoughts, conversations, and actions alike, and are simply regarded as “human nature”, but what if they are affecting us more than we think? Sometimes, they are so disguised or normal to us, that we forget what a stereotype really is, or how it began. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a stereotype is “to believe unfairly that all people

Devine, P. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5-18.

Devine (1989) argues that stereotypes are inevitable on the basis that stereotypes and prejudice coexist and that stereotyping occurs automatically. Devine attempts to prove this hypothesis in three experiments. Devine reasons that “as long as stereotypes exist, prejudice will follow.” This hypothesis is rooted in a correlation. Prejudice and stereotypes are related, however there is no clear evidence of causality; Knowledge of a stereotype does not mean an individual agrees with it.

Stereotypes are socially constructed, over-generalized views regarding a particular group of persons with certain characteristics that are widely accepted, and usually expected, in a society. The dominant group of a certain society, which in this case is probably Caucasians and men, usually creates these social constructions. Claude M. Steele, a researcher from Stanford University, performed multiple research studies on the idea and psychological effects of stereotypes on its victims. In his studies, he coins the term “stereotype threat” as the “social-psychological predicament that can arise from widely-known negative stereotypes about one's group,” which implies that “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one's features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one's own eyes” (Steele 797).

According to Allport, the process of categorization is the basis to develop prejudice and stereotypes. People think in categories and the mind forms groups and classes to guide our daily actions. Dahl also verifies that the predictions we make about “Others” is based on stereotypes and that this is necessary and it is a process that we cannot avoid. If categorization is a natural cognitive process and all categorization leads to generalization, then stereotype is also a natural cognitive process. Categories are necessary to give meaning to our reality and to create structure, however they are flexible and they change. On the other hand stereotypes seem to give us a feeling of order and security but they are inflexible and try to reinforce one particular image over others. Stereotypes still persist even when we know better because they help to create a positive self-image and they are to a large degree attached to ideologies (Christoffanini). Furthermore, we represent Others by using language or images, which allow us to portray Others in ways

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.

Schemas are mental structures people use to organize their knowledge about the social world (Akert, Aronson, & Wilson, 2010). The accessibility of schemas makes them easier to retrieve in social situations. Priming is also relevant in how people apply schemas. Researchers in Germany pursued the idea that stereotypes organize as multiple, context-specific schemas that activate only by a combination of category and context information

The use of stereotypes is a major way in which we simplify our social world; since they reduce the amount of processing, we have to do when we meet a new person.