Stereotype

History of the Term

The term stereotype comes from two Greek words meaning “solid” and “a model.” In English, it first meant a metal printing plate. The term evolved to become associated with the act of stamping out the same image or text over and over; by the beginning of the 20th century, it connoted rigid, repetitive behavior. Soon thereafter it was applied to cognitive processes of categorization that were consistent and predictable. Early discussions of categorizing objects asserted that stereotypes were useful but also resulted in a certain number of errors. When applied to the social domain in the 1930s, stereotype came to denote the misattributions commonly applied to ethnic groups (e.g., Germans are scientific minded; Turks are cruel). Thus, stereotypes became linked to prejudice and discrimination and were often considered negative. At this time stereotypes ceased to involve exclusively errors in cognition and became a social phenomenon resulting more from cultural influences than from individual experience.

In the latter 1970s and the 1980s scholars began exploring the cognitive processes of stereotyping, relating stereotypes to cognitive schemata or theories. Using general principles of cognitive processing to illuminate how stereotyping occurs, the discussion at times ignored the sociopolitical context of the phenomenon. In contrast, when the field of counseling took up the term in examining the impact of prejudice and ethnocentrism on counseling process and training, scholars consistently focused on the sociopolitical underpinnings of stereotyping.

Perspectives on Stereotyping

In discussing stereotyping, counseling scholars often draw heavily on conceptualizations generated by other fields. A discussion of these perspectives can flesh out the phenomenon's meaning for counseling.