Stereotypes

Theories of Stereotypes

Perspectives on the development of stereotypes vary; views range from a belief that stereotypes help to frame an individual's experience with different groups of people to a belief that stereotypes are patterns of communication that are, by definition, inaccurate representations and projections of one to another. Early studies suggested that stereotypes were used only by repressed authoritarians as a form of prejudicial thinking. More recent theories acknowledge the complexity of stereotypes and stereotyping and conclude that both are commonplace.

Social psychologists attribute the stereotyping process to the human need for mental categorizing. There are two generally agreed-upon perspectives about stereotypes and how they operate. The first perspective suggests that stereotypes are automatic (subconscious) and explicit (conscious). Automatic stereotyping is the stereotyping everyone does without notice and is accompanied by an explicit stereotype, which creates more concrete ideas in the mind. In this case, stereotypes act first as mental categories with which to contain new information (people, groups, places, and so forth) and then as a set of perceptions about the new information. For example, the stereotype of people from New Jersey as loud and obnoxious, with a taste for ostentatious clothing and usually Italian-American, will cast all state residents in such a light even though the state's population is quite diverse. The power of stereotypes is reinforced when the stereotype is mass-produced in the media, as in shows like The Real House Wives of New Jersey, The Jersey Shore, and Jerseylicious.

The second perspective on stereotypes relies on the notion of in-groups and out-groups. In-groups are perceived as normal and thus the superior group of which to be a member, whereas out-groups are simply all other, less desirable groups. In this second perspective on stereotypes, the members of the in-group are not stereotyped because they are seen as normal individuals with distinct identities. Members of the out-group are treated en masse and are ascribed few discernible or notable differences. In the United States, heterosexuals are an in-group, leaving all other sexual orientations to be stereotyped as deviant. There are no stereotypes about heterosexuals, because heterosexuality is the nonste-reotypical in-group.

In general, stereotypes are constructed for people and groups of people with whom individuals have little to no contact. Lack of familiarity encourages the lumping together of unknown people. Most often, the lack of distinction combined with the lack of specific knowledge results in stereotypes that are largely negative assumptions about a group or individual person within that group. However, social scientists and psychologists tend to agree that stereotypes help humans manage the complexities of other people as individuals. Even though stereotyping can be problematic, it is an efficient way to organize large blocks of information. The need to categorize is an essential human characteristic that allows people to simplify and operate within the world. By assigning general traits to members of groups, humans are more apt to avoid processing new information and are better able to predict the social world in a general sense.

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