Background Information Stereotypes
Definition: A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalised belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996). For example, a “hells angel” biker dresses in leather.
One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had had a similar experience before.
One disadvantage is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalisations).
The use of stereotypes is a major way in which we simplify our social world; since they reduce the amount of processing (i.e. thinking) we have to do when we meet a new person.
By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorisation, which is one of the reasons for prejudiced attitudes, i.e. “them” and “us” mentality.
Most stereotypes probably tend to convey a negative impression. Positive examples would include judges (the phrase “sober as a judge” would suggest this is a stereotype with a very respectable set of characteristics), overweight people (who are often seen as “jolly”) and television newsreaders (usually seen as highly dependable, respectable and impartial). Negative stereotypes seem far more common, however.
Simplified explanation for studentstaken from
Prejudice (say pre-joo-dis) is a word that means judging someone or having an idea about them before you actually know anything about them.
It can also mean having an opinion about something without knowing anything about it.
It seems a bit silly to have an opinion on something or someone you know nothing about!
Unfortunately, we don't always see that we are being prejudiced.
We don't always see that we have strong ideas about certain people, their culture or their religion.
Unfortunately, we don't always see that we have been influenced by family, friends and the media to have ideas about something or someone that we have no personal experience of.
Racial prejudice
In the 'olden days' maybe it was understandable that people would be afraid of another group of people who looked different, had a different religion and did things in a different way, because most people lived and died in the place where they were born.
People who always lived in the same place with others like them might fear that people who looked or acted differently may want their land or may want to hurt them in some way.
Nowadays, because people travel a lot, or go to live in a completely different country, or go to school with lots of people from different places, we should learn to respect each other's differences.
But sometimes these fears from the 'olden days' are sort of passed along in families, and a kid may find that he is being prejudiced against someone of a different race, even though he doesn't know that person.
If some people watch something on the news or in a movie which shows someone of a different race or culture doing something bad, then they may choose to think that all people of that race are bad people. How silly is that? There are good and bad people everywhere in the world.