Stereotyping
We adopt generalized beliefs that members of a group will have certain characteristics, despite not having information about the individual.
That guy with the fancy mustache is a hipster. He probably has a vinyl collection.
Do the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to determine how biased you are towards stereotyping.
Psychology
Similar to Schemas, stereotypes involve a mental representation of how we expect a person will think and behave.
Someone’s mental schema for women may be that they’re caring, compassionate, and maternal; however, a stereotype would be that all women are examples of this schema.
Assuming all people are a certain way is not only wrong but insulting, especially if negative traits are incorporated into a schema and subsequent stereotype.
Are Stereotypes necessarily bad?
Before I took the psychology course, I would say no.
Having abstractions / assumptions about people, I argue, are needed. Humans use these every day.
Else, our brain would overheat from information overload.
But there’s a term for this: A schema. It is a mental framework or concept that organizes and interprets information.
It’s a cognitive shortcut we use to make sense of the world. For example, you might have a schema for what a “restaurant” is, which would include your ideas about what you might find there, such as tables, a menu, food, waitstaff, and so on. Schemas also apply to our perceptions of people, such as “women”, “men”, “children”, “elderly people”, etc.
Schema vs. Stereotype?
Schemas are a necessary and useful part of how we process information, stereotypes can be harmful because they oversimplify and generalize characteristic
Difference:
- Schemas are mental structures that guide our understanding of everything. They’re like blueprints for how we expect things to be. For instance, your schema for a bird might include “feathers,” “wings,” “can fly,” and “lays eggs.” This doesn’t mean every bird fits this schema exactly, but it’s a general understanding
- Stereotypes are when we apply a schema about a group of people to every individual in that group, often inaccurately. For instance, believing that “all women are nurturing” is a stereotype. It’s a problem because it takes the general idea (schema) and applies it to everyone in a group, even when it’s not true.
So, while both involve mental categorization, stereotypes are specifically about applying a generalized schema to all individuals in a group, which can lead to misunderstandings and bias.
It becomes a stereotype when you apply it to all groups without exception.
Is the distinction that schemas are merely used for pruning? If you apply it, then it’s a stereotype?