According to the Intercultural Communication textbook by James W. Neuliep a stereotype is usually negative but sometimes positive perceptions we have of individuals based on their membership in groups. Stereotypes are used with different types of people that often are seen as a type of definition for a certain person or group. In the Mexican culture there are a lot of stereotypes, the main one that is seen mostly on media such as television shows and movies are when there is a gardener whose name is often Juan or Jose or a maid named Maria. There also other stereotypes such as Mexicans having large families or in the U.S. in which they are often assumed to be illegal immigrants due to the fact that they aren’t fluent in English. On the other hand, the textbook also describes ethnocentrism which is the tendency to place one’s own group in a position of centrality and highest worth, while creating negative attitudes and behaviors toward other groups. …show more content…
To some extent I don’t think ethnocentrism is caused on purpose in the way that a person from Mexican culture can believe that their traditions, way of living and so on are the only right way to live—which is often caused by the way they were born. But when a person is obnoxious and rude about their way of thinking and use it in a way to bring other cultures and groups down then that is when it crosses the line of an unconscious to conscious way of thinking. An example used in class included someone from a certain cultural group going to a mechanic shop and getting their car checked from a person of the same cultural group rather than someone who is of a different cultural group, not necessarily because they don’t like the other cultural group but rather because that person thinks their cultural group is better than anyone