The Consequences Of Stereotypes

The first word that comes to our minds, when discussing this topic, is stereotypes. Stereotypes—its definition—are assumptions we make about an entire group based on observations of some members. We characterise and observations members of the group whether it really applies to them or not. Also, contrasting stereotypes and an understanding of the world, in human society, we must know why us, individuals, actually use them, no matter how prejudice it is. The range and variety of social and cultural interactions that define modern society have created numerous opportunities for learning and understanding the value and consequences of differences. At the same time, the opportunities for social discrimination and misunderstanding have increased

Banaji and her colleague, Anthony Greenwald, Ph.D., showed people a list of names—some famous, some not. The next day, the subjects returned to the lab and were shown a second list, which mixed names from the first list with new ones. Asked to identify which were famous, they picked out the Margaret Meads and the Miles Davises—but they also chose some of the names on the first list, which retained a lingering familiarity that they mistook for fame. (Psychologists call this the "famous overnight-effect.") By a margin of two-to-one, these suddenly "famous" people were male. Participants weren't aware that they preferred male names to female names. They were simply drawing on an unconscious stereotype of men as more important and influential than women. Something similar happened when she showed subjects a list of people who might be criminals: without knowing they were doing so, participants picked out an overwhelming number of African-American

This means that they are socially significant and reflect something about human traits and character. Stereotypes are often seen as negative in today’s world. However, they are helpful in guiding us and shaping our attitudes and behaviours toward other peoples, races, and cultures. They provide us with conscious awareness of differences and the need to understand that different norms and values exist regardless of our assumption of the common. In this way, we eventually learn to be anticipative in social interaction and communication and consciously seek to verify our beliefs regarding others. Stereotyping can be helpful to individuals approaching new cultures because it provides them with a refrained and restrained state of mind that potentially cautions and saves them from making social and cultural blunders. Moreover, stereotypes help us as individuals to organize our social experiences as it helps us to more meaningfully categorize and classify