What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is an assessment of an object or phenomenon that has been established for a long time, prevailing in the public consciousness and forming a biased attitude towards this object or phenomenon.
The tendency to create stereotypes and believe them is common to all people. It was formed in us evolutionarily, since the brain has always sought to save energy spent on mental activity. He simplifies the picture of the world, tries to make unfamiliar things understandable, explaining them with simple and familiar phenomena.
Stereotypes are a form of accumulated experience, ready-made thinking patterns that allow you to quickly draw conclusions and make decisions. Some of them are inherent in instincts at the genetic level (for example, the belief that you need to be wary of people with certain appearance features). But the main part of stereotypes is laid down during upbringing and in the process of communication.
Most existing stereotypes are irrelevant or meaningless. Instead of protecting us from potential dangers and aggressors, they noticeably distort reality, giving it a negative connotation.
Effects of stereotyping
The last impression effect often occurs with people we know well. According to this effect, the information we received last is the most important. This pattern also manifests itself in “interrupted” events, for example, when two messages are separated by a large period of time, the last message is remembered more clearly and vividly.
Despite the fact that the “last impression effect” is weaker than the previous law, it gives us a real chance to change our own image in the right direction. In this case, it is advisable to use the “time-out” technique - appearing in a new image after a certain absence.
The halo effect is the next stereotype-based mechanism involved in image formation. This phenomenon lies in the distorting influence of emotionally charged information. For example, when we receive very disturbing information about a person, such as a criminal record or misbehavior, we form a dominant negative attitude that underestimates the real strengths of that person. On the contrary, if any valuable quality is attributed to a person, then in the perception of other people they begin to completely identify themselves with this person. For example, the positive qualities of a person endowed with power or wealth are greatly overestimated. (Perhaps this is why rich men are so popular among young beauties).
The halo effect is closely related to such an element of image as reputation.
Another social pattern is called the recency effect. This phenomenon lies in the fact that everything new and unexpected, on the one hand, confuses us, and on the other, attracts more attention and is better remembered.
Another phenomenon, the social context effect, reminds us that a person is perceived as much more attractive in the presence of a positive group or positive events. “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are,” says the saying, which places strict demands on the choice of environment. We can only be as careful as is necessary to preserve our own reputation in this matter. Our attractiveness also increases significantly in the eyes of other people when we begin to surround ourselves with beautiful, aesthetic and spiritual things.
The boomerang effect reflects another well-known folk observation: “As comes around, so comes around.” People tend to treat others the way they treat themselves. If a person behaves kindly, paying attention and respect to the interlocutor and giving him compliments, he is likely to generate good feelings in return. The opposite is also true: the better we are treated, the stronger our desire to “be good.”
Repetition effect - what is repeated often is perceived as familiar, close and trustworthy. Everything new and too unfamiliar initially shocks and causes tension and resistance. The human tendency to experience repetitive ideas or actions is fundamental. Many people are conservative by nature. They worship the same gods, honor ancient traditions, teach their children to follow the behests of their ancestors and cherish family heirlooms. Most of us also live in captivity of individual habits.
The pattern under consideration underlies such a phenomenon as “typing”. Our consciousness retains some generalized patterns and uses them as a standard for comparison and evaluation. In terms of image, these are images of certain people or literary figures who have become recognizable social types. For example: Judas, Savior, Don Juan, Snow Queen, Napoleon, “bomb”, “new Russian” and so on.
All of the above effects of stereotyping are involved in the process of forming a person’s image. They are activated in conditions of information deficiency.
How did the term come about?
The word "stereotype" is borrowed from the Greek language and is translated as "hard imprint." Initially, this term was used to refer to a monolithic printing form (cliché), invented in the 18th century and significantly expanding the capabilities of printing. By analogy with the typographic stereotype, the thinking stereotype was also named, since it also represents a cliché.
In 1922, at the suggestion of the writer Walter Lippmann, the term “social stereotype” appeared. It implies a stable image related to a certain social group and attributed to all its representatives. Modern psychology, trying to explain what a stereotype is, calls this phenomenon a protective mechanism that allows the brain to simplify the surrounding reality and quickly make “safe” decisions.
American philosopher Hilary Putnam studied the peculiarities of communication between representatives of certain professions and identified certain features related to social stereotypes. This is how representatives of one profession communicate using professional jargon, using specific words, jokes and metaphors that are incomprehensible to representatives of other professions.
Summary
I think it became clear from the article that stereotypes are more dangerous than useful. I suggest we all carefully consider our own opinion on the main issues of life and determine whether it is really “ours”?
Or maybe this is not ours at all, but “public opinion” imposed on us? And maybe it’s even harmful to us? Maybe it’s enough to hold on to a “stable” job, endure an evil boss and a low salary, and finally decide and get out of your comfort zone and build your own business , create passive income , master financial literacy , start traveling , become a downshifter , lead a life in the slow life , write down your goals and dreams and do many more interesting and useful things. Useful for yourself, not for your employer!
I wish everyone to dream! I wish you inspiration and confidence in your abilities!
Alena Kraeva
SMARTBLOG
Where do stereotypes come from?
Stereotypes existed in the thinking of our ancestors long before the emergence of civilization. So the primitive man had an understanding that his big muscular brother was dangerous because he could take his food, clothes or woman. And today, tens of thousands of years later, this primitive stereotype is triggered when meeting a stranger of the same appearance.
The early people's tendency to be wary of strangers was justified. The good-natured and naive quickly died, so we are all descendants of those who fought back against strangers. And today, many people tend to look with caution at those who look different: have a different skin color, have dyed their hair a variegated color, or dare to get a tattoo. Other means dangerous! And the older a person is, the more afraid he is of people who seem strange to him.
Examples of common stereotypes
To better understand what a stereotype is, let's look at the most common examples. Almost all of them contradict reality (and each other), but are very common in modern society.
Money
Wealth is real happiness. A person who earns little is a priori unhappy. Every person must work hard to climb the career ladder to reach a high position. Otherwise he is a loser. Only by earning well can you build a strong family with your loved one. Without money, happiness is impossible.
Women
A woman should be weak and fragile. If a woman is strong (in character or physically), there is something wrong with her. The main thing for a woman is to be beautiful (beauty allows her to compensate for the lack of other qualities). Almost all women are frivolous and naive, but cunning enough to entice a man (by falling in love with him or becoming pregnant by him). Not getting married before 30 is a woman’s worst nightmare. You cannot build a happy romantic relationship with a divorced single mother.
Men
A man is strong and has no right to be weak. Everything a man does for a woman, he does for the sake of intimacy. In a family, decisions are made by the husband. All men drive a car, drink beer and watch football. A man who openly demonstrates feelings or weaknesses is a loser who will never be loved by a woman. If a man fulfills his wife’s request in front of his friends, he is henpecked.
Children
Children should please their parents and get good grades in school. If a child receives a bad grade, only he is to blame. If you punish him well, next time the score will be higher. If a child is not regularly punished, he will grow up to be a spoiled egoist.
Age
Teenagers always conflict with their parents. Young people are dissolute and do immoral things (adults know better what they should do). After turning 30, everyone experiences a midlife crisis. An elderly person should be gloomy and talk only about illnesses. If he is cheerful, it is better to stay away.
Template personality
At first I wanted to call her social. But society is not the only group that imposes stereotyped perceptions on its adherents. There can be any number of such groups, they can be of any size - from an entire country to a small family professing its own rules of life.
A person at the stage of stereotyped thinking is characterized by the belief that the world is an “ordinary” and generally more or less understandable phenomenon. The stereotyped personality does not trust new information that contradicts this “faith”, only because he believes that his worldview is the final reality. This illusion has already been discussed in the article “Development of Perception.”
A stereotyped personality does not really notice reality, because he is completely immersed in the world of his own dreams about life. This phenomenon is also called “identification with the mind.” The stereotyped personality is maximally identified with the mind, and almost does not distinguish between fantasy and reality. A stereotyped personality does not know what he really wants and confuses his aspirations with collective expectations.
And yet, a stereotyped person can navigate the social world well, because its “rules” are based precisely on conventional patterns, which a stereotyped person is inclined to follow without “unnecessary” questions. The topic of such illusions on progressman.ru is one of the main ones.
Most often, a stereotyped person is in constant tension because he lives contrary to his gut. Instead of conforming to his nature, a stereotyped personality tries with all his might to conform to collective templates. Moreover, it doesn’t matter whether it is a social group or some kind of sect, a stereotyped person does not hear himself either here or there, does not see his own path, and all the time tries to fit himself into the artificial standards of the collective worldview in order to correspond to other people’s ideals.
This happens because the stereotyped person is satisfied with his life when he feels approval from the group to which he belongs. The patterned personality believes in patterns because without them, life seems frighteningly unknown.
Pros and cons of stereotypical thinking
People who are accustomed to thinking in stereotypes can live a full life, even receiving certain benefits from this feature. The main advantages of stereotypical thinking include :
- quick decision making;
- less mental fatigue when analyzing information;
- joining a certain social group.
At the same time, the tendency to think in stereotypes imposes certain limitations. Its main disadvantages include :
- wrong decisions and wrong actions;
- excessive gullibility, inability to think critically;
- inability to analyze and draw conclusions independently;
- patterned thinking hinders development.
Stereotyped thinking has more disadvantages, so it is necessary to combat it by developing the ability to think critically and objectively analyze incoming information.
How to get rid of stereotypes?
The most effective way to combat stereotypes is to critically rethink them. If you notice a bias towards certain people, try to analyze where it came from and how justified it is. Such an analysis will allow you to quickly get rid of the main stereotypes associated with appearance, clothing, behavior and other features.
A textbook example of a stereotype is the statement “all blondes are stupid.” However, there are no scientific studies or statistics to support this bias. Start paying attention to the hair color of famous personalities, and you will find that among representatives of intellectual professions (lawyers, journalists, politicians, scientists) there are quite a lot of blondes.
