Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

See Also

See Also:

Conflict;

Intergroup dynamics;

Multiculturalism;

Social behavior;

Social psychology;

Stereotypes.

Psychology & Behavioral Health

Prejudice and stereotyping

by Kimberly Ortiz

Type of Psychology: Cross-cultural; Clinical; Counseling; Social

Stereotyping is an immediate generalization regarding an individual or group which provides information about them. Prejudice refers to specifically negative judgments regarding a group of people.

Key Concepts

  • Covert/overt prejudice

  • Empirical generalizations

  • Generalizations

  • Prejudice

  • Stereotyping

Introduction

Stereotyping and prejudice are complex, and have caused widespread oppression and marginalization of many individuals and groups.

Stereotype

A stereotype is an inflexible overgeneralization about a group of people. The common thought is that stereotypes are negative perspectives put on people by others, generally the dominant group. However, this is often not the case. Stereotypes have been referred to by scientists and researchers as empirical generalizations. These are ideas supported by some evidence and then applied to all situations or people. More often than not, there is truth behind stereotypes. A simple example of this is saying that all men love watching sports. Do a lot of men enjoy watching sports? Sure, they do. Does this mean that all men enjoy watching sports? No, that is not true. So the stereotype that all men love watching sports excludes the men that do not like sports and may indirectly imply that women do not like watching sports. This example represents a stereotype that may not hurt or offend anyone, but it is an overgeneralization of an experience that has some truth behind it.

Benefits of Stereotyping

Although stereotypes have been assigned a negative connotation in our society, there are significant benefits to this process. Stereotyping is a way in which people are able to quickly assess and evaluate their situation. Stereotypes teach us how to interact with groups of people and how not to act. Because our brain does not have the ability to immediately process every piece of information at hand, we create groups, categories, and meaning associated with different people. There may be a stereotype that police officers are unapproachable. There may be truth behind this based on the duties of their jobs, again not meaning that this is true in all cases. However this stereotype may teach us that we do not approach police officers in a super casual manner or with any kind of suspicious behavior. The benefit of this stereotype is that it teaches us how to behave when interacting or approaching police officers. For example, it is usually not a good idea to rapidly approach a cop to pat him or her on the back or give a random hug. This stereotype is a quick way for brains to process how we should behave. Stereotyping has cognitive value as it helps to simplify our world. The problem arises when its limitations are not also incorporated into thought.

Risks of Stereotyping

There are also many disadvantages to stereotyping. As we quickly flip through our brain rolodex of information to pass judgment, we often overlook specifics and the importance of individuation. If we only follow our stereotypes of people and groups then we will miss out on getting to know individuals and broadening our perspective. Even if we believe that the stereotype highlights a positive trait about a group it can still be taken as offensive and frustrating such as all Asians are smart or all African Americans are great dancers. These stereotypes may sound like a positive thing; however they are overgeneralizations and it is impossible to assign the trait to every person in a group. This can be known as social categorization, thinking that all people in a group possess the same traits. Social categorization often stems from a privileged group creating meaning for the less privileged groups. When the dominant group in a society is able to define meaning for the underprivileged, this is often known as marginalization or oppression. Although there are some positive stereotypes, many are negative and hurtful.

Negative stereotypes often affect oppressed groups like racial minorities, women, low socioeconomic groups, overweight people, and people with homosexual orientation. Stereotypes can marginalize these groups and portray them as less than whom and what they are. For many years women have been considered not as smart or capable in the workplace as men. This hurtful stereotype materializes in real world disadvantages. Women are neither hired as often as men nor paid the same salary as men. Another negative stereotype is that racial minorities such as African Americans or Latinos may be more aggressive or violent than Caucasians. This racial stereotype has caused drastic differentials in arrest and incarceration rates for the same crimes.

Stereotypes can have a tremendous impact on oppressed groups. If police officers hold stereotypes that black men commit more crimes than white men, this will have a direct negative impact on the experiences and lives of black men. If women are told from a young age to aspire to homemaking or a non-education based job they may believe that they are not smart enough to pursue something different. Many women have been told by their families or communities to major in their M.R.S. degree in college. This stereotype that the value of women comes from being married is negative and hurtful.

These are examples of how stereotypes transfer from rapid judgments about others to having substantial influence on an entire group's position in society. There has been significant research focusing on racial stereotyping, asking people to assign personality traits and values to different racial groups. The findings have been catastrophic in the negative association of traits with minorities and positive traits assigned to the Caucasian dominant group. These stereotypes are so powerful that even people in the minority group have assigned negativity to their own group. One specifically powerful research experiment was done with very young children who were asked value questions about a black and white baby doll. Even the young black children choose the white doll when asked which one was prettier, smarter, or nicer. This example represents the sheer power negative stereotypes have in our society and how impactful they can be on the lives of entire groups.

Prejudice

The terms stereotyping and prejudice both involve prejudgments about others. Prejudice differs in that it is known as specifically negative thoughts and feelings toward a group whereas stereotyping by definition does not have to be a negative perspective. Prejudice takes another step where the negative judgments about a group of people often equate to oppressive and/or hurtful viewpoints and interactions. Prejudice can refer to internalized feelings about a group or can represent overt discrimination of a group. Similar to stereotyping, prejudice minimizes differences in groups and highlights the differences between them. For example, believing that all Latinos behave, act, eat, and live in the same way exaggerates the differences between Latinos and Caucasians. Some of the most common prejudices include racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ageism, and religious prejudice.

Overt Prejudice

Prejudice can be displayed in both overt and covert ways. Overt prejudice is clearly expressed discrimination toward a person or group. This happens when people partake in direct protests, hate crimes, or decisions based on negative feelings about a whole group. Examples include protests against African Americans' right to vote and groups picketing a gay wedding. The prejudice in these situations is very clearly stated and communicated. The person who is on the receiving end of this prejudice generally is aware of the negative perspective others may have. This overt form of prejudice has led to widespread oppression such as abuse, violence, and marginalization of entire groups. Challenging overt prejudice often takes the form of public or political debates and social justice movements.

Covert Prejudice

Covert prejudice refers to a form of discrimination that is not expressed in a straightforward manner. Instead of protests or fighting against equal rights, covert prejudice is a confusing and unclear manner of holding others down. Covert prejudice is more common in current society as overt prejudice was more acceptable when laws supported the discrimination. Covert prejudice is prevalent in modern day society and often the perpetrators are unaware of how their expressions or behaviors impact others. Covert prejudice may be a police officer pulling over an African American for speeding instead of the Caucasian driver who was also speeding. It could be a woman not being hired for a job or a gay couple being told that the hotel is full for the night. The victims in these actions may not have clear evidence that what they experienced was specifically prejudice, often leaving them feeling confused and hurt.

Managing stereotyping and prejudice

Both stereotyping and prejudices have long histories. They also have some benefits such as the safety provided by the ability to classify people and situations and the information about how to behave around different groups. There are also many risks of stereotyping including prejudice itself. When we categorize all groups of people, we run the risk of overgeneralizing and missing out on learning about individuals.

When attempting to combat prejudice and negative stereotyping it is important to educate yourself regarding where such beliefs come from and challenging overgeneralizations. It is important to know that not all people in one group are the same and the difference between groups may not be as large as expected. The way to explore these ideas of sameness and differentness is to open up to new people, experiences, and opportunities. The chance of stereotyping and prejudice decreases when people step outside their comfort zone and increase interactions with people from other groups.

Bibliography

1 

Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. This seminal source provides the background and context of understanding prejudice and how it plays out for different groups.

2 

Katz, D., & Braly, K. (1933). “Racial Stereotypes of One Hundred College Students”. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 280–290. This source specifically explores racial stereotypes and provides information on the views and stereotypes college students hold.

3 

Fiske, S. T. (2000). “Interdependence Reduces Prejudice and Stereotyping”. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination (115–135). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. This source explores differences between stereotypes and prejudice and ideas for reducing the negativity of prejudice.

4 

McLeod, S. A. (2008). Stereotypes. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html This source provides information on stereotypes, including the benefits and risks.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Ortiz, Kimberly. "Prejudice And Stereotyping." Psychology & Behavioral Health, edited by Paul Moglia, Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=PBH_0488.
APA 7th
Ortiz, K. (2015). Prejudice and stereotyping. In P. Moglia (Ed.), Psychology & Behavioral Health. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Ortiz, Kimberly. "Prejudice And Stereotyping." Edited by Paul Moglia. Psychology & Behavioral Health. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2015. Accessed September 17, 2025. online.salempress.com.