stereotypes

n. Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination are frequently used interchangeably in public discourse, and even in some social scientific scholarship. Furthermore, there is no universally agreed upon definition for any of these phenomena. Although this entry discusses the definition of stereotypes in more depth later, it is important to point out that, despite differences in definition, most social psychologists view stereotypes as beliefs, prejudice as an attitude or affect, and discrimination as some sort of behavior. Although related to one another, sometimes causally, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are also clearly distinguishable from one another. A stereotype is not the same as either prejudice or discrimination. It is a belief, not an attitude or behavior.

Furthermore, and perhaps even more surprisingly, there is little evidence strongly linking stereotypes to either prejudice or discrimination. A small number of studies have correlated stereotypes with prejudice, but those studies consistently find only a weak relation between them. Even less research has examined the relationship between stereotypes and discriminatory behavior. Although there is very little evidence that stereotypes cause discrimination (or vice versa), this is because little evidence has addressed this issue. It remains possible, therefore, that future research will show a powerful causeand-effect relationship between stereotypes and discrimination. It is also possible that there are specific conditions under which stereotypes are strongly related to prejudice and discrimination. If so, as of this writing, they have yet to be discovered.

Many laypeople and social scientists alike assume that stereotypes are inherently inaccurate. One of the most effective ways to dismiss a person's claim about a group (e.g., “They are [bad drivers, rich, smart, dumb, aggressive, etc.]”) is to declare, “That's just a stereotype.” To accuse someone of “stereotyping” is to accuse him or her of doing something bad, unjustified, unfair, and inaccurate. There are, however, serious problems inherent in defining stereotypes as inaccurate.

Stereotype should be defined in a neutral manner, one which does not provide a false and unjustified “resolution” of the accuracy issue by definition. A simple, broad, inclusive, pragmatic, and coherent definition is, Stereotypes are beliefs about groups. This allows for all sorts of possibilities not explicitly stated. Stereotypes may or may not be accurate and rational, be widely shared, be conscious, be rigid, exaggerate group differences, assume group differences are essential or biological, cause or reflect prejudice, cause biases and self-fulfilling prophecies. It is good that this definition does not specify these things. Rather than foreclosing answers to questions regarding the nature of stereotypes by definition, it leaves them open for empirical investigation.

Stereotypes are nothing more than people's beliefs about groups. They are much like other beliefs. Sometimes they are reasonable, rational, and useful and make a lot of sense. At other times, they are irrational and inaccurate and do not make much sense. Although stereotypes can and do lead to a wide range of biases in memory, judgment, and perception, in general, those biases tend to be quite modest. Nonetheless, research has identified conditions under which stereotypes do have some powerful effects, and it is under these conditions that stereotypes are most likely to play a significant role in prejudice and discrimination. – LJ