A given social stereotype may or may not have much basis in fact. Stereotypes can sometimes be a relatively value-neutral categorization of behavior as in the view that most parents have a tendency to nag their children. The term 'stereotype' derives from the printing process and refers to a plate made by taking a cast or mold of a surface. A stereotype then is anything which lacks individual marks or identifiers. In sociology the stereotype is always a social construction of reality which may have some basis in reality but is a gross generalization like the female stereotype who like romance novels. To stereotype is to apply these casts, or gross generalization, to people or situations rather than seeing the individual variation.
Stereotypes are ideas that some individuals hold about members of particular groups, based solely on membership in that group. Stereotypes form in order to explain aspects of social groups and in particular to explain relationships between groups. When unjustified stereotypes are applied to groups, the result is often negative. Negative stereotyping is the main feature in prejudice, as in racism and sexism. Stereotype threat refers to being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group (Steele & Aronson, 1995).
Stereotype threat and the intellectual test
performance of African Americans - Steele CM, Aronson J.
Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative
stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black
participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance
was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of
fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively
activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to
it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could
impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of
stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized
groups is discussed.
Stereotypes as Explanations : The Formation of Meaningful Beliefs about Social Groups - Craig McGarty, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt, Russell Spears. Stereotyping is one of the most important issues in social psychology, but little is known about how and why stereotypes form. This book explores the process of stereotype formation; the way people develop impressions and view social groups. The authors of this study propose that stereotypes form to explain aspects of social groups. Stereotyping is one of the biggest single issues in social psychology, but relatively little is known about how and why stereotypes form. Conventional approaches to stereotyping assume that stereotypes are based on erroneous and distorted processes.
Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling -
Kelly Welch.
The racial stereotyping of criminals has been an enduring and unfortunate feature of
American culture. However, following the civil rights movement, the linkage between Blacks
and crime was galvanized. The stereotyping of Blacks as criminals is so pervasive
throughout society that "criminal predator" is used as a euphemism for
"young Black male." This common stereotype has erroneously served as a subtle
rationale for the unofficial policy and practice of racial profiling by criminal justice
practitioners. This article details the theoretical elements contributing to the
development of Black criminal typification to understand how this has been used to justify
racial profiling.
Developing a New Gender Roles Stereotype Index for Television Advertising: Coding Stereotypical and Reverse-Stereotypical Portrayals. Kim, Kwangok. and Lowry, Dennis.
Abstract: The mass media continue to reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Few studies have conducted content analyses that effectively measure stereotypes in advertising other than using nominal level data.
This study was designed to develop a new Stereotype Index, measuring at the ordinal level the extent to which an advertisement uses stereotypical images. Each advertisement received positive points for the use of stereotypes and negative points for the use of reverse- stereotypes in its content based on the Stereotype Index.
The new Stereotype Index enables researchers to make precise statistical comparisons among studies cross-culturally and longitudinally, something not possible before. Since science often is advanced by detecting and reporting changes in variables, not just static scores, this is an important contribution of the new Stereotype Index.