Negatives Of Stereotyping

Stereotyping can have a very negative impact on how we choose to see and communicate with others. Stereotyping is simply assuming or believing unfairly that all people with a particular characteristic are all the same. This can lead people to have a bias and even a lack of empathy when communicating with others. Stereotyping can also cause people to judge someone based on appearance and perceptions, before they have even met an individual. On the other hand, stereotypes can allow us to predict an individual’s behavior; a useful “trick” when it comes to communicating with other. Therefore, stereotyping can have both negative and positive drawbacks.
According to our text (page 221) stereotyping is assuming that all members of a group have similar

knowledge levels, behaviors, or beliefs simply because they belong to that group. In regards to communicating with others, this can become a major complication. The example given by the textbook: “you find out that the average age of your audience is 65, you might stereotype and assume that most of them know nothing about video games, when, in fact, many of them have either played them or observed family members doing so.” (page 221). In this situation, if you were to explain video games at an intermediate level, when the audience’s knowledges surpass that, it makes, you, the speak look unprofessional and unprepared. However, a speaker can reduce their chances of stereotyping their audience by acknowledging the diversity that might be present in their audience.