Personal Stereotypes Essay

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I am writing to discuss my results from the Stereotypes Questionnaire. My combined score totaled 24. I believe I have a tendency to believe that when healthy people aren’t working they are being lazy, even though I know that is not always the case. I know that it is not easy finding a job. Unfortunately, applicants are not only turned down by their qualifications, or lack thereof. A lot of times, discrimination plays a part in why some job seekers are turned away and not given a chance.

We can be so one sided in our thinking that we can perceive things that aren’t always there. We all can be persuaded to believe what we see in the media and other outlets. Some are even taught to be prejudiced. To avoid this, we must get out and experience …show more content…

I also believe that our stereotypes are shared. I would like to believe the majority of us don’t though. I definitely do not view alternative responses as uncommon. I try to avoid negative stereotyping others as much as possible. I think it’s great to see people who don’t allow themselves to feed into negative stereotypes.

Although I know this happens frequently, I don’t really agree with stereotypes being self-fulfilling. If you go into a situation with your mind made up about an individual, you won’t be able to see things objectively. I personally would never dismiss individuals who do not match a stereotype as exceptions to the rule. I think it is a mistake to go through life believing all people of a particular race or culture will act the same.

A lot of us are guilty of letting our stereotypes operate without our conscious awareness. I think I have gotten better over the years of sensing when this happens but it is nearly impossible to completely guard against. I think a lot of people try to justify their stereotypes to a certain extent. I think some look to develop a rationale to make themselves feel better about their own prejudices. We shouldn’t assume that just because some individuals of a group may do one thing, that everyone in that group does it

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