Social Categorization

Social Categorization

Humans are very efficient creatures and we use many tools to compress,

utilize, and retain information. One of the tools that we use is

termed social categorization. Social categorization describes a kind

organization used by people to remember social interactions. By

thinking of people as members of a group rather than as individuals

one can simplify and recall information quickly. As social creatures,

humans come in contact with many people of different colors, shapes,

sizes, and genders so this categorization, to some degree, is useful.

However, it also creates several social problems including, but not

limited to: discrimination, prejudice, racism, and stereotyping.

Social Categories, regardless of their negative aspects, serve a

purpose. They are efficient. Imagine having to sift through a pile of

papers, with no kind of order, to find one specific page of notes. How

hard would that be? It is much better to have the papers organized so

one can find what one is looking for easily (Blaine 15). In several

studies subjects were asked to process traits of a made-up person

while performing an unrelated cognitive task like listening to a

lecture. Some of the subjects were primed with a category (priming is

a procedure where word is flashed rapidly on a computer screen and a

person can't consciously comprehend it). The results showed that the

people who were primed did significantly better on the post-test than

those who were not. This demonstrates that categorizing is not a

cognitive (conscious) behavior; it simply helps us conserve resources

for other cognitive activities, such as memory and attention. Thinking

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...tegories that are applicable are not used (Blaine 18).

Social categories are culturally important to humans because it

organizes our perceptions. Our culture is what tells us how to

perceive the world and the people in it. Every culture has certain

distinctions or categories that are important to them. Hasidic Jews,

for example, are likely to categorize others according to their

religion as well as gender (two important values in this culture).

Many societies (including ours) are against interracial marriages due

to this cultural importance (Blaine 19).

In closing, we select social categories for several reasons. Those

reasons: noticeable physical characteristics, frequent use, and

cultural importance. Categories are meant to utilize our cognitive

ability and keep social information organized and readily available.