Stereotyping In Society

Have you ever sat down and questioned whether if stereotyping is really an issue? Many of us don’t really even know what stereotyping really is or what it does to our society. According to the Dictionary stereotyping is a form of pre-judgment. Which is as prevalent in today’s society as it was thousands of years ago. Throughout generations its purpose has stayed the same. Stereotypes are a huge issue in today’s society, as it will be for future ones. It labels a person on how they should act or live according to their sex, race, personality, and other fact .Not only do they affect society but also the person who is being stereotyped against. It does this by depriving one’s true ability for change and freedom of expression. They have created a distortion of how everything and every individual should be. Stereotyping is bad for society because it leads to discrimination, which harms individuals, and makes a negative future for future generations.
Many people tend to argue that since we live in the twenty-century there isn’t any more discrimination or stereotyping. They claim to say times have changed and our

perspectives have evolved into more so of equality. Thanks to the article “Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at the seam between the centuries: evolution, culture, mind, and brain” by Fiske, Susan it is proven that they still exist in todays time. They conducted a study in which they review and study the history of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. Allowing us to see that there are motives behind everyone of theses. Which any of them can be for a sense of belonging, understanding, controlling, enhancing, and trusting. Once we allow ones self to be view as an item it allows us to degrade an individual, which is one the biggest reasons why stereotyping is still present in generations through out history.
The negatives effects that stereotyping causes in humans are many. Just a few of many of these negatives effects are harm, poor performance daily life and activities, and even possible health problems. According to the article “Long-term Effects of Stereotyping” published in psychcentral.com, Rick Nauert emphasizes how a person can be affected by stereotypes even after being exposed to them. He formed his arguments from a study from of the University of Toronto that shows how people get hurt because of stereotypes, and how it could affect their performance in different task. “People are more likely to be aggressive after they’ve faced prejudice in a given situation. “They are more likely to exhibit a lack of self-control. They have trouble making right and rational decisions. And they are more likely to over-indulge on unhealthy foods” says Michael Inzlicht, who led the research. Not only do they affect the individual psychology but emotionally. What benefits do we as a society receive from being in a world with people are unstable to function? If you ask anyone no one would want that nor benefit from the situation. This conclusion demonstrates the severity of damage stereotyping can cause a person.
We are also lead to believe that which age comes knowledge and with that we start caring less what is thought on one’s self. According to the article “Placating The Powerless: Effects Of Legitimate And Illegitimate Explanation On Affect, Memory, And Stereotyping.” it was proven that no matter the age of an individual they affect and harm on a person are the same. In this study, which was conducted by Hunker College in New York it assed the power of power on an individual. The participants were assigned to one of four experimental conditions no power differences, no explanation, illegitimate explanation, and legitimate explanation. In the “No Power Differences” condition, no mention was made of a power difference between the in-group and the out-group. In the “No Explanation” condition, research participants learned of a power difference favoring the out-group, but they were provided with no rationale for this difference. In the “Illegitimate Explanation” condition, the power difference was explained in terms of friendship and social connections, which were judged in pretesting to be illegitimate reasons for achieving power. In the “Legitimate Explanation” condition, participants were informed that the out-group was placed in a position of power because of their greater experience and expertise. Following the study the participants were asked to rate their own positive and negative affect. This study doesn’t only allow us as humans to realize that the whole ideal of when we get older we don’t care nor does it affect us is utterly wrong but that stereo types have a huge affect on all ages, genders, and groups of people.
It is likely to believe that good stereotypes are not bad, since they are like in a sense complementing the individual(s). In reality not only are bad stereotypes an issue but also good stereotypes. Good stereotypes can also be harmful and can arise new problems that we as human beings can’t image to think about. They cause more harm and damage due to the fact that we as humans are blind to the fact that we are stereotyping. In the article “Why stereotypes are bad even when they’re ‘good’”, published in the website guardian.co.uk, Oliver Burkeman describes how good stereotypes can arise problems such as sexism and racism and are harmful. Burkeman based his conclusion from a study conducted by Duke University. The study concluded that even so positive stereotypes could be harmful in different situations, without people realizing they are doing so. In the study the participants were exposed to fake articles related to African Americans. The first article was positive and showed that African Americans are significantly better at sports. In this first article the participants were unaware that there were even stereotypes within it. In the second article participants were exposed to a negative article about African Americans being more prone to commit violence. “When asked to estimate the probability that a hypothetical series of people with typically African-American names might commit a crime, people exposed to the positive stereotype rated that possibility as higher than did those exposed to a negative one. The positive stereotype (“good at athletics”) apparently led to stronger negative beliefs about black people than the negative one (“prone to violence”)” (Burkeman). The study demonstrates how no matter which type of stereotype good or bad they are equally harmful and causes prejudgment that which then leads to bigger issues.
How is that stereotyping arises issues?

It arises issues because we tend to take value away from humans and allow ourselves to see them as just items. According to they essay” The Language of Prejudice” by Gordon Allport he describes why the usage of nouns are usually not a good way to describe people. They aren’t right because a “noun” abstracts from a concrete reality some one feature and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature,” (Allport, 218). He explains why we group people in different categories give each other names as easy way recognition of a certain group. Although we may see no harm in the labels we give each other are nouns that can be racist, stereotypical and demeaning. In result of the nouns we use they cause us classify and overlook all other features of a person making them seem incapable and

feeble-minded.
Stereotypes create a sense of misconception about people, culture, religion, country, or where they may live. This misconception leads to bigger issue. The bigger issue which is discrimination. Discrimination is a one of the highest issue in our multicultural society. In the talk “The danger of a single story”, published in TED.com, Chimamanda Adichie demonstrates that knowing a single story of a person or a country can lead to misunderstanding, misconceptions that create stereotypes. She allows her own personal story about when she first arrived to the US to study as an example. She tells us about a woman felt sorry about her because she came from Africa, and even asks her if she could listen her tribal music. Chimamanda then explains how she felt struck by the situation because she is member of a middle class family in Nigeria and she doesn’t listen to tribal music “Now, what if my roommate knew about my friend Fumi Onda, a fearless woman who hosts a TV show in Lagos, and is determined to tell the stories that we prefer to forget? What if my roommate knew about the heart procedure that was performed in the Lagos hospital last week? What if my roommate knew about contemporary Nigerian music, talented people singing in English and Pidgin, and Igbo and Yoruba and Ijo, mixing influences from Jay-Z to Fela to Bob Marley to their grandfathers. What if my roommate knew about the female lawyer who recently went to court in Nigeria to challenge a ridiculous law that required women to get their husband’s consent before renewing their passports? “(Adichie). What if we allow one another see other countries, cultures, or religions not only for what we belief, but also other stories that could change our perception. Her story doesn’t only allow us to see how greatly people are influenced by a single stereotype but are also unaware of many other facts that can change ones perception of them, which then in result of stereotyping it leads to discrimination.
Stereotyping in this generation allows for our younger generations to be harmed. These issues don’t only harm the environment in which they grow up but also harm them. Stereotyping affect children in many different ways. They are able to cause harm upon a human from as soon of early ages. This issue creates confusion in kids because they are growing up thinking that they should be one way because society thinks that’s the ideal. Stereotypes also create false ideas of how they should interact with other individuals and in there daily lives. Many of theses false beliefs come from the outside world. We need teach our younger generations to value one other for what they are, not what they appear to be, to respect each other regardless of sex, sexual orientation, race, culture, religion, personality, etc. We should show them the importance of these values because they are our future society and hold the true ability for change in the palm of their hands.
Stereotypes aren’t only wrong and hurtful but deprive one from the whole ability of the American dream. No matter which kind of stereotype they are harmful and wrong and they cause prejudgment. Most importantly teach our younger generations to respect each other regardless of their differences and ideals of society, cause in the end they hold the true ability of a new un-stereotypical world in the palm of there hands. We have the ability of creating a better world; all we need is to change.