Appendix B

Appendix B

Part I

Define the following terms:

Term
Definition
Stereotypes
A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Prejudice
Preconceived opinion not based on any reason or experience often times hateful towards a specific group regarding race, religion, or national group

Labeling theory
Labeling theory says that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms.

Part II

Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each:

Race
Ethnicity
Religion
Gender
Sexual orientation
Age
Disability

Category
Stereotype 1
Stereotype 2
Stereotype 3
Sexual Orientation
Gay people have a keen fashion sense.
Gay men talk with a lisp and more often than not try to talk as a girl would.
All gay men are involved in the performing arts and listen to show tunes or theater.
Gender
Females are supposed to marry and have children while being nurturing and still making time to be sexy.
Men are the financial provider.
Men are more often perceived as being “players” than women. Women are more often seen in mass media as pursuing the fairy tale relationship. Men are perceived as being the “dog” and just wanting to have sex.
Ethnicity
Chinese people are very disciplined and good at math.
Jewish people are penny pinchers because they are greedy and nit picky.
Native Americans are an inferior race meant to be wiped out or taken over because they are “savages”.

Part III

Answer each question in 100 to 150 words related to those stereotypes:

What are the positive aspects of the stereotypes, if any? The positive aspects of stereotyping come in forms of persuasion. Stereotyping is bad in any case. It is powerful enough to overwhelm many of our other traits therefore limiting our capabilities. However, we can use this to our advantage by positive reinforcement of stereotyping. It's psychology's way of putting a political spin on the process of stereotyping to help people succeed. As a person is only as good as they expect to be, by adding a positive spin on stereotyping there remains the ability to change the scope in a self assuring confident way that will not hinder the person by limiting their capacity.

What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? People perform poorly in a situation where they feel they are being stereotyped. However, negative aspects of stereotyping can have long term effects on people as well. It can result in increased aggression, over eating, inability to focus, and make it increasingly difficult for them to make rational decisions. It is hard to determine how long the coping of a situation in which the person was stereotyped lingers, but it is sure that it has a lasting effect on the person. In situations where people feel they have been stereotyped they may react in a hostile manner leaving a very real negative effect on their ability to make rational decisions.

Answer each question in 150 to 250 words related to those stereotypes:

What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences.

A stereotype is a generalization about a person or group of persons that we develop when we are unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to make a fair judgment about people. An example of this would be walking late at night towards a senior citizen with a cane and long fur coat as opposed to a middle aged African American male wearing the same thing. Another example is how pretty girls are unintelligent and sexually promiscuous.

Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion formed against a person or group based on a stereotype. For example, the reason you felt uncomfortable walking towards the middle aged African American male in the late night is that mass media stereotypes them as “pimps”. They are alleged to be dangerous and possessive. This feeling was based off of the stereotype of the man that was formed solely on his outfit, gender, age, and race.

What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice?

The relationship is that stereotyping forms first. It is something that is categorized based on an idea or image about a certain group of people because we are unwilling to learn about them. It is based more off of ignorance in the aspect that usually participants are unwilling to educate themselves and therefore their own biased opinions are formed. However these opinions are both incorrect usually and uneducated limiting the capacity in which a person's mind can be open to new people and experiences. Then from that we form a negative outlook on a certain group of people based solely on the stereotype that we have formulated in our minds. This negative feeling that we form from our own delusional stereotypes is the prejudice. Without stereotyping it would be hard to be prejudice because then the negative feelings would be based on our own personal experience and information. It is the limitations we place on our capacity to keep an open mind that help lead to both stereotyping and prejudice.

What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring?

Keeping an open-mind and becoming educated can really help to prevent any kind of prejudice. It is important to know the different types of stereotypes and how to counteract them. By keeping an open mind and becoming educated about why they are stereotyped in the way that they are maybe it can help shed some light on what kind of people the specified groups really are. Then by process of elimination new ideas are formed that are not uneducated and are based solely on your own research. Add in life experience to education and it adds an invaluable variable of being able to judge people based on an individual stature rather than that of a presumed group opinion. However it is important not to limit the information you receive. One person does not make or break a group of people, nor does he define them. It is important to remember these things when you meet new people or formulate opinions about a person based on what you know about the specific person themselves. One should not harbor ill feelings towards an entire group of people for something one person did specifically. A dog might bite you once, but does that mean that you necessarily hate all dogs? This is a great way to look at it in my opinion. It brings real perspective to the subject and can really help open some eyes to how serious prejudice is.