Common Stereotypes In Society

Priscilla Dixon
S. Ragno
17 May 2016
Practical Writing T3
Stereotypes in Society: How do stereotypes affect a person’s opportunities in society?
Have you ever been a victim or perpetrator of a stereotype? “In social psychology, a stereotype is a thought that can be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things.at most times stereotypes are not true” (Psychological Review). Yet, in this society there are many people being discriminated because of stereotypes everyday. Stereotypes affect the society by limiting their job choices, not allowing them to express themselves, and by confining them into categories which can lower their self-esteem.
Even though it is not right to judge a person’s appearance when deciding
There are many stereotypes in society, “All black people are thugs and can only play basketball”. But what happens when a black person wants to break away from that stereotype that is defining him and wants to become a tennis player or a lawyer. Media affects the society by causing stereotypes, and enforcing them. On a TV show usually there is always a white blonde girl and she usually tends to be the dumber one, with no common sense. Then there is always a big black guy who is the aggressive one. Can’t forget the smart Asian. In reality it's not always like that (sometimes it’s the
Often times many people are extremely biased when making a decision. These decisions are often based on a preconceived bias. A series of studies were made to see whether or not that is true. Bodenhausen’s “results from the experiment show that stereotypes can affect both the judgment and memory of decision makers” (Biases that Blind). People can consult a category to identify response patterns. Categorization makes it easier to notice properties that are shared by all members of a group. People can readily describe object in a category because objects in the same category have distinct characteristics. Many people can take for granted the characteristics of a particular category because the category itself may be random. But stereotypes negatively affect judgment. A study by Pasupathi and Löckenhoff states,“There are a lot of ways in which negative stereotypes can have serious personal consequences on the way older adults are perceived and treated” (When I’m 64, 2002).. For instance, when people think of an elder, they automatically think memory loss, slowness, and frail. Because of all these negative thoughts, they can affect they way an elder thinks of