LibGuides: Stereotypes: Myths & Reality: Start Here

Use this guide to research cultural, racial, and national stereotypes and strategies to debunk myths of negative stereotypes.

About Stereotypes

Busting Myths around Racial, Cultural, and National Stereotypes:
Research, Deconstruct, Discuss and Educate

A stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people. A key disadvantage of stereotypes is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalizations). Stereotypes are [often] not even exaggerations of real differences: They are fictions.

Racial categorization reflects the process of placing people into distinct groups based on variation in phenotypic physical features of the face and body such as skin color, hair color and texture, eye shape, nose width, and lip fullness. Racial stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination reflect the human tendencies to conceptualize and value certain configurations of phenotypic features differently, and act on these thoughts and feelings in our interactions with members of racial categories. Source: Rethinking Racial Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination, APA.org

Image Source: NationalStereotype.com (blog)

Multi-Culturalism Stereotype Exercise
Provided by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Houston. It is intended to provide an engaging, hands-on activity that allows participants to gain a greater understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion topics.

Key Terms

bias
a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned: illegal bias against older job applicants
discrimination
treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: cultural, racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.
microaggressions
microaggressions are one outgrowth of implicit bias. Columbia University’s Derald Wing Sue defines this term as “prejudices that leak out in many interpersonal situations and decision points”; they are experienced as “slights, insults, indignities, and denigrating messages.”
implicit bias
unconscious biases about people that are contingent on how they talk and look. Such instant judgments, called implicit bias, involve automatically categorizing people according to cultural stereotypes;
nationalism
nationalism is the belief that a particular nation and its culture, people, and values are superior to those of other nations and thus that one's own nation will benefit from acting independently, rather then in coordination with other nations.
prejudice
an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. (i.e., pre-judgement)
sexism
attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles.
schema
a schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas can be useful because they allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information that is available in our environment. However, these mental frameworks also cause us to exclude pertinent information to focus instead only on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas. Schemas can contribute to stereotypes and make it difficult to retain new information that does not conform to our established ideas about the world.
stereotype
stereotypes are generalized beliefs about people based on their membership in a particular group. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, or occupation are common in many societies.

Predjudice & Discrimination: A Crash Course

"When stereotypical beliefs combine with prejudicial attitudes and emotions, like fear and hostility, they can drive the behavior we call discrimination." --Hank Green, Crash Course

Crash Course (2014, November 17). Prejudice and Discrimination [Video File]. https://youtu.be/7P0iP2Zm6a4

Crash Course (2014, November 3). Social Thinking [Video File]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6HLDV0T5Q8

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Stereotypes: Myths & Reality