Do stereotypes serve any positive function?

Do stereotypes always have behavioral implications?

Do stereotypes always result in prejudice?

Are stereotypes under our conscious control?

Sometimes they are, especially if we consciously endorse a particular stereotype, but research with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) demonstrates that stereotypes are often unintentional, effortless, and automatic, which is to say that they are not under our conscious control. However, this should not be taken to imply that racial, ethnic, or other social stereotypes are unavoidable. Although people seem to have an innate need to place people (and objects) into categories, the categories themselves are not an essential part of the natural world. They are social creations that are a function of the cultural and political Zeitgeist, and as the Zeitgeist changes, so do the categories. As just one example, the multiple categories for classifying biracial people are no longer in vogue.

The connection between stereotypes and prejudice is probably not as strong as most people think. While it's true that stereotypes often pop into our minds automatically, as long as we have some awareness of the stereotypical thought, we can choose to either endorse it or reject it. We might reject stereotypes for all sorts of reasons, including having information that the stereotype is false or understanding that the reason it is true is because of social conditions (e.g., access to resources) rather than group membership. Whatever the reason, when we reject a stereotype, we also make a deliberate choice not to hold a prejudicial attitude. The problem is that we don't necessarily have a conscious awareness of all the stereotypical thoughts that pop up. It's this lack of awareness that can lead to unintended prejudice.

No, not always. Even when we consciously endorse stereotypes, our behavior may be inhibited by a variety of social factors, especially now that explicit racism is no longer publicly tolerated. And, as explained in the previous section, we can choose to reject the stereotypical thoughts that pop into our heads. However, we are more likely to act on our stereotypes when such action is within the social norms or when the situation is sufficiently ambiguous that it is not clear what the socially-appropriate action is.

Stereotypes are associated with a variety of different negative outcomes, but they also serve some useful functions. Primary among these is that they serve as heuristics in various decision-making contexts, and, in so doing, free up our thinking for other things. Yes, such heuristics can get us in trouble. But, to the extent that our understanding of group differences is accurate and we realize that group differences cannot be generalized to individual members, stereotypes can help us navigate our social environment.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11