Article Contents

WHAT ARE THE STEREOTYPES?

In simple words, stereotypes are something that we come across daily but we don’t realize. In our day-to-day life, we divide peoples according to caste, weight, height, etc this is an example of stereotypes. The meaning of stereotype is a metal plate. Plates can be made by original mould.

In social psychology this world was firstly proposed by (Walter Lippmann, 1922) according to him “stereotype means Pictures of moods on the mind.”

The main psychologist was in favour of this definition but (Kimball young) found a defect of overlap in this definition and give his own definition regarding stereotypes and said

“strictly speaking a stereotype is a mental plate cast from a mold of the surface of type.”

Other psychologists like Lindgren, Stratton & Nicky Hayes give their different definition in favour of this context but the clearest and satisfying definition was given by (Secord and Backman 1974)

“Stereotyping is an exaggerated form of typification that has three characteristic people identify a category of a person according to certain attributes, people agree in attribute sets of traits or characteristics to the category of person and people attribute the characteristics to any person belonging to the category”

According to this definition, we find the four major things about stereotypes which are:-

The stereotype is an impression according to which people are classified as an exaggerated group.

Some modesty or features are decided by that group by which a person is known as a member of that group The features on modesty can be social, cultural, physical, etc.
An important note regarding stereotypes is in accusing modesty to some certain group there is the consent of people.
If a person is from the group it means that the modesty and features of the group will be present in him/her.

Is STEREOTYPE TRUE OR FALSE?

After all this, there is one more question that arises in our mind that is a stereotype based on truth or false? Regarding this problem (Secord & Backman) gave the definition that “Most stereotypes are undoubtedly gross exaggerations or are completely false”. According to this definition by (Secord & Backman) and many other social psychologists, there is more emphasis on its falsity. The reason behind this is that they believe just because the person is part of the group doesn’t mean that he or she has the same properties and features.

For example:- Just because someone belongs to a lower category/cast to consider him poor will be completely false.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STEREOTYPE AND PREJUDICE

Usually, people think that there is no difference between stereotypes and prejudice. They are the same but this is so wrong. In actuality, there is a fundamental difference between the social concept of prejudice and stereotype. The chances of changes in prejudice are higher than the chances of changes in stereotype, which means there is a stability in stereotype.

Nature of stereotypes

These are some specialities of stereotypes that are different from other concepts like prejudice.

A stereotype is a picture in head
The stereotype is agreed upon an impression
A stereotype is relatively stable
A stereotype is based on overgeneralization
Stereotype effect is both positive and negative
Stereotype helps in social interaction
A stereotype is both explicit and implicit

CAUSES OF STEREOTYPES

The stereotype is something that is learned by us. It is not present in us by birth; we learn it by some factors and determinants. Some of them are:-

personal experience= It is the base of stereotypes, which are only partial. When one kind of modesty or features are found in some persons in the group it is accused of all the people in the group.
Imitation= individuals learn many things by imitating their group members. Imitation is one of the most important factors of stereotypes
Tradition and Folkways= In every culture there are some Traditions and Folkways and every person in the group is responsible for protecting and pursuing it. and in this process, they have to accept the stereotype of the group.
Social learning= According to (Bandura) Because being an essential part of the personality is based on socialization. Directly or indirectly a person learns stereotypes prevalent in his society.
Social and cultural distance= in the absence of physical contact it’s impossible to get personal experience about that group and their culture that’s why the stereotypes of the group are accepted without any research.

HOW STEREOTYPING AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH OF INDIVIDUAL

According to the observation and studies, stereotypes affect our mental health in both positive and negative ways.

Starting with the positive effect of stereotypes on our mental health. According to the importance and function of stereotypes in positive affect, it has been divided into some parts which are:-

Stereotypes influence our perception:- In the culture of Hindu, The Ganga is known as the holy river just like that on the other hand in the culture of the Muslim mosque is known as a holy place for worship. So the perception between Hindu and Muslims regarding Ganga and mosque will be completely different. In this way, different stereotypes affect our perception.
Stereotypes influence our memory:- In a study by (zilling) we find that the female applicants remember the good modesty of female and male 2 and forget the negative modesty. By this, we come to know that individual remember those things which are according to the stereotypes because it gives them satisfaction and forgets the things which affect their ego.
Stereotypes help in making predictions:- there is a stereotype in our society that tribal servants are honest so when we see tribal servants we predict that they will be honest. In this way, stereotypes help in prediction.
Stereotypes help in making a judgment:- one of the importance of stereotypes is it helps in judgment making. In our society, there is a stereotype that Nepali servants are reliable so when we have two choices to choose from we will choose the reliable one.
It helps in adjustment:- If we know the stereotypes of the group or the person it helped us to adjust between them. doesn’t matter it is between person to person person to group or group to group.

Through the facts given above, we come to know about the positive effect of stereotype now coming to the negative effect of stereotype:-

Leads to mental duality:- Sometimes because of inconsistency between our assumption and reality It leads us to mental duality. For example –when we have a mission about some company and when we come across the reality that it sells Adulterated products then we have mental duality which can also cause physical dualities.
To be in danger:- Because of stereotypes sometimes we trust blindly which can be a reason for us to be in danger. For example:- according to the stereotype of our society that Nepali servants are reliable and faithful, A person goes for an excursion by giving all his household responsibilities to him. When he comes back he comes to know that he is being robbed by the Nepali servant.
Difficulty in social interaction:- According to the stereotype that Harijans are wretched and foolish, Brahmins and other higher castes stay away from interaction with their regions and lower caste. Because of that sometimes it causes erroneous action.
Difficulties in making Interpersonal relationships:- Because of stereotypes sometimes we are unable to make good interpersonal relationships. For example:- The stereotypes about Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims that Shia Muslims hate Sunni Muslims. It’s difficult for them to make good interpersonal relationships.

METHODS TO REDUCE STEREOTYPES

As we know that stereotype is learned so to make changes in stereotypes is possible. These changes can be directional and quantitative.these are the five measure methods by (Smith and Makki) which can help us to reduce stereotype

Intergroup contact