sazzy
Member
Topic: Stereotypes exist because they tend to be true
Disclaimers:
-Before participating, please notice the careful choice of words in the topic.
-The topic is NOT "All stereotypes are true".
-The topic is NOT "All stereotypes are false".
-Please do not post useless statements like "This will end well" etc.
-Please don't post anything that could jeopardize your NeoGAF account.
-Everything in this post is my opinion. I am not an expert in human behavior.
TL;DR:
So, on to the topic.
To start off, I'll list examples of three pervasive stereotypes, so we can discuss the topic in the context of these three. Whether you believe them to be true is up to you.
1. Women are bad drivers (or something similar).
2. Black people are bad tippers (or something similar).
3. Gay people are promiscuous (or something similar).
A few things to point out about stereotypes:
1. Targets are populations which are either minorities (blacks, gays) or perceived to be weaker in some area (women drivers).
2. Contentious stereotypes tend to be those which paint the population in a negative light e.g. "Chinese people are good at math" - no one would have a problem with that though it may or may not be true.
3. Generally arise out of personal experiences (or lack thereof). Have you come across a bad female driver? Or a bad black tipper? Or a promiscuous gay person? Personally, I have for all three. But I'm inconclusive on the veracity of these stereotypes, because I've also come across cases where the opposite is true.
4. Limited observance/selective memory/limited recall ability. All these three things can explain why people who hold certain stereotypes are adamant that they are true. If you hold a certain belief to be true, you are more likely to observe things which reinforce that belief.
One Little Caveat
How do we define a "bad driver"? Or a "bad tipper"? Or a "promiscuous person"? Normally, this would be a debate in and of itself, but "What is a bad driver?" is not the question posed by this thread. Fortunately, for the purpose of this discussion we can qualitatively define these as:
Bad Tipper - who tips x% less than average;
Bad Driver - who scores y% less than average on a make-believe "Driving Skill Assessment";
Promiscuous person - who has z% more sexual partners than average.
Conclusion
So, what do you guys think?
-Do stereotypes exist because they tend to be true?
-At point would you say, "Hey, x% of people in this group fit this stereotype so its true." 20%? 50%? 99%? Never?
Disclaimers:
-Before participating, please notice the careful choice of words in the topic.
-The topic is NOT "All stereotypes are true".
-The topic is NOT "All stereotypes are false".
-Please do not post useless statements like "This will end well" etc.
-Please don't post anything that could jeopardize your NeoGAF account.
-Everything in this post is my opinion. I am not an expert in human behavior.
TL;DR:
So, on to the topic.
To start off, I'll list examples of three pervasive stereotypes, so we can discuss the topic in the context of these three. Whether you believe them to be true is up to you.
1. Women are bad drivers (or something similar).
2. Black people are bad tippers (or something similar).
3. Gay people are promiscuous (or something similar).
A few things to point out about stereotypes:
1. Targets are populations which are either minorities (blacks, gays) or perceived to be weaker in some area (women drivers).
2. Contentious stereotypes tend to be those which paint the population in a negative light e.g. "Chinese people are good at math" - no one would have a problem with that though it may or may not be true.
3. Generally arise out of personal experiences (or lack thereof). Have you come across a bad female driver? Or a bad black tipper? Or a promiscuous gay person? Personally, I have for all three. But I'm inconclusive on the veracity of these stereotypes, because I've also come across cases where the opposite is true.
4. Limited observance/selective memory/limited recall ability. All these three things can explain why people who hold certain stereotypes are adamant that they are true. If you hold a certain belief to be true, you are more likely to observe things which reinforce that belief.
One Little Caveat
How do we define a "bad driver"? Or a "bad tipper"? Or a "promiscuous person"? Normally, this would be a debate in and of itself, but "What is a bad driver?" is not the question posed by this thread. Fortunately, for the purpose of this discussion we can qualitatively define these as:
Bad Tipper - who tips x% less than average;
Bad Driver - who scores y% less than average on a make-believe "Driving Skill Assessment";
Promiscuous person - who has z% more sexual partners than average.
Conclusion
So, what do you guys think?
-Do stereotypes exist because they tend to be true?
-At point would you say, "Hey, x% of people in this group fit this stereotype so its true." 20%? 50%? 99%? Never?
