Essays on Stereotypes

In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group.

Common types of stereotypes include gender, race, sexual, social-class, (dis)ability, age, nationality, political, and religious stereotypes. Also there are explicit (refers to stereotypes that one is aware that one holds) and implicit (those that lay on individuals' subconsciousness) stereotypes.

Correspondence bias, illusory correlation, common environment, socialization and upbringing, intergroup relations.

Attributional ambiguity, stereotype threat, self-fulfilling prophecy, discrimination and prejudice, self-stereotyping, substitute for observations.

Research shows that children have definite stereotypes about women, ethnicities, and other social groups by age 5.
Some people use stereotypes to feel better about themselves.
Stereotypes are shaped by social context and reflect cultural beliefs.
Individuals who do not “fit” a prescriptive stereotype often suffer backlash.