Stereotypes Exist Because They Are Grounded in Truth
Stereotypes Exist Because They Are Grounded In Truth
Has anyone ever said that ‘unicorns exist in real life and that they have seen them’? Or that they ‘felt hot while it was snowing’? Or that ‘cats can bark like dogs’? Clearly there is no truth to these statements. This is simply because unicorns do not exist in real life, you cannot feel hot if it is snowing, and that cats simply cannot bark like dogs. Life cannot exist without water, what goes up must come down, and similarly any statement which is accepted by thousands of other people must have some hint of truth to it. As Kanazawa says “Many stereotypes are empirical generalizations with a statistical basis and thus on average tends to be true. If they are not true, they would not be stereotypes" ("The Scientific Fundamentalist"). Although some people argue that stereotypes are just over generalizations, and that people use them to perceive the stereotyped groups’ characteristics, most stereotypes are true as what is generally accepted in society must be somehow grounded in reality. Moreover, many stereotypes have been proven by science, and conducted psychological studies such as stereotype threat.
People who believe that stereotypes are false, argue that stereotypes are just over generalizations. They argue that stereotypes represent just a small minority of the group being stereotyped against. They give the example of the stereotype that “all blondes are dumb.” And state that while some blondes may be dumb, not all of them are, in fact many are quite smart. They say that one 's hair color has no effect on ones intellectual capability. While this may be true for some of the stereotypes, many of the stereotypes actually represent the majority of the group being stereotyped. For example the stereotype that ‘college educated people have bigger incomes than those who have only completed high school’ is a valid assessment. Yes, this might be true in some cases. But as proven by the “The College Payoff” a
Has anyone ever said that ‘unicorns exist in real life and that they have seen them’? Or that they ‘felt hot while it was snowing’? Or that ‘cats can bark like dogs’? Clearly there is no truth to these statements. This is simply because unicorns do not exist in real life, you cannot feel hot if it is snowing, and that cats simply cannot bark like dogs. Life cannot exist without water, what goes up must come down, and similarly any statement which is accepted by thousands of other people must have some hint of truth to it. As Kanazawa says “Many stereotypes are empirical generalizations with a statistical basis and thus on average tends to be true. If they are not true, they would not be stereotypes" ("The Scientific Fundamentalist"). Although some people argue that stereotypes are just over generalizations, and that people use them to perceive the stereotyped groups’ characteristics, most stereotypes are true as what is generally accepted in society must be somehow grounded in reality. Moreover, many stereotypes have been proven by science, and conducted psychological studies such as stereotype threat.
People who believe that stereotypes are false, argue that stereotypes are just over generalizations. They argue that stereotypes represent just a small minority of the group being stereotyped against. They give the example of the stereotype that “all blondes are dumb.” And state that while some blondes may be dumb, not all of them are, in fact many are quite smart. They say that one 's hair color has no effect on ones intellectual capability. While this may be true for some of the stereotypes, many of the stereotypes actually represent the majority of the group being stereotyped. For example the stereotype that ‘college educated people have bigger incomes than those who have only completed high school’ is a valid assessment. Yes, this might be true in some cases. But as proven by the “The College Payoff” a
Cited: American Psychologist. 1997. Print. 52, 613-629.