We have different thoughts and beliefs about a particular group of people, class or community. When one person from a city is a criminal, people think that his family or community are all criminals. A person’s behaviour makes a society to be respected or gets a bad name. The human mind always comes up with new thoughts about people we meet. Every group loves to be associated with good behaviour, and they will try to make a good impression on themselves. Some beliefs that we come up with are valid, while others are lies. Through our thoughts, the social world becomes simple as the amount of thinking is minimal upon meeting a new person. A Person has different abilities and characteristics. Thus, we assume every member of the community has the same qualities, for example, as sober as a judge. Stereotypes help us react quickly to different events, as we may have experienced them before. At times, we think about things about people that are not true, ignoring the fact that people are different from one another. We categorize people socially through our thinking, which leads to dislike of people, groups or communities.
Racial Stereotypes
There are different beliefs and thoughts in various races, cultures and ethnic groups. We view Jews as shrewd and mercenary, Japanese as sly, Negro as lazy and Americans as intelligent and industrious. Racial stereotypes give credit to the people who create them; on the other hand, other races are unimportant. Every ethnic group has racial beliefs regarding other communities or groups (Yip, 2016). Psychologists say it is normal for human beings to have certain opinions or thoughts about a particular group or community. Stereotypes are beneficial as they help various groups identify with one’s group, thus getting protection and promoting success and group safety. Racial stereotypes pass across generations, as some of them are recorded in literature books.
Stereotype Threat
A person may fear to do something that will confirm an adverse stereotype as true. Nobody wants to be associated with severe behaviour in their community that people believe to be true. Even if a person doesn’t believe in stereotypes, he or she knows it is a threat. It is normal for a person to fear what other people will think of him in an individual situation. Stereotype threat causes emotional distress and worries that, at times, may cause students to perform poorly. At times, students fear that society’s view and their group treatment will contribute negatively to their future. For example, students doing a test under stereotype threat are less likely to reread questions and recheck answers, thus performing poorly compared to students under no stereotype threat? (Helmreich, 2017).
If one person makes a mistake or behaves negatively, we should not term everyone in that group as evil. Everyone has a different personality, which is by how we view things. It is complicated to change how people believe or see a group or a community. We should try to motivate and support each other through positive stereotypes. We may have different skin colours, but we are equal in our creator’s eyes. Negative stereotypes make us isolate ourselves from a specific group of people, especially ones associated with witchcraft. Good people suffer emotionally and mentally when we see them as a threat. We should embrace our culture without worrying how other people will perceive us. Some thoughts and beliefs define and remind us of who we are, thus bringing a sense of pride to us. Beliefs tell us about our ancestors and our origin. We should try to change our negative behaviour to make a good name for ourselves and our community. We should not let our community or group stereotypes make us fail in our studies or lives.
References
Helmreich, W. (2017). The things they say behind your back: Stereotypes and the myths behind them. Routledge.
Yip, T. (2016). To be or not to be: How ethnic/racial stereotypes influence ethnic/racial disidentification and psychological mood. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(1), 38.a
