genandstereosec3

Generalizations and Stereotypes

When studying any culture in depth we must consider the differences between generalizations and stereotypes.

Generalizations are statements that describe typical cultural traits of a group. Generalizations can be made about

Material culture, for example, women from a certain cultural group tend to wear certain styles of clothing,
Social structure, for example, in a certain culture, households usually include family members from three generations, and
Values or ideology, for example, members of a certain culture are likely to belong to a certain church.

Generalizations are natural occurrences in that people develop categories to help them relate to the people they meet and make sense of the environment around them. Generalizations allow people to make predictions about the traits and behavior of members of different cultural groups. However, all cultures allow for individual variation so each person from a culture is unlikely to possess all the generalized traits associated with that culture. Teachers must be prepared to have a language minority student in a class that does not conform in every respect to common generalizations about the cultural group to which the student belongs.

Stereotypes are exaggerated, defensive, rigid beliefs about members of an identified group. The most common consequence of stereotyping is prejudice -- rigid, unfavorable attitudes toward specific groups. Stereotyping interferes with genuine communication because the stereotyping person cannot interact effectively with a member of the stereotyped group who does not behave according to the stereotype.

The mechanism for stereotyping is to take observable cultural or physical differences and construct a set of undesirable behaviors associated with those differences. Those observable differences then evoke the entire stereotype.

The most important aspect of stereotyping is that people are described in terms of what they lack, and that lack is usually a reverse of dominant cultural values. For instance, the dominant culture values cleanliness, so a common stereotype is that a group has poor hygiene. Or the dominant culture values hard work, so the stereotyped group is seen as lazy. Dominant cultural norms are used as the basis for comparison, and the stereotyped group is seen as deficient in relation to valued cultural practices of the dominant group. This stereotype then often becomes the rationale for political and social domination.

Members of stereotyped groups are always affected by the stereotypes. Whether they conform to the stereotype or rebel against it, their behavior is always influenced by their awareness of its existence. Thus, stereotypes are real whether or not they are valid.

Note that even "positive" stereotypes may have negative impact, e.g., certain ethnic groups are good at math means that members of that group who are not good in math are frequently considered "deviant." And all members of the group feel pressure to be the highest performing math students in every class.


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