Cognitive schemas can result in stereotypes and contribute to prejudice.
Stereotypes
Stereotypes are beliefs about people based on their
membership in a particular group. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or
neutral. Stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, or occupation are common in
many societies.
Examples: People may stereotype women as nurturing or used car
salespeople as dishonest.
The Stability of Stereotypes
Stereotypes are not easily changed, for the following reasons:
- When people encounter instances that disconfirm their stereotypes
of a particular group, they tend to assume that those instances are
atypical subtypes of the group.
Example: Ben stereotypes gay men as being unathletic. When
he meets Al, an athletic gay man, he assumes that Al is not
a typical representative of gay people.
- People’s perceptions are influenced by their
expectations.
Example: Liz has a stereotype of elderly people as mentally
unstable. When she sees an elderly woman sitting on a park
bench alone, talking out loud, she thinks that the woman is
talking to herself because she is unstable. Liz fails to
notice that the woman is actually talking on a cell
phone.
