Stereotype

A stereotype is a generalization or assumption about a group of people based on perceptions of the group's traits. Stereotypes can be positive (as in, "all members of Group X are smart and successful"), but are most often negative (as in, "all members of Race Y are lazy").

Regardless of the "positive" or "negative" nature of the stereotype, the problem with stereotyping is that it has the practical effect of forcing one's own perceptions of a group onto its members, who will not all share the trait being imputed to them. Negative stereotypes are obviously damaging. In the United States, stereotypes about the physical and mental weaknesses of women persisted until the 1970s and beyond, which found expression in law, and limited women from participating equally in certain professions. For example, women could not become lawyers until the 20th century. The damage from this stereotype is obvious. Positive stereotypes may also be damaging, in two ways. First, they "set the bar" high, allowing society to chastise a member of a group who fails to meet the high expectations society sets of him or her. Second, they serve as a rallying point for jealousy and hatred. The stereotype that Jews are all successful and wealthy underlay much of the violence and hatred that defined the Holocaust, and still defines anti-Semitism today.

Psychologists have shown that stereotypes nonetheless are helpful for human beings - it helps cut down on the information to be processed if the brain can make assumptions about a person upon first meeting, thus preserving processing power. As a result, stereotyping is unlikely to disappear. It can, however, be ensured that its legal effects disappear from the world.