The Truth About Stereotypes
The Truth About Stereotypes
We are surrounded by stereotypes that affect the way we think and behave, often times without our realization we’re being affected by them (McClain, 2018). These stereotypes are depicted in the television shows we watch, the music we listen to, the institutions that structure our society, and the beliefs of those within our environments. Implicit bias can be described as the unrecognized or unconscious prejudices and stereotypes that shape our interactions with others (Meyers & Twenge, 2022). When our entire social circle and environments from birth prime us to believe certain things about other social groups, we tend to behave in subtle ways that show our bias without realizing it. These microaggressions are often unintentional but they still deliver a powerful message that serves to denigrate or marginalize others because of their group membership (Meyers & Twenge, 2022). They can be seen when a white woman clutches her purse a little tighter when walking past a Latino man, when a white person asks to touch ethnic hair to feel the difference, when a student assumes their peer of Asian descent will have the answers to all of the math equations, and many other small actions that seem harmless but cause feelings of unbelonging.
By acknowledging the implicit biases that exist in all of us, we can effectively begin shifting from an unconscious to a conscious perspective. If we use that conscious perspective to improve our thought processes, we can work to create a more inclusive society. However, if implicit biases are recognized on a conscious level and then acted upon as well, we begin to see things like deliberate racism and discrimination. These explicit biases effectively work to treat others unfairly and can even result in policies being created to promote systematic racism as well. Once implicit biases become explicit biases, they’re crossing the line from unintentional to deliberate and they’re more difficult to overcome. They result in inequalities and sometimes even atrocities in our societies.
Seeing as bias is a learned construct, we can effectively learn to overcome it. The first step to overcoming a bias is recognizing that it exists. It can be difficult to confront the darker parts of ourselves, but acknowledging the ways in which our environments have programmed us to think can help us in conquering the negative effects of stereotypes. The next step we can take is exposure. By allowing ourselves to interact with those that differ from us, we can humanize them more and see them as individuals rather than part of an overarching group. Lastly, we can work to see things from differing perspectives. By stepping outside of our personal ‘boxes’, we can explore ideas and concepts we otherwise wouldn’t have acknowledged. This can help us in understanding why others differ from us and help us to see that our difference stem from our upbringing rather than fundamental differences in our biology. In order to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society, we must acknowledge and work to overcome the restraints that implicit biases put on all of us.
Stereotype threat can be defined as the fear of conforming to a negative stereotype, and it affects people’s behavior when confronted with those situations (McClain, 2018). A person can be put at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their own social group when they feel a stereotype threat. For example, being told an assessment is tracking intellectual differences, or testing athletic ability can trigger stereotypes about intellect and athleticism respectively, thus altering the performance of those participating. Telling the people in a graduate class that their math assessment is tracking intellectual differences between women and men, made the women perform worse McClain, 2018). Their stereotype threat hindered their performance.
When a group suffers from a negative stereotype, the implications on their psychosocial well-being can include lowered self-esteem. Feeling that they’re expected to perform poorly can result in them actually performing poorly, which can cause their ego to take a hit. Further, since our brains are basically computers with limited operating space, filling that space with fuzz will hinder the ability of the ‘computer’ to perform (McClain, 2018). Stereotypes create anxiety which can be thought of like that fuzz that’s taking up room in our brains (McClain, 2018). Therefore, suffering from negative stereotypes can cause depression and anxiety in individuals as they feel they under perform.
Assuming that biases and stereotypes are defined by values, we can change our values to reduce our stereotype threats. By working to achieve a growth mindset, we can help to counteract stereotype threat (McClain, 2018). Stereotype threat provides us with the notion that we either do or do not have the ability to do certain things. Fostering a growth mindset instead tells us that we are capable of growth, learning, and mastering new things (McClain, 2018). Stereotypes are deeply embedded in our society, though, so it can be difficult to overcome them. If we can cultivate this growth mindset in ourselves, we can cultivate it in those around us as well, which may help to eliminate some of those lingering stereotypes in our societies.
Having a growth mindset can help us understand ourselves better. By accepting that we have much to learn, and we are always capable of growth, we are accepting that we as humans are imperfect. When we consider the ways in which we can grow, we can better understand the things that hold us back. Our implicit biases are unconscious and, often times, unrecognized. By having a growth mindset, we can help bring some of these unconscious thought processes to our attention which can help us improve on them.
Having a growth mindset can also help us to reduce stereotypical thinking. As we learn and understand more, we can be more conscious of the things we think that are stereotypical and likely untrue. Having a growth mindset allows us to become more open-minded and helps us to attribute our differences to our environments and upbringings rather than by our races, ethnicities, genders, or sexual orientations. By having this growth mindset, we can expand our thought processes to be more involved and less stereotypical.
Assuming that people can be influenced to change their minds, some practical strategies for shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset can include changing the ways we word things. Instead of saying things like, “I can’t do this” or “I’m just not good at that”; we can instead say things like “I can learn how to do anything” and “I can do anything I put my mind to”. By saying this about ourselves and encouraging other people in the same ways (“you can do anything you put your mind to”), we can help shift to a growth mindset. We can also help overcome a fixed mindset by viewing our “failures” as lessons. We didn’t fail at anything, we learned something from our setback and we’re eager to apply that knowledge the next time we try. Confidence, consistency, and persistence can help us cultivate a growth mindset in both ourselves and those around us.
Members of my university system can work to understand conflict theory to help promote diversity. Conflict theory states that the values and norms in the group represent the dominant, most powerful culture within the society (Meyers & Twenge, 2022). Understanding that those with the most representation have the greatest advantages can help my university to recognize the importance of diversity. By striving to diversify the population of the university, multiculturism would be more attainable. Defined as a policy that honors the diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds of various individuals and groups (Meyers & Twenge, 2022), multiculturism is beneficial to every student attending university. By understanding the conflict theory and striving to have non-dominant groups, my university can create a blending of values and norms that create understanding and empathy in the student body.
My university can also refer to the attribution theory to promote equity. By acknowledging that many people have the ability to infer traits in just 1/10th of a second, helps us to understand there may be some errors in how we spontaneously infer these traits (Meyers & Twenge, 2022). Fundamental attribution error occurs when we fail to assess the situation of individuals when assessing their traits (Meyers & Twenge, 2022). By understanding that our snap judgements can be incorrect, university members can work to consider other variables when trying to help students. Situations may be vastly different, and we need to consider each situation along with the individual when our goal is equity. It is important to understand that equity and equality are not the same thing. Equality ensures everyone receives the same tools, while equity ensures the outcomes people can achieve are the same- which may require different tools for different students. By understanding trait attribution, we can understand how to find out what tools each unique individual needs to succeed- thus creating an equitable environment.
To promote inclusivity, members of my university can implement realistic conflict theory. This theory says that isolation and competition make enemies out of strangers, but those same strangers can turn from enemies into friends simply by sharing a common goal (). Inclusivity goes beyond diversity by encouraging diverse populations to thrive; this is best achieved by promoting a sense of belonging (Martinez-Acosta & Favero, 2018). By giving the population of the university a common goal in which they all have to work together to achieve, the university can promote this sense of belonging and help turn strangers into friends. This is inclusivity at its best.
References
Aggression vs. Altruism: Crash Course Psychology #40. (2014, November 24). CrashCourse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoTx7Rt4dig
Martinez-Acosta, V.G. & Favero, C.B. (2018, September 15). Discussion of Diversity and Inclusivity at the Institutional Level. PubMed Central. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6153014/
McClain, R. (2018, December 11). Implicit Bias, Stereotype Threat, and Higher Education. TedX. https://www.ted.com/talks/russell_mcclain_implicit_bias_stereotype_threat_and_higher_education
Meyers, D., & Twenge, J. (2022). Social Psychology, 14th ed. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781260888522