(IC) Lesson Topic 6: Stereotypes

Categorizing or grouping people is a common, natural thing to do; people have a fundamental need to belong to a group because it gives a sense of order, direction, and connection to others. But this tendency means that human beings are naturally prone to divide the world into us-and-them categories. It's easy to make assumptions that the people in other groups—"them"—are both more alike than they actually are, and more different than they are from "us."

We thoughtlessly and effortlessly assign shared characteristics to people based on their belonging to a group, without really getting to know them. A stereotype is an oversimplified picture of a group or a person. When we make assumptions about a particular group, our assumptions are often influenced by these simple "pictures" in our heads— stereotypes. A stereotype emphasizes a person's group characteristics and overlooks a person's individual traits.

Examples of Stereotypes

These are stereotypes (and are false). Can you think of any others?

Stereotypes depend on how we think about groups. Consider the following questions:

• What makes up a group?
• What kinds of groups are there in our society?
• Who might join these groups?
• Are groups all voluntary or are we born into them?
• Who decides what makes up a group?

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