Are some sterotypes true?

Question

I think some are! How bout you? Which ones?

how is his abuse? this is a serious question.

and i don't mean just what people wear.

Answer 1

some are accurate for a large part of a certain race, but none can be true, cuz stereotypes are used to describe the enitire race, and theres not one entire race on the planet that are all the same

and goths wearin black isnt a sterotype, thats like sayin homosexuals like ppl from the same sex is a stereotype

Answer 2

stereotypes are often based in fact to a degree which is how they start - this has been shown through psychological research. But it's how we apply these that's the problem because it means we get stuck on an idea and judge an entire group based on it. For example, "asians are quiet and study a lot". Ok cultural reasons may account for these characteristics and you can probably think of someone who fits the stereotype but by the nature of the stereoptype you forget all those other asian people who disconfirm your belief and thus you're left with this really strong stereotype (which you can support with evidence) and don't compute the diversity in that group.

Answer 3

That's a great question!

Seems to me that stereotypes are merely generalizations. As such, they can be valid or not. What bothers most people, is when one applies a stereotype to judge an individual. Of course you can only make a guess about an individual based on a stereotype, and you have to recognize it's only a guess.

Would you consider statistics to be stereotypes? If you take 1000 white males, come up with an average height, and compare it to the overall height of males in the world... you could say that white males are tall, or short.... is that a stereotype? If it is, it certainly is a valid one.

Now, to build our every-day opinions, we don't conduct scientific testing on representative samples! We just work with the experiences in our lifes. We come up with observations and generalizations. All the time! It is a normal way of functionning, every one does it consciously or not. Every one has a general opinion of "teenagers", "police officers", "football players"... Again it does not mean that every teenager is the same. But they certainly are patterns of conducts...

Stereotypes can be more or less correct depending on how fair you are in creating them. If you are a foreigner-hating racist, of course the stereotypes you build will probably not hold much validity. ( I used a stereotype to say that!)

But if you try to be fair, not biased, you ought to be allowed to make generalizations out of what you see, and that's stereotypes.

Answer 4

It all depends. If you are the one stereotyped or the one stereotyping. When someone stereotype you, would you openly consider it true? Does this person knows you that well to sharply defines you?
For lots of people, stereotypes are results of people's ignorance or lack of education. Expressions that tends to lower others in others to feel superior because of a limited capacity of understanding or a lack and inaccurate information.
If you pay a close attention, you will realized that people whom has a tendency to stereotype others are usually those unsuccessful ones, those whom have none knowledge about the subject or the person stereotyped.

Answer 5

stereotypes have truth to them, that's why they exist, however, the problem is when people use them to act as though every stereotype about someone or a group applies all the time or to everyone

Answer 6

You've got people drooling with their finger poised over the "Report Abuse" button right now...

Answer 7

no i don't, u cant classify everyone into groups because of wut they wear!!!! or because a prep could dress goth, and still be a prep, and vise versa, or even by how they act, cuz emos are very varied... and there is such a thing as a preppy emo...trust me...i kno one...and everyone is different, so it's actually quite impossible....btw not goths don't wear all black, they wear red, and white, green sometimes too...trust me i kno a couple...^_^

Answer 8

Yeah, people sometimes unconsiously conform themselves to steryotypes. goths wear black, and most do.

Answer 9

yeah, SOME