Stereotypes and the Construction of the Social World

Perry R. Hinton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351794305
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Social Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Stereotypes and the Construction of the Social World explores the complexity of stereotypes, guiding the reader through issues of definition and theoretical explanations from psychology and other disciplines. The book examines why people use stereotypes, which have often been represented as inaccurate, rigid and discriminatory. If that is what they are, then why would people employ such 'faulty' or 'biased' views of others?

Whilst this book presents a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the psychological research into the individual use of stereotypes, it also presents this research within its ideological and historical context, revealing the important sociocultural factors in what we mean by 'stereotypes'. From the politics of representation and inter-group power relations, alongside individual social cognitive issues, the book provides a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary account of stereotypes and stereotyping.

Featuring a wealth of real-world examples, it will be essential reading for all students and researchers of stereotypes.

1

WHAT ARE STEREOTYPES?

Introduction

In Western English-speaking societies we commonly hear the word ‘stereotype’ spoken and written about in the media, usually in a situation where it is claimed that someone is being treated in a discriminatory way. Indeed, a reference to a stereotype is often a criticism of the view of another person (‘you are making stereotypical assumptions about me’, ‘don’t fall back on those hackneyed stereotypes’, ‘don’t stereotype me!’ or ‘you are just employing a discriminatory stereotype’). In most instances, we are assumed to know why the use of stereotypes is bad but, when explained, it is indicated that the stereotype of a group of people (for example, women, African Americans, Muslims, migrants, the unemployed) presents them in a rigid, negative way that undermines their diversity and also their competence. Stereotypes are viewed as pejorative descriptions that support prejudice against a social group and its members. Using a stereotype is considered objectionable, and when people are presented as acting in a counter-stereotypical way this is viewed positively (‘Susan is not a stereotypical mathematician’, ‘these elderly marathon runners have challenged the stereotype of the frail old person’). And the media frequently report on a person triumphing against a stereotype, particularly when they have fought against some form of discrimination to achieve a goal. Indeed, during the 50 years between the 1950s and the 2000s, the use of the word ‘stereotype’ in English communication more than trebled (according to Google Ngram) and it is quite likely that it is even more popular now in social media and other forms of Internet communication. This frequent use implies that we all know what the word means – that we have a shared understanding of a stereotype. For example, a news reporter does not need to define a stereotype before presenting a positive message of a person successfully challenging it. Yet the purpose of this book is to interrogate that shared meaning – if indeed there is one – and to examine the assumptions made about stereotypes and the role they play in the way people understand the social world.

The dictionary definition of a stereotype

The first place to look for a definition of a ‘stereotype’ is in a dictionary. To give a good range of definitions I have chosen six freely available online dictionaries. According to these popular reference sources, a ‘stereotype’ is:

A very firm and simple idea about what a particular type of person or thing is like.

Macmillan Dictionary¹

A belief or idea of what a particular type of person or thing is like. Stereotypes are often unfair or untrue.

Longman Dictionary²

A set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong.

Cambridge Dictionary³

A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Oxford Dictionary⁴

A fixed general image or set of characteristics that a lot of people believe represent a particular type of person or thing.

Collins Dictionary⁵

Something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary⁶

These definitions appear similar but they are not the same. A stereotype is an idea (claim four of the dictionaries) but it could also be an image (state two of them) or a belief or a mental picture. The four ‘idea’ dictionaries do not exactly agree on what type of idea a stereotype is: just an idea, a set idea, a firm and fixed idea or a fixed and oversimplified idea. Maybe this is why stereotypes are viewed as a bad thing: they are fixed and simple ideas. Yet a fixed idea is not necessarily a bad thing: I am firm in the idea that the earth goes round the sun, and not the other way round (and I am not likely to change my mind about it). A simple idea implies a lack of complexity, but again we can find a simple idea that is not necessarily problematic: stand in the rain and you will get wet. There is more or less the same degree of consistency on a second point, with four dictionaries agreeing that stereotypes are about types of people and things. By this definition, as well as stereotypes about librarians and the French, we can have stereotypes about other things such as makes of car, cats or types of vegetable. However, for the purpose of this book, I am going to focus on stereotypes of types of people (rather than things). Consequently, we can try to summarize the definitions as follows: stereotypes are fixed ideas about types of people. Again we can ask why that is a bad thing? A person might have a fixed idea that physicians are intelligent or nurses are caring and these might be considered generally valid.

The key point about a stereotype appears to be contained in a third aspect of the definitions (although they disagree on terminology, and again only four out of the six definitions mention it): a stereotype is often unfair or untrue, an idea that is wrong, an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude or uncritical judgement. This appears more insightful as to why stereotypes might be viewed negatively – they are often not fair or not true or prejudiced (although these are only mentioned in one definition each). Maybe stereotypes are a bad thing because they are fixed and unfair ideas about people. Furthermore, the Cambridge Dictionary introduces an entirely new aspect of stereotypes, that the set idea is held by more than one person (‘a set idea that people have’), which is supported by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (‘held in common by members of a group’). The Oxford Dictionary definition also makes the point that a stereotype is widely held. In these definitions, a stereotype is social: it cannot be a stereotype if it is only held by a single person or even a few people, such as my family, but has to be held by a lot of people – presumably, a specific social group (although this is not stated).

To recap, we can compile a composite definition across the dictionaries about what a stereotype is: it is a fixed (or oversimplified) idea about a type of person that is often unfair or untrue, but widely held (by a particular group of people). But in order to achieve this generalized view I have had to do quite a bit of intellectual work – deciding which features are important and which are not, teasing out the consistency and glossing over the differences. It is quite possible to look at my statement and claim that none of the definitions are actually stating this. I have had to ignore the fact that three of them make no mention of the people using the stereotype, or that while two definitions use the word ‘oversimplified’ four definitions do not, or that an image or a general pattern might not be the same as an idea. Only one definition claims that stereotypes are untrue and only one says they are prejudicial. There does not seem to be a consistent view of a stereotype in these definitions (unless I impose one upon them).

Some textbook definitions of a stereotype

There is clearly some variety in which features the different dictionary definitions focus on. One way to resolve this is to examine the definitions supplied in academic sources, as these technical definitions may be clearer and more explicit about what a stereotype actually is. While a number of different academic disciplines discuss stereotypes I will focus on the definitions from the social sciences: social psychology, sociology, communication and cultural studies, and applied linguistics. Not all sociology textbooks contain a definition of a stereotype but it is clear how it is viewed. For example, in their definition of sexism, Fulcher and Scott (2011, p. 834) explicitly state that ‘stereotypes play a central part’. Elsewhere in the book they cite the media as having ‘reinforced racial as well as class and gender stereotypes’. A number of other sociology textbooks assume that a specific definition of a stereotype is not necessary (e.g. Punch et al., 2013). However, the underlying assumption is that stereotypes are a societal problem as they are related (in particular) to racism and sexism. This is made clear in three definitions from sociology textbooks that specify a negative quality to the stereotype:

[Stereotypes are] fixed and inflexible characterizations of groups of people based on little or no evidence.

Giddens and Sutton, 2017, p. 1016

Stereotype. A prejudicial, exaggerated description applied to every person in a category of people.

Macionis and Plummer, 2011, p. 354

Stereotypes are oversimplified or untrue generalisations about social groups.

Haralambos et al., 2013, p. 185

These definitions mirror the dictionary definitions but are more explicit in indicating that stereotypes are fixed and inflexible, exaggerated and oversimplified and these sociology textbook definitions also make it clear that stereotypes are based on little or no evidence, prejudicial and untrue. They are fixed, simplistic and wrong. However, it is worth noting here, that the focus on stereotyping in the sociological textbooks has been in the context of discrimination in society, particularly in associating stereotypes with racism and sexism. While these stereotypes form a major feature of the current book, it is worth noting at this point that a definition of stereotype also needs to be able to encompass all those other stereotypes circulating in a culture, that are not so obviously linked to societal discrimination, such as stereotypes of accountants, Californians, cat lovers, computer gamers, Ford owners, Japanese people, librarians, mothers (or moms), Parisians, sailors, sci-fi fans, Texans, teenagers, wrestlers and vegetarians.

Social psychologists have shared the concern of sociologists about the negative and prejudicial aspects of stereotypes that link them to discrimination in society. However, psychological definitions often assume within them a particular theoretical position, which offers an explanation of why stereotypes arise in the first place (Schneider, 2004), giving variety to the psychological definitions, unlike the common agreement of the sociology textbook definitions mentioned above. One of the most important psychology books about stereotypes is The Nature of Prejudice by Gordon W. Allport in published in 1954 (Allport, [1954] 1979). He defined stereotypes as follows: ‘Whether favourable or unfavourable, a stereotype is an exaggerated belief associated with a category. Its function is to justify (rationalize) our conduct in relation to that category’ (p. 191). Notice that this is the first definition that has indicated that stereotypes can be positive as well as negative, such as the French viewed stereotypically as sophisticated and cultured. This implies that not all stereotypes lead to negative discrimination in society. It opens the possibility that a positive stereotype, such as middle-class people are competent, could lead to positive discrimination in society. Yet the crucial feature of Allport’s definition – which is notably absent in the ones considered so far – is contained in his final sentence. Stereotypes are not simply errors of judgement: a person does not stereotype the members of another group by mistake. In Allport’s view, the function of a stereotype is to provide a justification of the stereotype user’s conduct. Consider a discriminatory society where one group has control over the educational resources that they use to favour their own children. A second equally intelligent but discriminated against group will suffer in their education due to the poor facilities they are offered. Consequently, the second group does not generally achieve as good grades at school and, relative to the first group, few members gain entrance to university and rarely obtain high status jobs. By stereotyping the second group as unintelligent, the first group can attribute the failure of the second group to do well educationally to a lack of intelligence, rather than acknowledging the discrimination in the society. In this way the stereotype serves as a justification – or rationalization – by the people using the stereotype for the poor educational performance of the second group rather than their own discrimination. This allows the dominant group to view themselves as blameless in the discrimination in society, yet still benefit from it. (This issue of the justificatory function of stereotypes will be considered in detail later in the book: see especially Chapters 5 and 6).

However, it is interesting to note that modern social psychology textbooks do not tend to focus on the justificatory function of stereotypes (or patterns of societal dominance) in their definitions, in favour of mental explanations of stereotype formation and function, employing terms such as ‘cognitive structures’ and the ‘processing of information’ in the mind of the person, that is, in explanations focused on the nature of human psychology and the decision-making of the individual. For example, the following definition was proposed by Hamilton et al. (1990, p. 36) but is also cited 25 years later by Hewstone et al. (2015, p. 607): ‘We define a stereotype as a cognitive structure containing the perceiver’s knowledge and beliefs about a social group and its members.’ This is a more technical definition than the ones we have considered so far, containing the idea of a cognitive structure (which will be examined in Chapter 3), with the implication that stereotypes are linked to the ‘structuring’ of information (knowledge and beliefs) in the mind of the individual person or ‘perceiver’. This theoretical concept is once again emphasized in the following definition: ‘[Stereotypes are] beliefs about social groups in terms of the traits or characteristics that they are believed to share. Stereotypes are cognitive frameworks that influence the processing of social information’ (Branscombe and Baron, 2017, p. 458). Here, again, stereotypes are defined as cognitive ‘frameworks’ but this time the definition indicates that stereotypes influence ‘the processing of social information’. Clearly stereotypes are linked here to something going on in the mind of the person (which will be examined in Chapter 3). Only some of these academic psychology definitions explicitly link stereotypes to prejudice and discrimination: ‘[S]tereotypes are … the cognitive culprits in prejudice and discrimination … One can see stereotypes as a particular kind of role schema that organizes people’s expectations about other people who fall into certain social categories’ (Fiske and Taylor 1991, p. 119). Now this definition clearly links stereotypes to prejudice and discrimination but considers it as a cognitive phenomenon, in this case a ‘role schema’.⁷ This emphasis on stereotypes as ‘cognitive culprits in prejudice and discr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• 1 WHAT ARE STEREOTYPES?
• 2 THE INVENTION OF THE STEREOTYPE
• 3 STEREOTYPES IN MIND
• 4 STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE AND SOCIAL GROUPS
• 5 SHARING STEREOTYPES
• 6 STEREOTYPES AND IDEOLOGY
• 7 STEREOTYPES AND EVERYDAY STORIES
• 8 ‘STEREOTYPES’ AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL WORLD
• References
• Author index
• Subject index