Motivation and Stereotype

Q2 : What stereotypes do you form about people? Are they good or bad (Give examples of stereotypes that you have)

Answer:

Sometimes without knowing somebody we comment or assume about them on basis of some believes & assumptions . They may be negatives or may be positives. Basically our further judgement & behaviour with them is also dependent on our assumptions about them. The assumptions are created about people based on their membership in a particular group. Stability of the assumptions are high but sometimes it changes by experiences. These kinds of assumptions of grouping races or individuals together is an example of a stereotype.

A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996). For example, a “hells angel” biker dresses in leather.

Any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual is called stereotype.

According to my generalisation, I form a different stereotypes about the peoples these are not just centered on different races and backgrounds, however. They have gender stereotypes also. For example, if I say that men are better than women, I am stereotyping all men and all women. If I say that all women like to cook, I am stereotyping women. Thats why I form various kinds of stereotypes namely culture ,black, racial , men , gender(Men & Women), positive ,negative ,neutral etc

As my behaviour depends on my stereotypes some of them are good & some of them are bad. When I form negative stereotype, I stereotype negatively about the people or group of people. Such as I think Women who smoke and drink do not have morals. Now my behaviour with that kind of people is defined by my stereotype, every smoker(women) may not be like that but my stereotyping has a negative effect on them so it is bad . On the other side it may be good such as women are good at cooking.

Some examples of stereotypes I form about people are given below:

Positive Stereotype:

• All Bengalese are hospitable

• Women always smell good

• Dhaka university’s students are brilliant

• BBA faculty’s students do much better in the profession

Negative Stereotype:

• All politicians are corrupted

• All men are messy & unclean

• All teenegers are rebel

• All media are not fully independent

Men:

• Men are physically stronger than women

• All men like motorbike

• Men take less time to shower than women

• Men hate writing

Women:

• Every women have mother like mind

• Women like doll

• Women hog the bathroom

• Only women can be nurses

Racial:

• All Muslims are peace lover

• All Japanese are very much gentle

• All Bengalese like Hilsha

• All Africans are hard working

Culture:

• All Bangladeshis like to eat rice

• All Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant, but also arrogant, impatient, and domineering

• All Arabs are conservative

• All Bengali women like sari

Black:

• All black are active

• All black are good at sports

• All black are stronger than white

My perception of a person or thing that applies those attributes most commonly associated with the group that such person or thing belongs to, regardless of whether that perception is true. This word has gained a negative connotation and is more commonly associated with discrimination, when in reality it is a natural mechanism used by people to better understand the world. This is why when someone says "hockey player" you think of a white guy, or "rapper". Stereotypes are often good and helpful things, but discrimination on the basis of prejudice/stereotypes often has negative effects.

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