BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES - Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie

Individual linguistic ability is also important. The use of
difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent people from
understanding the message.
Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in
confusion. We can all think of situations where we have listened to
something explained which we just could not grasp.
6.2. Stereotypes, Stigma and Discrimination
Stereotypes
The term stereotype derives from the Greek words stereos - "firm,
solid" and typos "impression" hence "solid impression". The term, in its
modern psychology sense, was first used by Walter Lippmann in his 1922
work Public Opinion .
A stereotype is a fixed, commonly held notion or image of a
person or group; a generalization based on an oversimplification of some
observed or imagined trait of behavior or appearance. We develop
stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the
information we would need to make fair judgments about people or
situations. In the absence of the "total picture", stereotypes in many cases
allow us to "fill in the blanks."
Stereotypes can be either positive (black men are good at
basketball) or negative (women are bad drivers). But most stereotypes
tend to make us feel superior in some way to the person or group being
stereotyped. Stereotypes ignore the uniqueness of individuals by painting
all members of a group with the same brush. It is easier to create
stereotypes when there is a clearly visible and consistent attribute that can
easily be recognized. This is why people of color, police and women are so
easily stereotyped.
People from stereotyped groups can find this very disturbing as they
experience an apprehension (stereotype threat) of being treated unfairly.
For example, if we are walking through a park late at night and
encounter three senior citizens wearing fur coats and walking with canes,
we may not feel as threatened as if we were met by three high school-aged
boys wearing leather jackets. Why is this so? We have made a
generalization in each case. These generalizations have their roots in
experiences we have had ourselves, read about in books and magazines,
seen in movies or television, or have had related to us by friends and
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