Stereotyping Jay Mawer What are stereotypes The term

Stereotyping – Jay Mawer What are stereotypes? The term ‘Stereotype’ can be defined under the dictionary as ‘a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing’. Such beliefs can sometimes lead to unnecessary accusations of prejudice and discrimination , this is often the case because the person using the stereotype is misinformed and may not even know they are stereotyping. However there are still many cases where ignorance is not to blame, and the person using the stereotype is familiar with what they are saying, which is a huge problem in modern society. The most common form of stereotyping is social categorization in which a person classifies individuals into groups based on similar characteristics. A prime example of this include the belief that all Americans are fat and lazy, which obviously isn’t true. However stereotypes can be seen in a positive way too, ‘Stereotypes are useful to the extent they can rapidly provide perceivers with information about the affordances—threats and opportunities—posed by others’ (Neuberg SL, 2015). Gender stereotypes in televised sports Crime related racial stereotypes One study conducted by Duncan, M. C. ; Messner, M. A. ; Williams, L. ; Jensen, K. In 1989 aimed to investigate gender stereotyping in televised sports, which was carried out by analyzing the quality and quantity of women's sport coverage and comparing it to the covered men's sports. This was done over a 6 week period and included local sports coverage on a Los Angeles TV station, including a mix of both large male and female sporting events. The results included; One study by Sunnafrank, Michael, Fontes and Norman E. in 1983 aimed to investigate crime related racial stereotypes. They did this by selecting 78 undergraduates and giving each participant 5 photos of black criminals and 5 photos of white criminals and asked them to match each photo to a list of 10 criminal acts that they believe the convict to have possibly committed. The results showed that crime related racial stereotypes do exist: • Women’s sports were vastly underrepresented • Quality of technical production is higher in men's sports • Women’s sports were trivialised , whereas men's were deemed important and dramatic • Sports broadcasters demeaned women and referred to them as young ladies and recognised by their first name. Whereas male athletes were recognised as strong and powerful males and called by their surname. The results showed that in televised sports towards the end of the 1900’s there was a very strong stereotype that males were better fitted to performing on televised sporting events, compared to women. However this stereotype can be somewhat related to modern day society in the sense that female sports do not gain enough TV coverage, compared to males. However the more prejudice components of the stereotype, for example calling women footballers by their first names has since been abolished. • Violent crimes such as assault and grand theft auto were more commonly attributed to the black criminals as opposed to the white criminals. • Less malicious crimes such as fraud and counterfeiting were more commonly attributed to white criminals than black criminals. Such results can be seen as quite alarming, as in a court setting where a criminal is accused of a crime, these crime related racial stereotypes can mean the difference between a justifiable punishment and an incorrect one. For example if the judge or jury use such a stereotype to influence their decision, possibly where there are little facts known about the case, the outcome of the case may be wrongly determined. This is a huge decision to be influenced by something that includes no proof or facts and only by one’s own stereotypes and schemas. By simply removing all personal bias and learnt schemas a persons decision is likely to be more reliable than under the influence of a social stereotype. Conclusions: Both studies indicate that stereotypes do exist and can be very detrimental to society, especially in the sense that they do not even have to be acknowledged to have effect. Both studies also help us to understand how stereotypes work and how to fight against them, for example stereotypes stem from discrimination and so by making discrimination illegal it indirectly combats negative stereotypes that are affecting today's society. Due to living in a westernised society, also where these studies took place, we are more accessible to the media and so prone to adopting unwanted stereotypes, almost always subconsciously. Obviously the media is not one hundred percent to blame for unwanted schemas, and our own experiences play a vital role, but the media could play a vital role in reducing such unwanted stereotypes, particularly due to the outreach of the medias platform in modernised countries. For example a study conducted by Hardin and Hardin in 2003 found that 10 women wheel chair athletes were; consumers of mainstream media, tired of media stereotypes and believed that the media is partially responsible for the lack of coverage of women and individuals with disabilities in sports media References: • Sng O, Williams KEG, Neuberg SL (2015) Evolutionary approaches to stereotyping and prejudice. Cambridge Handbook of the Psychology of Prejudice • Duncan, M. C. ; Messner, M. A. ; Williams, L. ; Jensen, K. (1989) Women sport and culture, Gender sterotyping in televised sports, pg 249 – 272 • Sunnafrank, Michael; Fontes, Norman E. (1983) Cornell Journal of Social Relations, General and crime related racial stereotypes and influence on juridic decisions • Hardin and Hardin (2003), Disability studies quarterly, University of Alabama