Cons Of Stereotypes In Research

Stereotype is the opinion that is held by a whole group about different groups. It is fixed images of each group that is in the society. Stereotype is always viewed as a substandard idea but it is just like everything else. Stereotypes has it advantage and disadvantage, it’s good side and bad side. Many scientists and psychology major students in the sources below mentions how stereotypes can be opportune as it is viewed as a bad thing most of the time. Stereotypes can save time, act as equalizer between people and aim to make sense and help people understand why certain people act or behave in a certain way. However, Stereotypes can always convey a negative image and impression about different race, culture or a society. The articles below …show more content…
(2002). Social, cultural, and cognitive factors in stereotype formation. In Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups (pp. 1-7). London: Cambridge University Press.
In the first chapter of the book the authors tries to explain why stereotypes are helpful and useful more than they are viewed as bad thing. McGarty, Yzerbyt, and Spears break down the idea of stereotype into three principles. The first principle is that stereotypes aids to explain why do people do what they do. The second principle is that stereotypes are energy-saving device. The last principle is that stereotype is shared group beliefs.
After reading how the authors of the book view stereotypes, it becomes clear that humans naturally have the cognitive process of detecting the differences and similarities and that is known as categorization. Also, it was helpful to know that categorizing people and treating people as a group save energy because no one will have to pay attention to the very small details. Moreover, it was interesting to acquire the fact that stereotypes are useful to predict and understand the behavior of members from different groups other than our