Monday, March 3, 2014

Can expectations lead to stereotypes?

          Yes, indeed expectations can lead to stereotypes. Stereotypes are beliefs concerning the characteristics, behavior, and attributes of members of a particular group (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996). When an individuals makes expectations about a particular group's behavior this indeed leads to stereotypes, because certain individuals within that particular group may not behave such as in a means as other members of that group. For example, if a teacher only expects his or her Asian students to perform well on mathematical testing and expects White, Black, and Hispanic students to not perform as well, then he or she is imparting ethnic stereotyping. This example is a negative example of expectations and stereotyping; however, expectations and stereotyping are not always negative in nature. Although, expecting or making assumptions about a particular ethnicity can lead to negative stereotypes.     
Reference
Hilton, J. L., & von Hippel, W. (1996). Stereotypes. Annual Review Of Psychology, 47(1), 237.

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