Stereotypes [The Truth Behind Cultural Clichés]

[0:04]A stereotype is a common belief about a particular category of things or a group of people, such as their personality, preferences, appearance, or ability. For example, French are fashionable, arrogant, romantic, and have poor hygiene. Germans are punctual, hard working, straightforward and have no sense of humor. Americans are optimistic, loud, materialistic and lack cultural awareness. And Japanese are shy, disciplined, can't drink alcohol, and love anything cute. Accurate or not, stereotypes help our mind to categorize information and make predictions, so that we can act fast without thinking. Whether you agree or disagree with any of the cliches we presented about the French, Germans, Americans and Japanese, two types of stereotypes might have clouded your judgment. Explicit stereotypes are preconceptions you were aware of. For instance, you may have heard of the cliche that the French are arrogant. Armed with this self-awareness, you try to interact with each French individual from a seemingly unbiased standpoint. However, you might still be judgmental because of another sort of stereotype. Implicit stereotypes are those that guide your thoughts from your subconscious. The stories about people your parents might have told you when you were too young to remember. Associations that make you judgmental without you even realizing it. And that's a problem. If we are part of a group that is the target of stereotypes, they can become a threat. A stereotype threat occurs when people are aware of the negative cliche others hold against their group and then become afraid that they confirm it. As a consequence, their performance often decreases. Say a society holds the belief that boys are better in mathematics, teachers just need to point out that myth prior to math tests and some girls will get anxious and as a result, perform worse than men. Even just sitting next to boys can significantly lower their grades. Chimanda Ngozi Adichie summarized the problem like this, The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. So, what do you think? Are some stereotypes still useful in today's diverse world? If yes, why? And if not, how can we get rid of them?

[3:04]Share your thoughts in the comments below. And while you're at it, tell us, are some of the cliches presented in this video true? If you like this video and want us to make more, subscribe to our channel or support us on Patreon.