The Benefit of Stereotypes
Are you a cognitive miser? Because research says that you are.
All people have a certain limit for what they can change or modify in their lives. This is why we use stereotypes. While stereotypes definitely cause problems when they come to things like race and gender, they save a tremendous amount of time in other tasks. For instance, aren’t you glad that every time you see a chair you don’t need to figure out what it is? We quickly classify it as a chair, and move on. (Or maybe sit down!)
Stereotypes save us time.
When we put things into categories it streamlines the world for us. Instead of making an infinite number of choices we simplify things. We know that when something’s smoking it’s hot. Sure we could be wrong (it might be a fog machine). But 9/10 times where there’s smoke there’s fire.
The challenge is when our stereotypes prevent us from recognizing new and important information. This is why stereotypes along race and gender are so harmful. Stereotypes also pose problems when you have a “gut” reaction to a political or religious statement – in that moment you may be experiencing the “information limiting” aspects of stereotypes.
The irony is even the word “stereotype” has come to be “stereotyped.” My guess is, if you’re still reading this post, your first reaction to the heading (“the Benefit of Stereotypes”) was part anger and part awkwardness. There was something in you that said this topic was “bad.” Well congratulations, because your brain was busy being a cognitive miser and streamlining the world for you!
Stereotypes have benefits. They make our lives easier. They help us navigate a complex world quickly and efficiently. But like all things in this world, they come with a price attached.
Related Research: Thomas Sy. “What do you think of followers? Examining the content, structure, and consequences of implicit followership theories. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (2010) p. 73-84
photo provided by flickr user wetsun (who has some really cool pictures in their profile)
[...] nothing like a vivid counter-example to end an argument. We’ve talked about the value of stereotypes before. In many ways stereotypes help to streamline the amount of information we need to process before [...]
[...] general, when we have no reason to doubt our views we operate based on our implicit impressions or stereotypes of how things should [...]
[...] We’re always looking to short-circuit the thinking process. Sometimes this is good. If your house is on fire, you don’t want to spend a lot of time debating whether flames are dangerous, and if they are dangerous, what’s the best strategy. You want action, not deliberation. But these short circuits can have harmful consequences, as anyone familiar with being unfairly judged or experiencing racism can attest. These judgments are the psychological basis for stereotypes. [...]
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About Eric Barrett
Eric Barrett is an organizational consultant who specializes in applying psychology to communication. He has worked as an organizational psychologist for over a decade, and is most recently working on developing social media guidelines for a real estate company. He also teaches psychology at Xavier University. In his spare time he...wait, who are we kidding...he has no spare time.
He is available on a limited basis for speaking engagements and consulting projects. For more information please see the About Meaning to Work page.
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