Stereotyping and Its Benefits

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Imagine a gruesome monster with sharp fangs, puss dripping out of wounds covering his face, and wearing a shirt that suggest his favorite hobby is eating humans. These clues lead to the assumption that this beast is not the safest being to be around. This judgment could save a person’s life simply by using context clues. Every day, stereotyping and fitting people with certain profiles happens, and it is used to stop drug dealing, robbery and other basic crimes. It also is used to group together people to understand them more as a whole, and to make sense of what is seen.

One way to approach stereotyping is that it is comparable to looking at a movie poster. Assumptions are made based on the content of the poster, which helps people decide if it is an action movie or a romance. The way the movie is advertised determines the initial reaction of the people the same way that the way a person dresses and acts, can lead to being judged positively or negatively. Another key point, stereotypes are just a way to gauge first impressions. Key phrase, first impression, the previously mentioned monster could be the sweetest, most cuddly beast in the world, but the way he dressed and decides to act like, could lead to many missed opportunities for him. What stops the person from developing the relationship is the way that the person interprets the personal stereotype that they created.

“Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics about this group” (www.changingminds.org). In other words, stereotypes are how people categorize other humans based on the visible information displayed by the target and correlation with the new information with already known experiences or data....

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...es can be applied to determine ones current situation and how to deal with it. When applied to catching criminals, racial profiling can help read suspects and find culprits based on data and context clues. Stereotyping is a good tool for making safe judgments and should be used more in a positive manner.

Works Cited

"Racial Profiling." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. .

"Stereotype." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. .

"Stereotypes." Changing Minds and Persuasion -- How We Change What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. .

"Stereotypes." University of Colorado at Boulder. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. .

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