Social Identity And Stereotypes Essay

Every day across America people find themselves surrounded by a diversity of peers that vary in gender, beliefs, lifestyles and ethnicities, which can influence the way they interact, behave, and view one another in a social environment. In modern times it has become common for social groups to be a mix of many different types of people, from Asians to Hispanics to Caucasians, and this complexity ultimately leads to the desire for simplicity through categorization, stereotyping, and sometimes even separation. The tendency to cognitively stereotype in social interactions within a social environment results in the separation of people with different lifestyles and ways of thinking. Americans naturally separate into different groups within the social space and as a result place public relationships under stress. How is stereotyping defined in its relationship to a person’s social identity? A person’s social identity is defined by stereotyping through the establishment or norms in any society.

There is a multitude of resources that have studies and reviewed this aspect of the school environment, many which have been reported in such mass media periodicals as The Atlantic, which included an article titled “Do White College Students Believe Stereotypes About Minorities?” by journalist Natalie Gross, but also in the academic world. The article, reported on a study that encompassed the topic “The study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, a survey of 898 participants from 27 prestigious American universities in which respondents rated their opinions of Asian, black, and Latino Americans based on work ethic, intelligence, and perseverance. Researchers set out to determine whether stereotypes of these minority groups are commonly believed and found their suspicions confirmed.” (Gross, “Do White College Students Believe Stereotypes About