The Relationship Among Stereotyping, Prejudice And Discrimination

Question 2: What are the relationships among stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination? How does gender differ from other characteristics that form the basis for stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination?

All humans experience stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at one point or another in their lives, whether based on gender or other categories of judgments and opinions. However, these should not be misunderstood or be considered to mean the same. Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination are very different, although they all reflect each other in one way or another.

Stereotyping is when individuals categorize people they observe by gender, age, ethnicity, religion and other social groupings; this is also called using cognitive schemas formed from preconceived expectations. So many negative labels have created a bias against stereotyping, but people forget that stereotyping is just a categorization. We use this to gather information about certain subjects. People differentiate male from female in such categories as traits, behaviors, physical characteristics, and occupations. Stereotyping becomes a negative component when it is used to develop prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice is defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics; an adverse judgment, opinion, or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge’. These are preconceived