Stereotyping Has Long-Term Psychological Repercussions
August 14th, 2010
A new study looks at how being stereotyped influences people’s mental health and behavior, even after leaving the negative environment. In the study, people were given a task to perform, and half received subtly-stereotyped instructions that indicated they would do poorly because of their gender, ethnicity, religion, age, or other factor. Afterward, they participated in a number of other activities. Those who had experienced the stereotyping showed a marked trend toward impatience and aggression, problems staying focused and making rational decisions, and a tendency to over-eat. This study shows that stereotyping is a legitimate issue, as it can directly impact someone’s psychological health and ability to focus. The study may draw more attention to the serious nature of stereotyping; its direct impact on those who experience it proves that offensive comments can’t simply be ignored by the recipient.
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Comments
No big surprise here. It’s like a self fulfilling prophecy. You will come to believe about yourself what others believe, whether that is good or bad. And if it is bad and you hear this for long enough and come to believe this for long enough then you will be destined to under achieve and under perform. That is why we have to be so careful about doing this and thinking about the future ramifications that it could have on others.
I believe people who have stereotypes about others are only harming themselves because their stereotype,in reality,is far from true and they will only make mistakes if they act upon such stereotypes.
if a person has been told all the time that he is like this or that,he will get convinced that he is really like that and will not be able to perform to his potential if he has been forced to believe he just can’t.its sad but true that negative environment can make us negative about our very own selves!
Goes back to: if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone then don’t say anything at all
I have a friend who feels he was stereotyped for much of his life growing up because of his race and I think that deep down inside he still thinks about himself in the same negative ways that others did when he was growing up. There are times when I want him to snap out of it and get over it but then rationally I know that there are some hurts that are so deep that it takes a lot more than that to get past. I am sorry for him and for anyone else who have had to experience this kind of prejudice and stereotyping just because of certain identifying factors that really have nothing to do with the person and even sadder that they have to live with this and that it clouds how they see themselves even years after those people are gone from their lives.
stereotyping is not just something that is said or experienced for a few minutes and is then forgotten.this has far-fetched consequences for the victim as he feel inferior and is shamed in front of others on most occasions.
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