Prejudices

Stereotypes and prejudices are Janus-faced.

„Prejudice is the child of ignorance.“ (William Hazlitt)

Term description

Stereotypes and prejudices are ubiquitous. But: what do the two terms actually mean exactly?

Walter Lippmann’s 1922 book Public Opinion was the first to use the term stereotype to describe social structures in society (see Gardner 1994, 1-5). He characterized stereotypes as „pictures in our heads“ (Lippmann 1922, 98). In everyday language, the terms stereotype and prejudice are often used interchangeably, although they should be distinguished from each other. Stereotypes are vague ideas of what people are like (Spaniards are passionate, Germans humorless, Americans self-centered). They can be understood as generalized beliefs, images in our minds about certain groups of people. Prejudices, on the other hand, are stronger in judgment (e.g., All Muslims are terrorists.). They have an action dimension. Unreflective stereotypes can become prejudices in concrete life situations, i.e., lead to actual behavior or action. Prejudices are also more emotionally charged.

Stereotypes are the result of historical-political, geographical and social developments (cf. Friesenhahn), i.e. they are socially constructed. They are static in the sense that an astonishing persistence can be observed in the face of new information: Stereotypes are very widespread and sometimes persist for centuries (cf. old so-called Völkertafeln from the 17th century).

There is another peculiarity: stereotypes and prejudicial ideas are Janus-faced. What does it mean? It is a metaphor. Janus was a Roman god. He is two-faced and a symbol of ambivalence. Stereotypes serve useful functions, but they also have dark sides – so they are Janus-faced. Thomas lists six functions of stereotypes and prejudices: Orientation function, adaptation function, defense function, self-representation function, delimitation and identity function, and control and justification function (cf. Thomas 2006, 4-7).

Reduced functionally, we can speak of three functions that characterize Janus-facedness. Stereotypes and prejudices simplify and reduce complexity. They thus help us to orient ourselves in an almost unmanageable world. In this way, they fulfill an important cognitive function.

With stereotypical ideas and prejudices, we set ourselves apart from others. We strengthen the sense of belonging within our own group. „We are like this, and they are different!“ Stereotypes and prejudices therefore also have a social function. Many stereotypes and prejudices give us the feeling of being superior to others. At first glance, this does not seem very sympathetic, but from a psychological point of view it is beneficial: we feel strengthened in our self-confidence. Stereotypes thus fulfill an important affective function. However, each of the useful functions just mentioned also has a downside. The great disadvantage of simplifications is that important details and peculiarities remain unconsidered. Diversity, even within a culture, is neglected and everyone is lumped together.

A strong sense of belonging within a group is important. However, it can also lead to excluding others because our stereotypical ideas say that a person does not ‚fit‘ with us.

Self-esteem is important and we all want to feel good about ourselves. But does that mean we have to devalue each other? And where does that lead us? The lines between superiority and arrogance are blurred. Stereotypes are Janus-faced.

With this knowledge, we can critically examine our stereotypical ideas and prejudices when we encounter other people.

Literature

Friesenhahn, Günter: Stereotypes and prejudices. In: Module „Intercultural Learning“ on the Portal of the Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e. V. IJAB : https://www.dija.de/fileadmin/medien/downloads/Dokumente/Guenter2IKL.pdf [16.11.2017].

Ganter, Stephan (1997): Stereotypes and Prejudices: Conceptualization, operationalization and measurement. Mannheim: Mannheim center for European social research.

Gardner, R. C. (1994): Stereotypes as Consensual Beliefs. In: Zanna, Mark P./ Olson, James M. (Eds.): The Psychology of Prejudice (The Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology, 7) Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1-5.

Lippmann, Walter (1992): Public opinion. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Quasthoff, Uta (1998): A contribution to the dynamization of stereotype research. In: Heinemann, Margot (ed.): Linguistic and social stereotypes (= Forum applied linguistics). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 47-72.

Thomas, Alexander (2006): The meaning of prejudice and stereotype in intercultural action. In: Interculture Journal. Vol. 5, No. 2.