Janus-facedness of stereotypical ideas

Walter Lippmann’s 1922 book Public Opinion was the first to use the term stereotype to represent social structures of 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 synonymously, although they should be distinguished from each other.

Differentiation

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 (mostly rejecting) behavior or action. Prejudices are also more emotionally charged.

Peoples‘ charts

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

Janus-facedness

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, pp. 4-7).

Meaningful functions

Reduced functionally, we can speak of three functions that characterize Janus-facedness. Stereotypes and prejudices simplify and reduce complexity. They thus help with orientation in an almost unmanageable world. In this way, they fulfill an important cognitive function. With stereotypical ideas and prejudices we distinguish ourselves 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 may not seem very sympathetic, but psychologically it is beneficial: we feel strengthened in our self-confidence. Stereotypes thus fulfill an important affective function.

Shadow sides

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. The colorful diversity, even within a culture, gets a raw deal. We lump everyone together. A strong sense of belonging within a group is important. However, it can also lead to excluding others because our stereotypical ideas say a person doesn’t ‚fit‘ with us. While self-confidence and feeling good about ourselves is important, we must not devalue each other because of it. The lines between superiority and arrogance are blurred here.

Stereotypes are Janus-faced. With this knowledge, we can critically examine our stereotypical ideas and prejudices when we encounter other people. „Prejudice is the child of ignorance.“ (William Hazlitt)

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, 7th) Hillsdale, NJ: 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.