Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. Our vocabulary contains a lot of borrowed words, the meaning of which is not always clear from the context. We have already discussed such terms earlier (for example, pragmatism, correlation, deviation).
Today we have a very interesting topic - stereotypes and stereotypical thinking. If you think that this certainly does not concern you, then most likely you are mistaken, because we acquire stereotyped thinking in childhood and without it it would be difficult for us to perceive reality.
So what are stereotypes? Is this good and bad? Why do they form in us and how can we get rid of them so that they do not interfere with our lives? All this will be discussed in this article. It will be interesting, I promise!
Stereotype - what is it?
According to Wikipedia, the word “stereotype” translated from ancient Greek means “three-dimensional imprint.” This was once the name given to the printing cliché used in printing machines.
At the moment, a stereotype is an established idea of something, a sample of perception of reality phenomena. The set of stereotypes represents the social reality in which we live.
The phenomenon under consideration is formed in the childhood of each individual, instilled in the family and society. Thinking patterns (there are many of them) are laid deep in the subconscious, becoming automatic thoughts that lead to the same automatic actions.
Having learned to think in a certain way in specific situations, a person does not tense up or waste energy when he gets into them. The reaction occurs on its own and does not need regulation. This is very convenient from the point of view of saving mental and physiological resources.
Stereotypes make the world more predictable and consistent, which reduces the inherent anxiety associated with survival. This is the positive side of the phenomenon.
However, the world is constantly changing: habitual thinking, which once helped us, becomes harmful or meaningless.
For example, ancient people knew for sure that a person with a different skin color was a stranger and could pose a danger. He was immediately dealt with or captured. This stereotype still exists today, but it only brings trouble.
The division of people according to national and racial criteria is based on the instinct of survival and leads to hostility and bloodshed (it is worth remembering Hitler, who exterminated Jews without considering them as people), while modern society considers itself reasonable and cultural.
Thus, stereotypes can be both useful and harmful . The latter are usually called prejudices or prejudices. They make up the lion's share of the total mass and it is better to get rid of them so as not to spoil the life of yourself and those around you.
Why thinking stereotypes are often wrong
We received the vast majority of stereotypes at the beginning of life from parents, loved ones, educators, and teachers. And they are from their own. During the centuries-old transmission, errors occurred, and the ideas of our ancestors and their acquaintances included their own mistakes, unscientific facts, etc. This is how it came to us. We created some stereotypes ourselves. They are not always false, this is not an entirely correct approach, rather, it is simply too global a generalization. A thinking error common to all people.
But we get used to them, they are convenient for us, because it is easier for the brain to think in patterns, this way it saves energy, and we save time on thinking. The brain considers energy a valuable resource because in ancient times this resource was indeed very valuable.
In order to destroy a pattern of behavior or thinking, volitional efforts are required. You need to force yourself to find refuting information, examples from life, books. We need to find examples of how people got rid of them and made life better. And specifically analyze it. And in order not to change, nothing is needed.
And we also tend to look for information that confirms our point of view, talk to people who agree with us, read media that correspond to our ideas, watch channels with which we agree. This pleases us and supports our ego. It's good to always be right, isn't it? And it’s easier to do nothing and not feel like you’ve made a mistake. Don't change anything, don't analyze anything. Just leave everything as it is.
As a result, many carry the burden of their delusions until their death. And delusions become part of our nature . We get used to them and become comfortable with them. And the one who tries to save us from them becomes our enemy. Or a person whose point of view cannot be listened to. It seems easy and simple, but in fact it is very difficult to understand and accept. Those who are not with us are against us, even if they say smart and correct things. Therefore, thinking stereotypes prevent you from starting self-development.
Types of stereotypes
All social stereotypes are divided into several types:
- Related to peoples and races. For example, Russians drink a lot, the British are greedy and snobby, Jews are cunning, and gypsies know how to hypnotize.
- Prejudice about rich and poor : if rich, then he is a thief. Or if poor, then kind. In fact, not all rich people stole their fortune and not every person living in poverty is capable of mercy and humane actions.
- Male and female stereotypes - often appear in jokes, for example, about an evil mother-in-law, lovers in the closet and a business trip husband.
- Prejudices about sexual minorities (gays and lesbians - LGBT).
- Age - beliefs about how a person should behave at a given age (an adult should be serious, it is too late for old people to love and marry, a child is allowed to indulge).
- Professional prejudices (a military man must be noble, honest and strong).
Stereotypical thinking is developed to one degree or another in everyone: the tougher the character, the less flexible a person is in reasoning and the more he relies on internal patterns.
Examples
Broad conclusions about a person based on minimal information do not stand up to criticism. Examples of stereotypical thinking can be conclusions about intellectual level - this often applies to blondes (even a huge number of jokes) and athletes (often explained by inability to do something). Such conclusions are enshrined in the popular worldview and, as a result, even after numerous scientific refutations, continue to guide people.
Tourists acquire stereotypical knowledge of countries by seeing them only from a bus window, visiting famous places and listening to historical reports. The real country remains unexplored, because there are practically no locals in tourist places, the cuisine is adapted for Europeans, and everyday life is hidden by historical facades - this is what creates the feeling of the picture. This applies not only to countries, but also to entire nations - the Japanese are considered smart, Russians are careless, and gypsies are considered thieves. These are all examples of stereotypical thinking that relate to the nation, but have nothing to do with a specific person.
A woman freely dismantling a car on the highway causes either surprise or indignation; some may joke that she will break it, and all only because the stereotype of girls’ inability to drive is firmly established. Those who cannot earn enough money on their own consider the rich to be thieves and only because several bribe takers or criminals have been declassified. It is easier for a person to explain someone else’s success by unseemly behavior, and to somehow whitewash himself, than to accept responsibility and take a broader look at what the other did that he himself could not. This also includes the belief that a beautiful girl cannot be smart, and even if she has a PhD, then this is a purchased job, and her position is under the patronage of her lover. This is a vivid example of how the rational mind begins to serve the stereotypical mind, continuing to look for justifications and support for its concept, because otherwise something inside will collapse (excuses, self-image, habitual doing nothing) and a new one will fall in (responsibility, the task of thinking, admitting the impossible, learning other's).
Story 3 – Muscovites don’t know how to wait
Returning from India to Moscow, I perceived my hometown and its inhabitants in a completely new way. What I previously took for granted has now become for me an absolute advantage of my city. For example, this is impeccable cleanliness on the streets, the absence of crowds of people (if you do not agree with this, then you have not seen crowds), good organization of transport and roads, the availability of quality entertainment, good service and fast, cheap Internet. But I also saw the downsides. And they were in Muscovites. I noticed that Muscovites do not know how to endure and wait at all.
Recently I went to a government hospital where I had to wait in line. The people around me had patience for no more than 10-15 minutes. And after this time they began to lament: “Why did it take so long? Where is this doctor? What country is it?"
In our hospitals, I’ll tell you, they work quickly. In India (where terrible bureaucracy reigns), even in paid hospitals, visitors sit in line for 2–3 hours. Moreover, they sit completely calm. They don’t even read books, they just stare patiently at the wall. Of course, Indians will always take the chance to jump the line. But if such a chance does not arise, they behave completely patiently and look with great surprise at the Europeans, who are always nervous, in a hurry and eager to download their rights. What's the hurry? And most importantly, why? Nervous swarming will not make the line go by any faster. Every Indian knows this. But not for a Muscovite.
We are accustomed to the fact that a queue is a time of languid, nervous waiting. (This stereotype is similar to the attitude towards the road.)
But if you look from the other side, the queue is a great opportunity to take a forced rest. Why forced? Because busy, business people don’t allow themselves much rest. Even in their free time they solve some business. And in line there is a chance to be a little alone with yourself. Think about your life, make an important decision.
Learn to look at life situations in a new way, in relation to which you have already developed persistent patterns of perception. You will look differently at the time when you need to wait, get bored and do something monotonous. Don’t rush to “kill” this time so that it passes as quickly as possible. After all, these minutes or hours represent priceless moments of your life that you can’t get back later!
Stop nervously turning in circles, fidgeting in your chair, running out to smoke while you are waiting for something.
Use this chance to reflect, dream, solve some internal problem...
If you learn this, then perhaps the next time you are waiting for your order at a restaurant, you will come across a decision that will change your life forever!
Stereotypes you've definitely encountered at least once
“No one will marry a divorcee with a trailer”; “a good mother has well-bred children”; “breastfeeding in public is indecent” - every mother is faced with a huge number of patterns every day, trying to drive her into the framework of stereotyped ideas. About stupid and harmful stereotypes - in the text of the journalist and mother of four children Anna Kudryavskaya-Panina.
Photo: depositphotosArturVerkhovetskiy
Our life is so full of stereotypes that, probably, if you try, you can find a template for any situation. There are also good, correct ones among them, which help to act in standard situations almost automatically, without reinventing a new wheel every time. But there are also those who are not just annoying, but infuriating. All blondes are fools, all men cheat, ill-mannered children only have negligent parents.
Maybe I’m wrong, but the relationship between men and women and parenthood, in particular motherhood, suffer the most from stereotypical ideas. Or so it seems to me, because the last years of my personal life have been a collision with dozens of such stereotypes.
Where do legs come from? Yes, from everywhere. For some thanks to Domostroy, for some to the Soviet past, some appear from a lack of knowledge, and some from their distortion, some become a reflection of the “mistakes of a survivor.” It is human nature to adjust everything to a template that is convenient for him. Therefore, everything that goes beyond the framework is perceived as something incredible and wrong or hiding some kind of catch, which nevertheless confirms the truth of the stereotype.
Photo: depositphotos/Dmyrto_Z
I know for sure that the birth of my youngest daughter was a break in one of the patterns for many. Well, who could have expected such a turn? I am well and truly over forty, I have two adult children from my first marriage, two years ago my husband and I had our first common daughter (of course, according to the stereotype, I gave birth to her exclusively for my young husband, who had not yet had children; k you can add a very vulgar template “to tie” to this, but this is really for those who don’t know us). And then oops. How? Have you given birth again? Even a relative at first thought that I was posting a photo online not of a brand new baby, but of her older sister, also born in December, in honor of her next birthday. But now most of my friends don’t believe me when I say that I’ll probably have enough, although in fact, purely theoretically, I’m not at all against it. Well, well, we won’t be surprised if in a couple of years you give birth to someone else. And it’s great that you won’t be surprised! Just great. Because there are enough such examples without me. Right now, my friend (who is the same age and mother of three children, one of whom is a common child between her and her second husband) is again preparing for an addition to the family.
Married a much older woman? Infantile. Or gigolo. And he will go to a young man when his wife gets old. And this stereotype is about my family. Fortunately, I am not rich, and my husband, who is 10 years younger than me, has always given the impression of a very mature man. And he hasn’t gone anywhere yet; we’ve been together for almost 12 years. And we don’t care about templates.
Of course, it’s not people with many children who are thinking this way, because the latter know very well the price of benefits and benefits, and how much they do not pay even close to the costs and expenses that having many children brings with it. Well, as for me, if you are not a completely asocial person, you have to be a bearer of some strange dubious values in order to give birth to children in order to receive benefits. This is the same as making a child disabled in order to receive benefits. Although, of course, history knows such examples. But why do they generate patterns?
By the way, having given birth to four children, I do not have a single benefit and am not considered to have many children. So again, down with stereotypes. My third child was born when my older brother and sister were already over eighteen, and my registration was not in Moscow (only in Moscow it is enough to obtain the status of a large family that the youngest child is not an adult, which seems to me more than logical).
Another favorite: raising kids the same age/twins is easier. This is from the series of “wow, I shot right away” or “well, they play themselves, and when they’re alone, they hang on their mother all the time.” Needless to say, this stereotype is conveyed exclusively by those who have never had twins or twins. Well then, give birth to children of the same age, why are you delaying, comrades?! If it's so easy with them. I don't have and never had twins. But there are friends with twins and even triplets. And I wouldn’t wish this hell – especially the first years – on anyone. These are all the “delights” of motherhood in double or triple size. It's non-stop feeding, diaper changing, butt washing. These are absolutely sleepless nights, because one fell asleep and the other woke up, or both are awake. And even if there are helpers, it doesn’t change much. None of my friends remember their twins' infancy years as even tolerable, let alone easy. And it’s better for those who “oh, how good it is for you to shoot back” not to get caught by these “shooters” with their statements.
Photo: depositphotos/Patryk_Kosmider
I don’t have twins, but I have almost the same age, two pairs. And it’s better for me, too, not to come across such statements. Because, of course, no one plays on their own, but everyone hangs on mom, because mom is the best toy for everyone. Because before you even start trying to get enough sleep, you already have to do another night watch again, because in your house you have both a baby with colic and a toddler with a toilet brush, which, in his opinion, looks great in daddy's shoe. Because you need to simultaneously feed one, read a book to the other and, in the end, at least drink your morning coffee by five in the evening.
Yes, now they are friends, but they fought tooth and nail almost until they were seventeen. The younger couple cannot fight yet due to the age of one of the participants, but I have no doubt that the first time from the older one will come to her exactly when she first reaches for her toy, as was the case with the older ones.
Favorite stereotypes to the point of nausea. Pregnant women get dumber. It's easier to give birth to a second one. Breastfeeding is easy. Well, yes, hormones, physiology, it’s so inherent in nature. Yes, not so. And these stereotypes are shattered by millions of women who are no less productive during pregnancy than their non-pregnant colleagues, and by those who cannot withstand the ease of breastfeeding: with improper latch, lactostasis, hot flashes and wet bras. And about the second birth. Well, it’s clear that the stereotype was born from supposed knowledge of female physiology, but it is only true for a spherical horse in a vacuum, that is, for some ideal second birth. On a scale of “difficulty” from 1 to 10, I could rate the birth of my first three children ascending from about 6-7 to those same 10. But the fourth barely reached the mark of two. I will tell everyone that fourth births are the easiest. Try it and refute it.
Photo: depositphotos/AndreyBezuglov
By the way, about childbirth. A man, according to the stereotype, has no place there. This, God forgive me, is a sacrament. Why there is a place for a variety of medical personnel at this sacrament, but no place for the father of the child, is a mystery. And, here’s another thing: if she looks at the birth, she won’t want a wife anymore.
This can be done endlessly. A man should earn money, and a woman should want to get married and have children. If he earns less than his wife, he is not a man. A child is a woman's business. It’s not a man’s job to wipe away snot: when he grows up, then dad will become interested in him. Girls should buy pink, and boys should buy blue. Thanks to the latter, it is almost impossible to find clothes for girls in gender-neutral tones and not get a “what a cute little boy” from any mime crocodile if your girl is dressed in blue, grey, green, brown - in a word, not pink/red. From the same series: boys - cars, girls - dolls. So my friend received a caustic remark addressed to her two-year-old son from a grandmother from a bench: “Oh, why is he with you in a stroller. Why then without a doll?!”
More about boys and girls: girls are closer to their mother, girls are more obedient (here I actually want to either laugh out loud, or tear and throw, because my girls were definitely not more obedient than my only boy).
No, that's enough, it's time to stop. All this already looks ridiculous, but even more so on paper. Stereotypes are stupid, but indestructible: before one has time to go into the past, another one immediately sprouts. Moreover, there is no person who has not at least once judged something or someone according to a familiar and common pattern. Although I know for sure that each of us every day, simply living as he likes and seems right, destroys more than one idiotic stereotype.
And in order not to get angry or upset when someone tries to fit your life into one of the stereotypes, you can try to treat this with humor. Or remember that the very template that they are trying to impose on you says a lot exclusively about that person, and not at all about you. And when, accidentally or not, you yourself begin to judge someone based on a template, just remember this.
Kudryavskaya-Panina Anna
The strong are not afraid
Fear is a natural human emotion. If you claim that she is unfamiliar to you, we will classify you as a reptilian. All people are afraid, regardless of gender, age, physique and color of karate belt. The cause of fear can be either a real danger (three shaved guys asking you for a cigarette) or an imaginary one (a suspicious duck in a pond). The main thing is to face your fear, and then you will learn to control it.
The organizers of the Amsterdam Navigator Freedom Trip decided to test the participants by putting them before a difficult choice - admit their fear or take a step into the abyss blindfolded. And in the literal sense of the word. Agree, it’s a stalemate: not everyone is ready to admit that they are scared (or jump into the unknown). Destruction of the stereotype helped each of the participants understand that without fear it is impossible to defeat oneself!
It's easy to go with the flow
Going with the flow is not so easy. Even if the current is favorable and coincides with your desires, it will still require your complete concentration and mobilization of all your strength. Energy and tenacity are needed for more than just being a rebel.
Amsterdam Navigator Freedom Trip participants were sure that there was nothing easier than going with the flow. "Fine!" - the organizers thought and decided to make the last test “easy”, that is, send the guys on river rafting. The ease turned out to be deceptive, and the last stereotype was destroyed!
Features of stereotypical thinking and its danger to people
What characterizes stereotypical thinking? Below are its signs:
- Polarity. Dividing everything into black and white is one of the signs of the great influence of stereotypes on a person. According to the person who thinks by them, there are only two types of information: true and false.
- Negative thinking. What is considered in our country to be a realistic perception of the world is in fact, in most cases, pessimism. Negative thinking includes a pessimistic view of future events, selective thinking, and devaluation of positive aspects.
- Overgeneralization. It happens that when a person receives a negative experience in interaction with a person, he develops a negative opinion about others. Labeling is a form of overgeneralization.
- Personalization. This phenomenon occurs when a person considers himself to blame for all the troubles that have occurred.
- Template. A person with stereotypical thinking thinks in a stereotyped way and considers opinions that differ in any way from his to be hostile. He believes that other people should think the same way as him.
Stereotypes are sometimes not as harmless as they seem. Here is their destructive influence:
- A person loses his individuality.
Simply because he thinks in stereotyped ways. Or he does not express his own opinion, fearing the condemnation of the “crowd”. This problem is especially relevant in a collectivist society, in which people from an early age learn that they supposedly need to be “like everyone else.”
Fact: People who are not slaves to stereotypes are often bullied or mobbled.
Example based on real events:
Girl N is different from the others, so she is bullied at school. A classmate decides to talk to her.
- N, do you have your own opinion?
- Yes.
- This is very bad. There must be a herd mentality.
Of course, as an adult, a person can achieve respect due to his remaining strong personality. But, firstly, it is not a fact that this will happen; secondly, most people still adapt to others. This is harmful not only for the person himself, but also for society: will it flourish if everyone becomes a “gray mass”?
- The talent of many people is buried in the ground.
The same applies to both individuals and other people. For example, basketball usually favors tall people. In fact, even a short player can show good results in the game. For example, coach Mugsy Bogza (the shortest basketball player in the world; height - 160 cm) did not succumb to the stereotype that tall people play best and took him to the team. As a result, Mags became one of the leaders in the US National Basketball Association in the number of assists and steals.
- Conflicts and murders.
Racism, discrimination on national, religious and other grounds often lead to wars and genocides. The crippled destinies of different peoples, the extinction of ethnic groups - is this what people want?
- Missing an opportunity to find the right person.
Here it is worth remembering one famous story, partly related to prejudice against people:
Parting words
Personal growth and self-development flourish when we are not subject to stereotypes.
Interacting with people of different views, but without judgment or argument, is a neuropsychological catalyst, thanks to which we become able to accept much more knowledge without cognitive dissonance. All disagreements are imaginary, without them you can look at the world in a different light.
If you break the boundaries of emotional fixation, you develop ! (Think about it!)
