Chapter 7 Reaction Paper - Essay Example

Your Full Your 15 March Reaction Paper Chapter 7 discusses how people end up treating others poorly based on social stereotyping and prejudices. Most of us hold stereotypes to be true, and almost all of us are prejudiced against one group of people or another. It was interesting to read about how we tend to confirm our own prejudices by choosing which information to process, and only filtering validating information. Moreover, I really agree with the premise that there is no such thing as a “positive” stereotype.

Stereotypes end up dehumanizing a whole group of people, essentially pigeonholing them without giving them any chance to prove their own unique identity. When talking about the “accuracy” of stereotypes, I did not like the fact that the author mentions that some stereotypes are “accurate.” The fact that he goes on to mention very objective terms (like the income of a certain group of people), further augments my point. Stereotypes, I feel are based on subjective terms and not objective ones, and that is precisely why they are so damaging.

However, I did like the idea the author then goes on to say how, even though we cannot get rid of stereotyping all together, we need to recognize them for what they are so that they can be productive and not destructive. In this regard the chapter itself contains certain stereotypes, which the author also admits. However, I would have liked it if there had been mention of stereotypes causing prejudices to be formed. I liked how the article relays the idea that we need to acknowledge that people are different, or that certain groups of people will be different as a collective.

However, if that is true, then, perhaps, there is a premise for stereotyping to be an effective social tool. Nonetheless, it need not be so if we refrain from making rigid assumptions about a whole group of people and applying them on individuals as well. We need to respect the individuality of people It was interesting to see how stereotypes are differentiated from prejudices. I always thought before that it was stereotyping that gave rise to prejudices, however, the chapter seems to deny that, claiming instead that both of them are two different concepts altogether.

Prejudices, it seems, are always negative and focused on the “bad” side of the person against whom they are directed, however, as per the chapter, stereotypes can be based on a “good” attribute of the group they are held for. The chapter also made me reflect inward causing me to inspect my own prejudices and ethnocentricity. I found that I refer to people who are ethnically different from me as “them” while referring to my own ethnically related people as “us.” Moreover, I tend to reinforce my beliefs by acknowledging only validating information.

Surprisingly, I discovered that sometimes I hold prejudices not based on any fact, but rather to bolster my ego, i.e. to make myself feel good about myself. I never thought I would come to know that I was so competitive on a social scale as well. However, I made a very interesting and pleasant finding – I am willing to accept my flaws and improve my view when it comes to, what I found I refer to as, “others.”