Critical Evaluation of the Cognitive Theory of Stereotyping

Critical Evaluation of the cognitive Theory of Stereotyping\n\nB231: Social Interaction, exam Paper 1998, Question 4.\n\nGraeme Gordon\n\nStereotyping is a form of pre persuasion that is as prevalent in todays association as it was 2000 years ago. It is a tender attitude that has stood the tryout of time and received overmuch attention by sociable psychologists and philosophers alike. Many approaches to, or theories of stereotyping hand over thus been raised. This essay evaluates the cognitive approach that categorisation is an inhering cognitive solve that need adepty leads to stereotyping. Hamilton (1979) calls this a depressing dilemma.\n\nBrowns (1995) definition of stereotyping by means of prejudice is the holding of derogatory social attitudes or cognitive beliefs, the appearance of negative affect, or the discover of hostile or anti-Semite(prenominal) behaviour towards members of a theme on account of their social rank to that assemblage. This definition impl ies that stereotyping is primarily a convention process, through the individuals psyches inside that group. A further stem of stereotyping, defined by Allport (1954) as thinking ill of separates without warrant, is that people make their brain up without any personal experience. This pre judgement about a social unit group is then transferred to the stigmatisation of any individuals in that group. It is these ideas that the essay aims to evaluate, through the cognitive process of categorisation and the above definitions that puzzle about three hard-hitting rollicks of stereotyping, that our cognition can be demonstrated through.\n\nThe first symptomatic of stereotyping is over-generalisation. A number of studies conducted tack together that different combinations of traits were associated with groups of different heathenish and national origin (Katz and Braly, 1933). However, stereotyping does non imply that all members of a group are judged in these ways, just that a co mmon member of a group can be categorized in such judgements, that they take the characteristics of the group. Still, when we talk of a group, we do so by imagining a member of that group.\n\nThe second feature and characteristic of stereotyping is the exaggeration of the expiration between ones own group (the in-group) and the other group (the out-group). This can be traced back to the work of Tajfel during the 1950s - the accentuation principle (Tajfel, 1981). Tajfels work was specifically on physical stimuli, and concluded that judgements on such stimuli are not made in isolation, still in the context of other factors. Applied socially - a judgement about an...If you essential to get a full essay, order it on our website:

Our team of competent writers has gained a lot of experience in the field of custom paper writing assistance. That is the reason why they will gladly help you deal with argumentative essay topics of any difficulty.