Ethnocentrism and stereotypes
The idea that our in-group members' views and standards are more important than those of any out-group is ethnocentrism. Because we make judgments about out-group members based on our own frame of reference, which is culturally constructed, out-groups will never really measure up. Examples of relevant standards are religion, definitions of respect for others, children's education, and politics.A visual depiction would place us at the center of a circle, with all out-groups at the periphery. It is a defense mechanism that defines our own culture as superior to others and our own perceptions of life as reasonable and proper. Because of this view, others' standards are less reasonable or proper, so others should follow ours. It develops out of a sense of comfort in the familiar.
Ethnocentrism has been broken down into three states. These are denial of cultural difference, defense against cultural difference, and minimization of cultural difference. In denial of cultural difference, our ways are truly the only ones. In defense against cultural difference, our culture is the only good one, engendering sentiments of superiority and inferiority.
In acceptance of cultural difference, people experience their own culture as one of many diverse cultures and ways of living in this world. Acceptance of difference can be further subcategorized into adaptation of cultural difference, where you get used to things in a new culture and begin to understand them and integration of cultural difference where you incorporate them yourself.
Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about a group's members based on our inflexible beliefs about the behaviors or characteristics of that group. Individual variations are not considered; rather, the generalizations of the group apply to all of its members unilaterally. They can attempt to convey both positive information ("Asians are good in math.") or negative information ("Russians are rude.").
We develop these stereotypes based on past observations, media images, or what others have said. We then develop categories for our expectations and attach meaning to people's behaviors based on those constructed categories.
The Stereotype Content Model indicates that we tend to form stereotypes along two dimensions low-high warmth and low-high competence. Perceptions of warmth are grounded in whether our culture is in competition or cooperation with another. This can explain stereotypes about rich people being rude. Perceptions of competence relate to the level of status we perceive of the other culture. This can explain stereotypes of the elderly as being incompetent.
Stereotypes are largely constructed by media images. The media shape how we view dissimilar others, with whom we may have little contact in daily life. As a result, "character types" are constructed as stereotypes. For example, African American women are generally depicted as sex objects or asexual mammies. Latinos are often cast as sensual and spirited, criminals, or buffoons. Some are making strides to counter these influences, such as the widely popular Dora the Explorer children's series, that increases appreciation for the Spanish language and Latino culture. It is important to be aware of the power of the media in shaping our thinking and attitudes, and thus our behaviors.
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