Review the stereotypes of people from different cultures in the chapter’s international issues section. Are those stereotypes shared by other students in your class? If students from other countries are in your class, ask them about the stereotypes they hold about U.S. and Canadian people.

Stereotype

A stereotype is a perceptual set that holds beliefs and perceived attributes of a target person based on the group to which the target person belongs. For example, a study of samples of Russian and American university students found that they held certain images of each other. The Russian students perceived Americans as independent, energetic, and spontaneous. The American students perceived Russians as conservative, orderly, restrained, and obedient.

People’s perceptions and stereotypes have many effects on behavior in organizations. The research literature shows their importance to several contemporary issues. Some research found that sexual harassment training increases a person’s perception of sexual harassment in the workplace. Other research has shown that the more people perceive political behavior in an organization, the more likely they will have negative work attitudes. Another study assessed the stereotypes held by white men and women of white people, black people, and successful middle managers. The descriptions of managers more closely matched the descriptions of white people than the descriptions of black people. If people widely hold these stereotypes, they have implications for management aspirations of blacks in an increasingly diverse workforce.