Read the below article. Was there ever a time that a positive or negative stereotype affected your job or school performance positively or negatively? If not, you could talk about a time another might be affected by a stereotype and describe how.

Myth or Science?

All Stereotypes Are Negative

This statement is false. Positive stereotypes exist as much as negative ones.

A study of Princeton University students shows, for example, that even today we believe Germans are better workers, Italians and African Americans are more loyal, Jews and Chinese are more intelligent, and Japanese and English are more courteous. What is surprising is that positive stereotypes are not always positive.

We may be more likely to choke (fail to perform) when we identify with positive stereotypes because they induce pressure to perform at the stereotypical level. For example, men are commonly believed to have higher math ability than women. A study showed that when this stereotype is activated before men take a math test, their performance on the test decreases. The belief that white men are better at science and math than women or minorities caused white men in another study to leave science, technology, engineering, and math majors. One study used basketball to illustrate the complexity of stereotypes. Researchers provided evidence to one group of undergraduates that whites were better free throw shooters than blacks. Another group was provided evidence that blacks were better free throw shooters than whites. A third group was given no stereotypic information.

The undergraduates in all three groups then shot free throws while observers watched. The people who performed the worst were those in the negative stereotype condition (black undergraduates who were told whites were better and white undergraduates who were told blacks were better). However, the positive stereotype group (black undergraduates who were told blacks were better and white undergraduates who were told whites were better) also did not perform well. The best performance was turned in by those in the group without stereotypic information.

Choking is not the only negative thing about positive stereotypes. Research revealed that when women or Asian Americans heard positive stereotypes about themselves (women are nurturing; Asians are good at math), they felt depersonalized and reacted negatively to the individual expressing the positive stereotype. Another study showed that positive stereotypes about African Americans solidified negative stereotypes because any stereotype tends to reinforce group-based differences, whether positive or negative.

Stereotypes are understandable. To function, we need shortcuts; however, shortcuts run both ways. Because stereotypes are socially learned, we need to be vigilant about not accepting or propagating them among our coworkers and peers.