prejudice are often grounded in stereotypes or not?
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Answer:
A stereotype is a thought that someone has about specific types of individuals that may or may not accurately reflect reality. Stereotypes can also be thought of like caricatures, which are pictures that exaggerate certain features while oversimplifying others and end up distorting the essence of an individual. Many stereotypes are widely held but they are also overgeneralised images or ideas about a particular type of person. Any time we group individuals together and make a generalisation or judgment about them without knowing them, this is an example of a stereotype.
A prejudice is an opinion - usually an unfavourable one - that was formed before having any evidence and that is not based on reason or experience. While a stereotype is a thought about a person or group of people, a prejudice relates to feelings and attitudes about that person or group of people. Prejudices are often rooted in the idea that certain types of people are worth less or are less capable than others.
Discrimination refers to behaviour. It can be direct, indirect or structural and often results from stereotypes or prejudicial attitudes.
When we have expectations or feelings about people based on characteristics like sex, gender, marital status or pregnancy we may act in ways that negatively affect individuals or groups of people. Often we don’t even think about the stereotypes or prejudices we hold and may hurt or disadvantage people without realising it. We may think that we are simply behaving in ways that accurately reflect the realities or abilities of men and women but we are actually discriminating and reinforcing inequality. Even if a stereotype is seen as or meant to be positive, the fact that not all persons in that group meet that standard often leads to a “positive” stereotype disadvantaging specific individuals.