What is the difference between stereotypes and prejudices?

Stereotypes and prejudices are some very similar ideas governing our beliefs and understanding of people and objects, helping us define our attitude and establishing relations with one another. Meeting new people and establishing an association with the world around us, necessitates the importance of understanding these two terminologies and to be able to identify one from another based on our knowledge of the concepts.

The stereotype is commonly defined as a widely accepted simplified representation of a particular person or thing. A stereotypic belief may be positive, neutral or negative, based on an opinion influenced by gender, profession, race, occupation, cultural or religious beliefs of an individual or a certain group of people. The tendency of human nature to observe an expected pattern of behavior or attitude among specific persons categorically results in stereotyping. These ideas and beliefs are not an outcome of experience or personal knowledge of people, instead, are defined by pre-existing values in the society.

Psychologists believe that stereotyping was observed from the time of origin of man to thereby, have the advantage to adapt to his environment. The ability to distinguish between a friend and a foe is said to be defined by stereotyping. Stereotyping has been elaborated by various existing theories. One such theory implies stereotypes to be caused by the inability to deal with the complexities of some individuals. Similarly, another theory attributes stereotypes to be the outcome of considering for one’s own well-being over others. Psychologists, therefore believe that molding the thoughts of a child may have a strong impact on the development of stereotypes and with age, these mental associations established in the head drives his action and attitude. Thus, stereotypes can not only lead to personal conflicts between people it can also result in bullying or extortion in certain extreme cases.

Prejudice is associated with a pre-existing notion of an individual or an object without having sufficient knowledge to support the reasons responsible for the assumptions. Like, stereotypes, prejudices are largely influenced by factors such as gender, caste, creed and color, but are generally related to negative behavioral tendencies. Prejudices often result in people showing preference or developing a liking for a certain person or group of people with whom they may have similarities while completely ignoring and suppressing another based on pre-conceived ideas without adequate understanding to drive this negative feeling.

The behavior of people governed by prejudices is possibly not due to a feeling of hate or anger towards one another, rather is influenced by the lack of faith or trust on others over their own. This feeling could be associated with the tendency to show intense admiration towards one’s own beliefs even if completely illogical or misconstrued, and thus result in  superiority in terms of thinking over another. However, to implement objective thinking, the cause of this prejudice has to be identified. Unlike in the case of stereotypes, social status, and power may be a significant factor to address considering its impact on prejudice.

Now that a certain level of understanding of these two terms has been established, it becomes important to identify the parameters separating prejudices and stereotypes in their meanings. The basis of the definition of prejudice itself distinguishes it from stereotypes. Stereotypes are widely defined but a simplified image resulting from pre-existing beliefs in the society regarding a person or group of people. However, prejudices are associated with pre-conceived assumptions made without having knowledge of the actual facts or truth behind these ideas.

Prejudices are governed by no known facts and attributed to a lack of knowledge or belief. While, stereotypes are defined by knowledge of existing facts which are generally true and acceptable in the society. More often associated with a negative feeling towards a certain group of people, and the biases and favoritism directed towards one’s own group in prejudice are not seen in stereotypes. Despite the differences underlying their meaning, stereotypes could be the outcome of prejudice. In spite of having established the distinction between stereotypes and prejudices, both have significantly proved to be detrimental to the society and the people, in general.

In the course of interacting with the people around us and the quest to know the world around us, we often resort to prejudice as well as stereotypes to have an opinion about everything and anybody we confront or come to terms with. We associate people and things categorically grouping them in separate thoughts which help us understand them better, influencing our decisions. Often, the notions and thoughts in our minds, are not a product of rationality or being reasonable in our judgment, however, driving us to make a choice of the people or things with which we intend to establish a connection or associate our lives. It is through the intermingling of these simple thought processes that stereotypes and prejudices arise influencing our notion and impression of the people and the world.