Title: Stereotyping and the Media - iResearchNet
Headings: Stereotyping and the Media
Stereotyping and the Media
Function Of Social Stereotypes
Examples Of Negative Stereotyping
Effects And Challenges
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Content: For example, research on the effects of ethnic and racial stereotypes demonstrates that exposure to negative ethnic imagery in the media adversely influences later evaluations of ethnic minorities (Mastro & Tropp 2004). The simple exposure to stereotypical images of poor blacks in the media has led audiences to perceive greater disparity in socio-economic status between blacks and whites (Gandy & Baron 1998), and perceive that blacks are more economically disadvantaged than whites (Armstrong et al. 1992). Although whites’ stereotypes of blacks as poor do not match actual poverty statistics, they do closely resemble racial representations in the news media that feature blacks as poverty-stricken (Peffley et al. 1996). It is important to realize that stereotypes are permanent fixtures in our mediated society and in our minds. Given that stereotypes are associated with a variety of groups and once formed are not easily dismissed, greater efforts should be made to disseminate accurate and diversified depictions of groups that appear in the media. Although media stereotypes can be negative, they are useful and necessary in providing information about unfamiliar people and places we might not otherwise encounter without the assistance of the media. Our challenge is to use stereotypes as convenient tools for navigating through millions of media messages, without succumbing to their most powerful shortcoming –the tendency to ignore the diverse thoughts, behaviors, and contributions of the unique individuals behind the stereotypical images. References: