Discussion: Stereotypes
Think back to when you were in high school and classify the students. What categories (or person prototypes) did you use to categorize these people? Describe in detail each prototype, including appearance and personality characteristics. How might your communication behavior change if you were to talk to members of each of these groups? Why do you think we classify people into these kinds of categories? Is there any truth in any of these stereotypes? Is this kind of activity relatively harmless, or is it harmful at some level? What kind of stereotypes can be damaging? How can people be encouraged to look beyond stereotypes?