Seinan Gakuin University: Economics in 1993
Stereotypes may apply to groups of many different varieties. Images may automatically arise when we hear words like international banker, or trade-union leader, or when we are told that a young man is a student at Oxford or Harvard. We have certain expectations regarding the personal characteristics or the behavior of those to whom these terms apply. Similarly, we have images, usually shared by many others in the group to which we belong, regarding people of a particular nationality, and most of us appear quite inclined to generalize about the Scots, the Japanese or the Australians. In what follows we shall be particularly concerned with stereotypes as they apply to nations.
Stereotypes are generalizations, but not all generalizations are stereotypes. If we have made a study of a representative sample of trade-union leaders or of Irishmen, and have discovered on the basis of adequate evidence that each one of these groups has certain features that characterize all or nearly all of its members, we have arrived at an inductive generalization, not a stereotype. The special quality of the stereotype is that it is based not on carefully collected data but on hearsay, on anecdotes, on partial and incomplete experience, on what people have said. This does not mean that the stereotype is always and necessarily false, but it does mean that it is taken on faith rather than founded on proved fact.
It is difficult to avoid the stereotyping tendency. There is an obvious temptation to accept convenient short cuts to generalization instead of being occupied in the tiring and complex task of acquiring the needed information, and reserving judgment until the individual German or Chinese has demonstrated what he is really like.
本文の内容と一致するものを４つ選べ。
イWe tend to have a similar fixed idea of students at Oxford.
ロStudents at Oxford and Harvard are more
apt to stereotype something than ordinary
people are.
ハIf we hear the words "trade-union leader,"
we usually think that the leader is an Irishman.
ニThe stereotype you have of the Japanese
always gives you a true picture of their
nationality.
ホThe difference between stereotypes and
inductive generalizations is that the latter
are based on adequate evidence while the
former are not.
ヘOne of the uniquenesses of stereotyping
is that it comes mainly from carefully collected
information.
トIf we study a group of people carefully,
we will arrive at a stereotype of the group.
チStereotypes reveal every aspect of a particular
group.
リWe are very likely to stereotype people
of a different nationality.
ヌTaking short cuts to generalizations often
creates stereotypes.
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