Breaking free from Stereotypes: get an Unlabeled Mindset

Sometimes either consciously or unconsciously, when you meet someone from another cultural background one starts recurring to stereotypes and generalizations. Although not the same as Stereotypes, Cognitive Biases can distort our perceptions of reality and lead to errors in judgment. To avoid this, we need to engage with an open and unbiased mind.

Cognitive Bias and Stereotypes

There is a way in which our thinking and decision-making is influenced by mental shortcuts, heuristics, and other unconscious factors. These are called Cognitive Biases and we need to be aware of them. They are not always a bad thing. Biases can improve and accelerate our decisions, give us rules of thumb or guidelines in certain events, and filter out useless information.

They can be difficult to recognize and overcome, but awareness can help to mitigate their effects on our thinking. There can be many different types of Cognitive biases, but allow me give you 3 examples:

• Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs. For example, I’ll keep on reading the news until I find some article that confirms what I initially believe in. We often seek to confirm our biases rather than to question them.
• Availability bias: the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of events that are more easily recalled). For example: When people consider buying a lottery ticket, one thinks about all of those who’ve won in the past and seen on TV), rather than think of mass majority of those who haven’t won. and
• Anchoring bias: the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we encounter), such as when a salesperson gives you a starting price and then lowers it for you.

Stereotypes, on the other hand, are a different subject

Although cognitive biases can contribute to the formation and reinforcement of stereotypes, they are not the same thing. Stereotypes are a specific kind of belief about groups of people based on their perceived characteristics.They can also be perpetuated by cultural and societal factors, such as media representation or social norms.

Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they are often based on incomplete or inaccurate information and can lead to broader social issues such as unfair treatment, discrimination and inequality and in general bad decisions. Understanding and addressing these phenomena can help us work towards creating a more equitable and inclusive society.

Examples of positive stereotypes might be all Asians are good at math or all British people are polite.  Negative ones may also include simplistic conclusions, such as all Russians are aggressive, or all Americans are straightforward and loud”. However, we all know that it can’t be that we are all the same. Our biases can lead us to wrong assumptions, having inaccurate beliefs and making bad decisions.

Stereotypes: but what about me?

We all carry stereotypes of different cultures to some degree or another. But when we learn about our own culture and our own viewpoints, we will understand our stereotypes of others. Only by comparing cultures can we comprehend some of our own prejudices and expectations.

For example, if you come from a culture that sees Americans are ‘loud and rude’ then this probably leads to the fact that people in your culture tend to be more quieter, maybe indirect and of a higher context.

The awareness of ones stereotypes can only be obtained by the self-awareness first which will take you to recognize what is potentially happening in any cross-cultural situation.

As you can learn in my next post in March 2023 sharing this self-discovery with colleagues and friends and becoming more Global Dexterity is key in today’s globalized world, as every day we interact more and more with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Let me help you as an Intercultural Coach to adapt to your new situations and work environments, to accompany you with the culture of the country, and the culture of the industry you are working in as well.

Further Reading

• Cherry, K., (2022). List of Common Cognitive Biases. Obtained from https://www.verywellmind.com/cognitive-biases-distort-thinking-2794763#toc-types-of-cognitive-biases