Walter Lippman and Stereotypes

Walter Lippman and Stereotypes

1. Says that our beliefs and actions aren't based on direct or definite facts, but pictures we created in our heads given to us by society.

   • What distorts the "pictures in our head?"
     • Limitations in time and energy
     • Restricted access to information
     • Personal and media bias
     • Look first and define second
   • Whatever believe to be the true "picture," we treat it as if it were the environment itself
   • NOT merely a neutral simplification! Projection to the world of our own sense of values, positions and rights.
   • The way we see things is a combination of what is there and what we expect to find. It is harder to see facts that do not support our views
     • SELECTIVE EXPOSURE!!
       • When we make arguments, we are likely to pick factors that support our argument

2. Believes real world is too complex and vast so we reconstruct the world to be as simple as possible

3. "A fixed, commonly held notion or image of a person or group based on an oversimplication of some observed or imagined trait of behavior or appearance."

   • Shaped by broader culture

4. When we recognize stereotypes and notice we our ideas started, where they came from, and why we accepted them, we are more open to individual distinct reality

   • Getting into the habit of recognizing your opinions as partial experience seen through stereotypes