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INTRODUCTION
In our contemporary world today, people easily affirm a wrong assertion about others or group of
people because of a wrong oversimplified conceived notion about them instead of encountering
such persons or group face to face. Hearsay have become the order of the day. People feel
stereotyped about others probably because of their personalities, cultural background,
professions, etc, by creating false assumptions about them. In view of this, Allport (1954) asserts
that "stereotype, whether favorable or unfavorable is an exaggerated belief asserted with a
category" (Deeksha). Most times, stereotypes arise out of prejudice, emotional experience, hatred
and pre-existing facts since any attempt to see all things freshly and in detail or bit by bit is time
consuming and exhausting. Thus, over-generalization of facts is made through already existing
facts. These preconceived notions negatively affect us by influencing the way we think and
interact with others thereby leading to discrimination and social inequality. The goal of this
research work is to delve into the concept of stereotypes with much emphasis on how they affect
the operations of individuals not only in the society in general but also in the seminary setting in
particular and how to avoid them.
DEFINITION OF STEREOTYPES
Douglas Martin et al define stereotypes as template-like cognitive representations whereby
membership of social groups is associated with the possession of certain attributes such as
scientists are geeky, men like the blue color etc.
According to Araya, stereotypes are cognitive structures that contain the perceiver’s knowledge,
beliefs and expectancies about a social group and its members. It is also an abstract structure
linking a social group to a set of traits and behavioral characteristics and also, a consensual belief
about the characteristics of a group (8).
Stereotypes are clusters of beliefs usually lacking a rational basis regarding the members of some
group. According to Albrecht, Thomas and Chadwick (1980), stereotypes are beliefs about some
particular traits being prevalent among all members of a social group. Whatever be the
characteristic, it is assumed to vest all people in that category. Therefore, all members of the
group are perceived, understood and treated alike.
LITERATURE REVIEW
ALEXANDER M. CZOPP
In the article “Positive stereotypes are pervasive and powerful”, Alexander Czopp et al
summarized and integrated extant research on positive stereotypes, which are subjectively
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favorable beliefs about social groups and examines their implications for individuals and groups
directly targeted by such stereotypes. They see positive stereotype as subjectively favorable
beliefs about members of social groups that directly or indirectly connote or confer domain-
specific advantage, favorability or superiority based on category memberships (Czopp et al, 1).
In a world seemingly obsessed with embracing diversity but unsure about how best to do so,
positive stereotypes represent an especially complex phenomenon. In synthesis, what the authors
have explored in this article is to show vividly the importance of positive stereotype and the need
for us to lean more on positively stereotyping individuals and groups rather than negatively
stereotyping them. This will help them in many ways such as forming an identity of their own
and to proud of who they are, demonstrating benefits in performance and well-being as they will
not be feeling rejected or marginalized. According to them, this will help in upholding that
knowledge that children gain from their parents when they were young about being nice to
people and saying nice things to them rather than uttering bad and injurious words to people to
make them feel inferior or harmed.
BOSHAN ZHANG
In the article “Editorial: The psychological process of stereotyping: content, forming,
internalizing, mechanisms, effects and interventions”, Boshan Zhang et al see stereotypes as
pervasive and persistent human tendencies that stem from a basic cognitive need to categorize,
simplify, and process the complex world (1). This tendency is what causes in no small measure
social bias, prejudice and discrimination. The article focuses mostly on exploring the
psychological processes involved and internalizing social stereotypes and the negative
consequences of stereotypes. On the forming of social stereotypes, it is believed that negative
stereotypes from the public may be influenced by our knowledge about and the distance to the
target group, beliefs of group malleability, beliefs in the implicit change of traits and moral
value. This lack of direct experience of the target group is what influences peoples’ behavioral
inclinations toward the target groups. People who are considered vulnerable may internalize the
negative stereotypes about them and consequently be influenced by them.
TYPES OF STEREOTYPES
Chris Drew, in his article on “The 9 types of stereotypes”, suggested nine types of stereotypes
which we are going to explore them individually.
Gender stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are oversimplified perceptions of individuals based on their gender or sex.
This involves making assumptions about what a man or woman can and cannot do or what a man
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or woman should or should not do. Drew opined that gender stereotypes have been one of the
most insidious types of stereotypes from time immemorial. This continued even in the early part
of the 20th century where many women were denied the privilege to vote or take part in many
professions due to some setback beliefs about their ability to participate in public life. This has
even manifested itself in this 21st century in that women are perpetually rejected for jobs because
of fears that they might quit one day in order to have a baby or a female doctor is often perceived
to be a nurse by the patients due to the workplace stereotypes ingrained in society. Many men are
also often discriminated against, very often by other men, when they choose to undergo feminine
professions like nursing and teaching. Drew gave an example of some of the gender stereotypes
to include: A man is expected to be assertive, take control, take a leadership role and take on
dangerous or physical tasks in service of women while a woman is expected to be passive, sweet,
shy and quietly spoken. Some people think she should act like a lady and take a more active role
in household chores than men.
Race and Ethnicity Stereotypes
For Drew, ethnic or racial stereotypes are prejudgments about people based on their race whether
they are black, white, Asian, or ethnicity whether they are Hispanic, Native American, Pashtun
etc. He is of the opinion that it is the society that creates archetypal ideas about people based on
their race, which eventually follows them throughout their lives. Some time ago in history,
Western society wrongly saw white people as a more intelligent race and created insidious and
negative stereotypes about the violent black man. In some western countries, these stereotypes
are still strictly adhered to. This has gone to the level at which many older conservative parents
in our society today may want their children to marry from the same race as them. This has
contributed immensely to division in our communities. For instance, in Benue State, the Tiv
people and the Idoma people have this issue when it comes to marriage. When a Tiv man marries
an Idoma wife, after the wife’s death, her corpse is usually taken back to her father’s house for
burial. It is a taboo for a Tiv man to bury his Idoma wife in his Tiv land. This anachronism has
caused several difficulties to many persons willing to get married within these two tribes because
many Idoma parents will not allow their children to marry Tiv People.
Sexuality Stereotypes
Sexuality stereotypes are oversimplified perceptions of people based on their sexual orientation.
This has led to harsh discrimination against LGBTQI people. Recent decades have seen some
great progress for the LGBTQI community. Even in the 1980’s, Drew is of the opinion that gay
men were seen as dirty due to moral panic about the Aids epidemic. As a result of this, many
were refused medical and employment services based on the nature of their sexual orientation.
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These prejudices are still experienced by these people presently as they continue to face
discrimination based on assumptions about their identities. There still remain strong assumptions
that gay men and women should not be allowed to be around children, as well as homophobic
views that may lead to their exclusion from sports teams and even some militaries.
Social-Class Stereotypes
Stereotypes about working-class people have followed them through the centuries, which can
prevent them from getting good jobs or access to welfare. This is true to the fact that the
working-class people are always seen as being dirty, uneducated and violent by the wealthier
classes. This has made working class persons to be marked down when it comes to job
interviews not really because they were not able to perform very well but only because of their
accent. Drew is also of the opinion that people also hold stereotypes about the wealthier people
as they are seen as being pompous, arrogant and uncaring.
Disability Stereotypes
Disability stereotypes have been there in history whereby people with disabilities were excluded
from social participation. For example, someone with speaking difficulties or who is missing
hands might be considered unable to do a job that, in reality, they are perfectly capable of doing.
The Western nations, since 1990s, have made a concrete effort to embrace what is called a
“Social model of disability”. This model hopes to overcome stereotypes by requiring
establishments and workplaces to make reasonable accommodations to ensure access to people
with disabilities.
Age Stereotypes
Ageism is a stereotype that assumes that older people are incapable and losing intellect. Age-
based stereotypes can include seeing an older person as unable to understand modern cultural
mores or assuming they are incapable of performing physical tasks. For younger people, it
usually involves people being condescending to people in their late teens or early 20s with an
assumption that they are naive or incompetent leading to the belittling or minimizing of their
contributions in workplace or wherever they find themselves.
Nationality Stereotypes
These are seen as some held assumptions about the people of particular nations. This prompted
Drew to say that when you make a statement like “people from England are …” you are
probably perpetuating a stereotype. Here, you would be making an assumption about all the
people from a nation that can be damaging to individuals from that nation who do not fit into the
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stereotypical mood. For example, people from France are arrogant, people from America are
rude and people from South Africa are racists. These assumptions and prejudices can be harmful
to some people from France who are perfectly humble, polite American tourists or socially
inclusive South Africans.
Religious Stereotypes
Religious stereotypes can create fear of religious groups that one does not belong to. It can
involve “othering” people of a certain religion, such as Islam, Judaism or Hinduism. Drew wrote
that in the early 2000s, anti-Muslim stereotypes were ascendant. A significant subset of people in
the United States saw Muslims as terrorists, despite the fact that historically most US terrorism
was committed by right-wing extremists, not Muslims. In modern history, Germany during the
Second World War painted Jewish people as collectively inferior people, leading to the horrors
of the holocaust.
Political Stereotypes
According to Drew, political stereotypes are created when we retreat into our political tribes and
paint people with different political views in the worst possible light. While there are surely
many people who fit these stereotypes, there are many more on both sides of the political
spectrum with much more nuanced views of the world. Therefore, by getting to know one
another outside of media bubbles, we can break down the insidious political stereotypes that
drive our society to extreme positions on the political spectrum.
APPLICATION TO SEMINARY FORMATION
Priestly formation refers to the process of preparing and educating individuals for the
priesthood, focusing on their spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and human development. This
formation aims to equip future priests with the necessary knowledge, skills, and virtues to
effectively serve the Church and its people. The seminary has, in no small measure, experienced
various kinds of stereotypes over the years. What we will be doing here basically is to show by
way of experience some stereotypical behaviors that exist in the seminary. Having established
that fact, below are examples of some stereotypes some seminarians are facing in the seminary
with particular focus on St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Makurdi:
a. Tagging seminarians from a particular diocese as being stingy based on one encounter with a
seminarian from that diocese and spreading the news across to other seminarians or
incoming seminarians making the whole seminarians from such a particular diocese to be
seen as stingy people.
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b. Some seminarians from other dioceses looking down on some other seminarians based on
the nature of their dioceses. In this case, some belonging to arch-dioceses while others
belonging to newly erected dioceses, making the ones from the arch-dioceses to feel special
and above the ones coming from normal dioceses.
c. Tagging seminarians from a particular diocese as being wicked and treating them as such
based on just a wicked encounter with a seminarian from that diocese.
d. Tagging seminarians belonging to the Charismatic renewal as those who have the desire of
becoming authentic healing ministers or exorcists or as it is normally called “mba-mba
priests” after their ordination.
e. Tagging some seminarians who take their spiritual lives seriously as being wicked, stingy
and self-centered.
f. Tagging a particular class as being dull based on a low-level performance of some students
in exams in a particular course.
g. People from outside assuming that seminarians should be natural-born leaders, rather than
recognizing the value of different personality types and leadership styles.
h. People expecting seminarians to have all the answers to their questions and problems, rather
than acknowledging the importance of vulnerability, empathy, and collaborative problem-
solving.
Ways of overcoming these stereotypes in the seminary.
a. By Recognizing and challenging assumptions: Encourage seminarians to share their
thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and be open to feedback and constructive criticism.
b. By Fostering a culture of empathy and understanding: Promote a safe and supportive
environment where seminarians feel comfortable sharing their struggles, doubts, and fears.
c. By Emphasizing individuality and diversity: Celebrate the unique gifts, talents, and
perspectives each seminarian brings, and encourage them to develop their own ministerial
style and approach.
d. By Providing holistic formation: Ensure that formation programs address the whole person
intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and pastorally in order to prepare seminarians for a
lifetime of ministry and service.
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CONCLUSION
Stereotypes, if its consequences are properly understood as this work has tried to explore, are
always pervasive and persistent on the individuals, communities and society as a whole who are
involved. By recognizing this fact and actively working to challenge and overcome them, we can
promote greater understanding, empathy, and inclusivity. To ensure this, a collective effort is
required and by so doing we can create a more just and equitable society, where individuals and
groups are judged on their unique qualities and characteristics, rather than being reduced to
inaccurate assumptions.
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Work cited
Araya, Tadesse. “Stereotypes: Suppression, Forgetting and False Memory.” Acta Universitatis
Upsaliensis. Uppsala. 2003
Czopp, Alexander. “Positive stereotypes are pervasive and powerful.” University of Washington
Libraries. 2015.
Deeska, S. “Stereotypes: Definition, Nature and causes psychology”. Accessed on the 11th
January, 2025.
Douglas, Martin et al. “The spontaneous formation of stereotypes via cumulative cultural
evolution”. University of Aberdeen. Scotland. Web accessed on the 19th January, 2025.
Drew, Chris. “The 9 Types of Stereotypes (A Guide for Students)”. Helpful Professor. 2021.
<[Link]
Zhang, Boshan Et al. “The psychological process of stereotyping: content, forming,
internalizing, mechanisms, effects and interventions.” 2023.