Communication and Stereotypical Impressions, Case Study Example

Communication and stereotypical impressions greatly affect the success of every communication process. Stereotyping elements that have been identified by the study in communication include the following, gender, race, age, nationality and tribe. The extent of stereotyping on the basis of these elements may differ from one region to another, for instance, in America racial stereotype is more pronounced than other elements such as age or gender. Stereotypical impressions in communication greatly influence social interactions and the culture of people in the society. The article reveals that stereotypes may contribute to the success of communication while at the same time contribute to the failure of communication depending on the context and the parties involved in the communication.

Drawing from one of the case studies highlighted in the journal, it has been revealed that women especially those leadership positions are likely to deviate from stereotypes by employing assertive means of communication. White women in America who are leadership positions are very likely to speak assertively than their male counterparts in the very positions. Women leaders believe that their competency and capability can only be proved by assertive speaking. The same scenario has been observed among women from minority groups.

In most cases racial and gender stereotypes have been rated as the common elements that affect communication among various people in regions such as America and the UK. In other countries issues of age and tribe play a foreground role in stereotypical communication, for instance, the youth have been observed to use more gestures and informal languages, commonly known as the slang, between them. Communication between the youths is very different from communication between them and older members of the society. In regions where race is more salient, the youths of a particular race may also communicate differently than youths from of another race.

The study article reveals that on the facet of race, black people especially those in America tends to be very emotional, can easily create tension and most of the times does not respect morality of the human kind. Black males are likely to be very radical and aggressive in the way they speak than black females or white males. African American women are very emotional in their speech than the men of the same set. However, women from either black or white tend to be generally emotional than men. Extending the very comparison to aspect of age, it has been discovered that children are also very emotional in their speech than older people. Female children are even more emotional than all the groups in the study.

The subject of communication and stereotypical impressions is also manifested in work places where particular groups of people are believed to better leaders than others, for instance, on the aspect of gender, male leaders have been believed to good leaders since they are able to communicate effectively than their female counterparts. In this comparison, the issue of emotions and competency take a center stage role. Male leaders are believed to be competent than the female leaders because they are able to communicate with their employees with a lot of confidence. Women leaders are believed to be guided by their emotions rather than the facts of the situation. Drawing findings of the article it is therefore important to note that stereotypes greatly affect communication in the society.

References

Hughes, P. C., & Baldwin, J. R. (2002). Communication and stereotypical impressions. Howard Journal of Communications, 13, 113-128.

Swim J. K., Aiken K. J.,Hall W. S. Hunter B. A.(1995). Sexism and racism: Old-fashioned and modern prejudices. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 199-214