“Protestants are the ones who kill themselves!”
“People in the United States? They’re rich, they love to marry, and they love to divorce!”
“Everybody knows that you have to be black to play professional basketball!”
Everyone—including sociologists—makes generalizations. But many beginning students of sociology may wonder how sociological generalizations differ from simple stereotypes.
The three statements above are examples of a stereotype, an exaggerated description that is applied to every person in some category. First, rather than describing averages, each statement paints every individual in some category with the same brush; second, each ignores facts and distorts reality (even though many stereotypes do contain an element of truth); third, each sounds more like a “put down” than a fair-minded assertion.
Good sociology, by contrast, involves generalizations, but with three conditions. First, sociologists do not indiscriminately apply any generalization to all individuals. Second, sociologists are careful that a generalization squares with available facts. Third, sociologists offer generalizations fair-mindedly, with an interest in getting at the truth.
Earlier in this chapter, we noted that the suicide rate among Protestants is higher than the rate for Catholics or Jews. However, the statement “Protestants are the ones who kill themselves” is not a reasonable generalization because the vast majority of Protestants do no such thing. Furthermore, it would be wrong to assume that a particular friend, since he is a Protestant male, is on the verge of self-destruction. (Imagine yourself refusing to lend some money to him, explaining “Well, given your risk of suicide, I might never get paid back!”)
Second, sociologists shape their generalizations to available facts. A more factual version of the second statement is that, by world standards, the U.S. population, on average, has a very high standard of living. It is also true that our marriage rate is one of the highest in the world, and although few people take pleasure in divorcing, so is our divorce rate.
Third, sociologists strive to be fair-minded, and they have a passion for truth. The last of the box-opening statements, about African Americans and basketball, is not good sociology for two reasons. First, it is simply not true, and, second, it seems motivated by bias rather than truth-seeking.
Good sociology, then, stands apart from harmful stereotyping. But a sociology course is an excellent setting for talking over common stereotypes. The classroom encourages discussion and offers the factual information you need to decide if a particular belief is valid or just a stereotype.