In other words, certain groups of people are steroetyped for a reason.
I recall reading an article on stereotypes that indicated it was survival shorthand. When people are rapidly faced with new encounters, they are more likely to survive if they quickly identify the new encounters and their potential for danger.
A couple of years ago I realized this is an inherent characteristic of people. We categorize, and in the absence of direct knowledge, we rely on our categorization.
Take snakes for example. If we are walking along and we suddenly realize we are about to step on a snake, we don't pause for a moment and contemplate whether or not the snake is dangerous. We instantly assume it is, and we leap away from it.
After we are certain any potential danger is passed, then we might take the time to examine the snake more closely to see if it might be one of the harmless variety.
So too do we behave with people. Stereotypes are survival shorthand, just like assuming any suddenly encountered snake is dangerous. The danger from identifying a harmless snake as deadly is virtually non existent, but the danger of falsely assuming a venomous snake is harmless can be fatal.
Stereotyping works like this too. If you are have misidentified harmless people as dangerous, you are embarrassed. If you misidentify dangerous people as harmless, you likely won't survive the encounter.
