2.5. SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION

2.5.1. INTRODUCTION

Social categorization is the process by which people categorize themselves and others into differentiated groups. Categorization simplifies perception and cognition related to the social world by detecting inherent similarity relationships or by imposing structure on it (or both). The main adaptive function of social categorization is that it permits and constrains otherwise chaotic inductive inferences. People attribute group features to individuals (stereotyping) and they—less strongly—generalize individual features to the group. The strength of these two kinds of inductive inferences depends on a priori assumptions about the homogeneity of the group. To the extent that social categories rest on detected patterns of feature similarity, their coherence is a matter of family resemblance. 

Family resemblance categories comprise members of varying typicality, they have fuzzy boundaries (and thus tend to overlap), and the features they contain tend to be correlated with one another. Some social categories are ‘thin,’ however, as their coherence rests solely on arbitrary or socially constructed labels. Both types of categories (family resemblance and social construction) give rise to two common, and socially problematic, biases: (a) ingroup favouritism and (b) perceptions of outgroup homogeneity (Krueger, 2001).

2.5.2. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUB-TOPIC

Most of the gender differences are not biologically or genetically determined but rather socially constructed. Gender differences by themselves are not a problem, but they become problematic for teaching when they involve gender polarisation and gender stereotyping. More ambitious and meaningful aims would be that, once in school, girls and boys experience quality learning and teaching, and that equality in schooling is linked with positive changes towards equality in broader society (Kütt & Papp, 2022).

Teachers generally believe that they treat all children fairly and equally at school. The studies, however, show that this is not always the case and teachers treat students differently based on the students’ gender. They contribute to the social construction of gender by their expectations of and interactions with girls and boys, classroom practices, choice of educational materials, etc. which help reinforce or break gender stereotypes. “The most common goal of gender equality policies in primary education is to challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes” (Kütt & Papp, 2022).

2.5.2.1. Gender stereotypes

A gender stereotype is a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women. Gender stereotypes have descriptive components, which are beliefs about what men and women typically do. However, they also contain strong prescriptive components or beliefs about what men and women  should do. Female stereotypical roles include being emotional, caring and in need of protection. Male stereotypical roles include being rational, career driven and strong. These assumptions can be negative (e.g., women are irrational, men are insensitive) or seemingly benign (e.g., women are nurturing, men are leaders) (Kütt & Papp, 2022).

Gender stereotypes also overlook people who do not fall into the category of male or female.

It is natural that stereotyping helps each person to quickly orient themselves in the information that is obtained from the environment. At the level of the individual, categorization is spoken of as a cognitive process, which is mostly based on stereotyping. This can lead to prohibited discrimination, i.e., unequal treatment of a person because they are attributed some characteristics that characterize the prejudices or stereotypes of a group. Discrimination can be both direct and indirect, but its detection is mostly a matter for the courts. Discrimination on some basis is still perceived by a specific person, who can then legally protect their right not to be discriminated against someone else.

Several processes in society can be indirectly discriminatory, which place persons in a certain category at a disadvantage as a group.

– 2.5.3. SITUATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION RELATED TO THE SUB-TOPIC –

There are problems, if people do not see the person behind the stereotypes. There are people who are different from somebody’s constructed gender role and these people are more likely discriminated, because of being different.

2.5.4. BEST PRACTICES

• Social Identity Theory – Categorization, Identification, Comparison – VIDEO
• Social Categorization – VIDEO
• Gender Stereotypes – VIDEO
• Gender Stereotypes (Girl toys vs boy toys: The experiment – BBC Stories) – VIDEO

2.5.5. REFERENCES

Krueger, J. (2001). Social Categorization, Psychology of. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (pp. 14219–14223). Pergamon. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/01751-4

Kütt, R., & Papp, Ü.-M. (2022). Gender-Sensitive Education for Primary School Teachers. Self-Study Courxe in 16 Modules. Fair Play at Schools.