The Dark Side of Categorization (Part 1)

Picture originally found on www.createourworld.net

I always joke that as a Social Psychologist, my job is finding out what is wrong with people.

Take categorization, for example.

As humans, we need to notice patterns and categories to make sense of the world. Being able to categorize the things we encounter is crucial to survival. This could be something as simple as categorizing red as a different color from green while encountering a traffic light, or distinguishing between foods that are poisonous to eat and foods that are safe to eat.

Not only do we categorize objects, but we also categorize people. As infants, we demonstrate the ability to distinguish between people of different races by responding more to those of the same race as our primary caretaker. We categorize people as tall or short, female or male, happy or sad, old or young. More importantly, we categorize people as "similar to me" and "not similar to me" or to put it more simply "us" verses "them."

Categorizing people is not necessarily a bad thing. For one, categorizing people can facilitate social interactions. It gives us shortcuts to know how to properly engage with others. We interact with countless others during our lifetime. Because it is impossible to "learn" a different social script each time we encounter someone new, we rely on categories as default for a starting point in how to interact with a new acquaintance. For example, let's say I meet a woman named Sally for the first time. I have never interacted with Sally before, but I do know that she is a nun. I rely on my knowledge of the category "nun" and assume that Sally is religious, conservative, and celibate. Because of that, I will take care not to use profanity or make jokes about drinking and sex when I meet Sally. While it is true that Sally may prove to be quite different from my understanding of a nun, relying on my categorization of "nun" gives me a starting point from which to interact with her. As I get to know Sally better, I can correct my perceptions accordingly.

The problem is when our categories are wrongly associated with certain attributes, or when we box people into the category they fall under. This, social psychologists argue, is one of the ways prejudices may form. Let's say, for example, that I may not have many personal interactions with homeless people. The little I do know is from the news or movies where they are more often than not portrayed incredibly negatively. Thus, when I do encounter homeless people, I assume from the start that they are lazy and unintelligent. Furthermore, I attend more to their behaviors that confirm of that stereotype, in essence preventing them from proving the stereotype wrong. And the less I know about a certain category, the more likely this is to happen.

I believe that it is fundamental need for humans to categorize one another. I also believe this fundamental human need to categorize contributes directly to prejudice as well as social inequalities. The connection to social inequalities, however, will be explained in Part 2 (coming soon).