How Stereotypes Become Shared Knowledge: Biased Language Use in Communication About Stereotyped Individuals.

• In Event: Creating, Sharing, and Reducing Stereotypes Through Communication

Abstract

Stereotypes are generally considered to be socially shared. The question how stereotypes become shared knowledge, however, remains obscure. While it is assumed that this process occurs through communication, research on the exact means and general underlying principles is scarce. In this theoretical contribution, we argue that to understand how stereotypes become shared knowledge it is crucial to focus closely on language use. Based on the literature on stereotyping and biased language use, we distill four general theoretical principles. Subsequently we focus on a number of linguistic means through which people implicitly share social-category stereotypes: linguistic labeling, language abstraction, irony and negations.

Authors

• Camiel J. Beukeboom, VU U Amsterdam

• Christian Burgers, VU University Amsterdam