Stereotypes of whites

This article is AbOUT ethnic stereotypes directed against people of Caucasian or white-European descent, or more broadly anyone who appears to be white-skinned. It does not cover stereotypes that are unique to a specific country or culture.

Common stereotypes

Dancing ability

One common stereotype, relayed in comparison to a typical black stereotype, is that white people lack a sense of rhythm and cannot dance. Eddie Murphy discusses this in Eddie Murphy Raw (1987):

This stereotype has become so accepted that even white comedians lampoon the dancing ability of white people.

Athletic ability

/There is a belief that people of Caucasian ethnic background are inferior to people of African origin when playing certain sports, particularly those involving running and jumping. The Copenhagen Institute of Sports Science conducted some tests comparing certain genetic characteristics of the natives of Kenya with Europeans , which did show some differences in the way Kenyans and Europeans store oxygen.

An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the perceptual confirmation of racial stereotypes about Black and White athletes. In a 2 x 2 design, target race (Black vs. White) and target athleticism (perceived athletic vs. unathletic) were manipulated by Providing participants with a photograph of a male basketball player. Participants then listened to a college basketball game and were asked to evaluate the target's athletic abilities, individual performance, and contribution to his team' s performance. Multivariate analyses showed only a main effect for target race on the measures of ability and team performance. Whereas the Black targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more athletic ability and having played a better game, White targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more basketball intelligence and hustle. The results suggest that participants relied on a stereotype of Black and White athletes to guide their evaluations of the target's abilities and performance.

Studies

In a study on mutual and self-perceptions of racial images of white, black and Japanese Americans, whites were stereotyped as materialistic and pleasure-loving. Whites are stereotyped as racists. In general whites were stereotyped with positive traits and minority groups with negative traits. In a study on the associative strength between two words subjects, regardless of prejudice score, responded reliably faster when positive attitudes (e.g., smart) were paired with whites than when they were paired with blacks.

See also

• Racism
• stereotype
• White trash
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
• Redneck
• Dumb blonde
• Angry White male

External links

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