Understanding the influence of stereotypes: Implications for the African American in sport and physical activity

To stereotype suggests that we impose characteristics on people based on th eir perceived group membership (Oaks, Haslam, & Turner, 1994). When stereot ypes are based on a wealth of accumulated social and factual knowledge and are not used to make trait inferences about individual group members, they are generally accurate and pose few problem. It is when stereotypes are bas ed on fallacious, misleading, or limited information that they become probl ematic and therefore maladaptive. The purpose of this paper is to examine r esearch that explicates the stereotyping process, review the psychological processes that operate in cognitive stereotype formation, and underscore th e actual and possible detrimental consequences in the sport and physical ac tivity domain, especially with regard to African Americans in general and A frican American males in particular. It is hoped that a more thorough under standing of the stereotyping process will be a deterrent to the perpetuatio n of maladaptive stereotypes.