The direct assumption and conferring on individuals of certain characteristics and qualities based upon a process of ascribing the perceived qualities of a certain group to every individual who is seen to be a member of that group.
Such social or group characteristics might be based on any of the multiple major axes of identity (‘race’, ethnicity, class, gender, age, dis/ability, etc) and subsets of these, for example, the neighborhood in which one lives, the type of cultural activities one engages in (think of the longstanding distinction between the fans of rugby league as opposed to rugby union, for example), the school one attends and the like.
Stereotyping is both a practice of identifying others as well as locating ourselves within a schema of value and desirability.
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