second opinion 3.1

Individuals react to a variety of social cues to construct their personal realities. These cues include social categorization. Are social categories a valid basis for the construction of personal reality? Why or why not? How might the misinterpretation of social categorization cues lead to errant self-categorization and falsely shape the personal reality of the individual?

Social categorization is considered to be a natural part of social perception; it provides a means for individuals to infer properties about a given individual based on the properties of others believed to belong to the same category (Ojalehto & Medin, 2015). Common social categories include ethnicity and gender.  People rely on social categories when constructing their personal individual and collective identities. People do not always make correct social categorizations, and the misinterpretation of social categorization cues can lead to errant self-categorization and falsely shape the personal reality of the individual (Ojalehto & Medin, 2015). For example, according to Ojalehto and Medin (2015) individuals who have the collective identity of “man” might assume that the belongingness to this category gives them certain innate traits that cannot be questioned or changed, while they might also assume that those who belong the category “woman” have different innate traits that are also unquestionable or unchangeable. Because social categorization can lead to this type of misjudgments, it appears social categorization also plays an important role in the creation of stereotypes and prejudices. Therefore, it is important that individuals understand the process of social categorization and learn how to use it in an adaptive way. For example, individuals can use social categorization to understand collective identities, but should never assume anything about an individual that supposedly belong to a given category.

Ojalehto, B. & Medin, D. L. (2015). Emerging trends in culture and concepts. Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

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