Working Mom

If stereotype is defined as a generalization about people, places, or events held by many members. I would define stereotype in my own words as a pre-conceived judgement about someone/something.

1. How am I most likely stereotyped?  I would stereotype myself as a "Working Mom"
2. What characteristics of the stereotype would be generally true about me?
• Organized
• Multitask
• Flexible
3. What characteristics of the stereotype would be completely untrue?
• Unreliable at work
• Not being able to be that "super mom"
• Not being able to separate my personal life from my professional life
4. What does this tell me about the role of stereotyping in communicating with others?  It is important to recognize fact from inference.  For example, as a working mom there may be times that I come in late to work due to taking a child to the Doctor.  It would be unfair to make the assumption that I was unreliable at work. 
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages to stereotyping others?
• The advantages of stereotyping would be that we already have a generalization about a person, place or event.  When we would be first introduced to a particular group of people, for example "working moms", we would already know that they need to be organized, flexible and be able to multitask.  If we did not stereotype we would have to go through the stages of perception each time we are introduced to this group of people. 
• The disadvantage of stereotyping is when stereotype is involved there is also prejudice and blindering which limits one's perceptual capabilities.