People make judgments about others based on the kinds of expressions they use because of the region of country from which they come. These speakers are sometimes thought to be uneducated, or less intelligent than soldiers who do not use regional jargon. Leaders need to understand that certain terms are unique to individuals from certain regions and do not indicate their level of intelligence. A stereotype is a standardized mental picture that one person or group of people holds in common about another person or group of people. Stereotyping is very common.
Many people do it to justify their conduct in relation to the group they have stereotyped.
Positive stereotyping can be just as dangerous for a leader to use as negative stereotyping. The fact that people have different experiences accounts for many of the problems that occur when they try to interact cross-culturally or across genders. Cultural, racial, and gender differences affect our experiences. Our experiences directly relate to our ability to communicate. Responses to Physical Differences .