Your research is more likely to be seen as meaningful, and it is more likely to be published than it would be if you didn t find differences. Finding similarities isn t cur-rently an option, regardless of what your data say. When research focuses on differences and when differences are all that is reported, difference-based stereotypes are reinforced and continued. The Allure of Oversimplification Complexity is hard, simplicity is easy. To deal with complexity we often revert to simplicity we tend to categorize and make judgements based on that categorization.
Stereotypes are easy to fall into.
Thus are stereotypes reinforced, but rarely countered. It s a stereotype if it ascribes characteristics to an individual based solely on group membership. For example, it is a stereotype to assume a tall thin young African American male is a basketball player or that an Asian student is good in math. Sex in Education or Fair Chance for Girls. James R. Osgood.