A stereotype is a type of logical oversimplification in which all the members of a class or set

are considered to be definable by an easily distinguishable set of characteristics.

Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association
between two variables that are loosely correlated if correlated at all. They can be on the
basis of age, race, sex, nationality, sexuality etc.

I have always perceived an engineer to be specialist’s i.e their knowledge is limited to their
field of specialisation. My previous interactions with my engineer friends always left me
stumped. The technical jargon they used sounded like Latin or Greek to me. But my
perception completely changed when I met Atul in our batch. An engineer, who could speak
about post modernism and neo modernism theories, completely baffled me. His discourse
on these topics completely changed my perception. I started seeing engineers in a new light.
As for me, the stereotype of engineers only knowing engineering just flew right out the
window.

One classic example of perceptions being distorted due to stereotyping is that most Italian
Americans are associated in some way with organized crime. According to the stereotype,
Italians are pasta-eating, hand-gesturing, loud-mouthed, grease-haired, blue-collar, Mafia
members. The entertainment industry in the United States provides ample evidence of this
stereotype, both on television and in the movies. In the 1950s there was the TV series the
Untouchables and today there is the Sopranos while in the film world it is the Godfather,
Casino, or Godfellas and other movies too numerous to list. Basically to all those not familiar
with the Italian American culture flashes of Tommy-guns and Al Capone-era gangsters cross
the minds of people when they hear the word Italian and phrases like "I’ll make him an offer
he can’t refuse" and "I’ll put two bullets behind the ear" come to the mind - thanks to The
Godfather.

But the fact of the matter is that not all gangsters are Italians and not all Italians are
gangsters.