What are stereotypes and why do we use them? Are all stereotypes bad? Can we stop people from using them? Questions such as these have fascinated social psychologists for many years.Perry Hinton provides an accessible introduction to this key area, giving a critical and concise overview of the influential theories and approaches, as well as insights into recent work on the role of language and culture in stereotyping.

What are stereotypes and why do we use them? Are all stereotypes bad? Can we stop people from using them? Questions such as these have fascinated social psychologists for many years. Perry R. Hinton provides an accessible introduction to this key area, giving a critical and concise overview of the influential theories and approaches, as well as insights into recent work on the role of language and culture in stereotyping.

This work evaluates the contribution that psychology has made to the study of gender, examining key issues such as family roles and parenting, inequalities in education, jobs and pay, and the effects of media representation of the sexes. Vivien Burr explains theory and research in an accessible but thorough manner, and weaves together psychological, sociological and feminist approaches to provide an understanding of gender which is more complete than that typically offered by psychological texts.

What are other people like? How do we decide if someone is friendly, honest or clever? What assumptions do we develop about them and what explanations do we give for their behaviour? The Perception of People examines key topics in psychology to explore how we make sense of other people (and ourselves). Do our decisions result from careful consideration and a desire to produce an accurate perception? Or do we jump to conclusions in our judgements and rely on expectations and stereotypes?

To answer these questions the book examines models of person perception and...