Positive vs negative stereotypes

A picture says a thousand words, right? We all love images and memes and we use them widely in this social-media driven world. In trying to educate about BSL and counter negative stereotypes, there’s a type of meme you see a lot: a negative phrase or stereotype with an image meant to contradict it.

Examples of this include “I’m a lover not a fighter”; “If you think I am scary you should see my owner”; or “look at my vicious dog” (attached to an image of a dog doing nothing vicious whatsoever).

But in terms of psychology, messages that attempt to negate a stereotype (“I am not bad!”) might actually be making things worse by planting or reinforcing the negative message. It might be more effective to affirm a positive message (“I am good!”).

Counter-stereotype: an idea or object that goes against a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.

Source and further reading:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103106001909