Ethnic stereotype

A 19th-century British children's book informs its readers that the Dutch are a "very industrious race", and that Chinese children are "very obedient to their parents".

An ethnic stereotype or racial stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype does the same for a given nationality. The stereotyping may be used for humor in jokes, and/or may be associated with racism.

National stereotypes may relate either to one's own ethnicity/nationality or to a foreign/differing one. Stereotypes about one's own nation may aid in maintaining a national identity due to a collective relatability to a trait or characteristic, referred to as national character.^[1]

^ Terracciano A, Abdel-Khalek AM, Adám N, et al. (October 2005). "National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures". Science. 310 (5745): 96–100. Bibcode:2005Sci...310...96T. doi:10.1126/science.1117199. PMC 2775052. PMID 16210536.

[1] Terracciano A, Abdel-Khalek AM, Adám N, et al. (October 2005). "National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures". Science. 310 (5745): 96–100. Bibcode:2005Sci...310...96T. doi:10.1126/science.1117199. PMC 2775052. PMID 16210536.

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