Hy Dairies Essay

568 Words3 Pages
Apply your knowledge of stereotyping and social identity theory to explain what went wrong here. Social identity is how we perceive others. Stereotyping, a branch of social identity, has three elements: developing social categories and assigning traits that are difficult to observe, assigning people to these social categories based on information that can easily be observed, and assigning non-observable traits to the people associated with the category. Rochelle is one of the few visible minority women within marketing management at Hy Dairies and perceives herself to be a hard-worker. Syd Gilman has offered Rochelle the marketing research coordinator position and although he believes that this position would enhance her career with the company as it did for him, she feels that she is being sidelined. She has faced adversity in the past from a former employer and as such, has stereotyped Syd and Hy Dairies as discriminating against her due to her gender and nationality. There was also a lack of communication between the two on their different perceptions of the position that was being offered. Rather than asking questions in order to obtain clarity on the lateral transfer, Rochelle formed her own negative opinions. What other perceptual error is apparent in this case study? Additional perceptual errors identified in this case are as follows: Halo Effect: The general impression that we have of a person based on one characteristic which alters our perceptions of their other characteristics. Syd used the general impression of Rochelle’s surprise and silence to assume that it was a positive response to the position offer. Primacy Effect: The quick formation of an opinion of a person based on the first information we have received on them. Rochelle is using her experiences from her previous employer to conclude that as a visible minority woman, she has

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