oa Alternation - Introduction

Abstract

Taking Moodley's (2001) The Conceptual Basis of Ethnic Stereotyping among Secondary School Learners in the Durban Metropolitan Area as point of departure, Moodley and Klopper document instances of ethnic stereotyping among Grade 8 learners in the Durban region. They show that ethnic stereotyping is closely related to how individuals categorise one another in terms of group attributes at the conceptual level. They also show that, in terms of Wellman's (1992) model of common sense belief-desire psychology, the categorisation that underpins stereotyping involves values and beliefs as particular cognitive subcategories; and that, stereotyping is related to Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs, beginning with physical needs for safety and sustenance, and ending with the psychological need for self-actualisation.