Fitting a fixed, oversimplified image or character type that people commonly expect; based on generalized ideas rather than individual facts.
From 'stereotype,' which combines Greek 'stereos' (solid, fixed) and 'typos' (impression, type). The printing term evolved metaphorically to describe fixed impressions in people's minds.
Our brains use stereotypes as mental shortcuts to process information quickly, which is why they're so common—but this same efficiency makes them dangerously sticky and hard to change even when we meet evidence that contradicts them.
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