Stereotypes

Discuss some of the national stereotypes relating to the Germans

As long as there have been human beeings on Earth, groups of people have had a certain image of other groups and this may change from time to time.

As Germans, we think that Britons are very polite or all Americans are supposed to be overweight.

But what do other nations think about the Germans, and are these stereotypes positive or negative for society?

Germans are seen as really tidy and organized, hence foreigners also think that Germans are very punctual.

Moreover, Germans are seen a tremendously serious people and other nations claim that Germans can not laugh about jokes.

Stereotypes help people from different nations to make a culture understandable and recognizable. They could be seen as functioning as a model to make it easier understand a certain person from a certain country, for example from Germany.

But on the other hand, the contrary can happen because people may ignore differences between individuals and therefore think things about people that might be not true.

People make generalizations and can lead to prejudices which can do a lot of harm.

I would not say of myself that I am a serious person who does not understand jokes and cannot have fun. I also know some Germans that are not organized and always come late to meetings.

Nations simplify our world, since it reduces the amount of processing we have to do when we meet a new person.

It is human process, however, we can try to stop generalization by meeting new people from different countries and it is even better to do this by traveling as you get in touch with their culture.

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