Stereotypes are

• A. They are always accurate beliefs about groups
• B. They are positive or negative but not justified
• C. They are memories of past events
• D. They are oversimplified beliefs about groups that can be positive or negative

Answer: (D)

Stereotypes are oversimplified beliefs about groups that can be positive or negative. They act as quick mental shortcuts, generalizing attributes to many individuals within a group and helping us categorize social information rapidly. Because they lump people together, they ignore individual variation and are often not accurate, even if they feel true. They aren’t memories of past events, and they aren’t inherently about justification—stereotypes can be positive or negative and still be oversimplified. That combination of oversimplification with valence is what makes the described option the best fit.