Positive stereotypes can range from saying that a certain race is good at a given task or that people from a certain country thrive in certain conditions. Naturally, when someone hears this, and they identity with the group in the stereotype, they challenge them-self to be part of that stereotype. This can be seen all the time daily life. Many people in youth become motivated to follow in the path of their mentors or idols, who make it out of a troubled neighborhood and become rich and famous. Because of the fact that a positive stereotype can be a compliment, it motivates the individual to adhere to it. This can be due to fear of not adhering to it, or simply because they may respect it and support it.

Individuals often use positive stereotypes as a motivation to succeed. Rather than being a last resort of motivation, people will live with this motivation. They can take a positive stereotype about their nation, culture, or race and attempt to uphold it. In one study by Shih et al, A group of Asian-Americans were told reminded of the stereotype that Asians are good at math before taking a math test along with other Asian-Americans who were not reminded of the stereotype. The study showed that those that  were exposed to the stereotype scored higher than those who were not exposed to it. This is just one of the many studies done on this topic and exhibits that exposure to positive stereotypes increase performance, whether it’s through motivation or some other force.

In a separate study considering age and memory, individuals who were exposed to positive stereotypes pertaining to older age and wisdom scored higher on sets of memory tasks than those who were not exposed to said stereotypes. This study is important because there are two views to this stereotype : the optimistic one and the pessimistic. First, the pessimistic view simply implies that memorability decline is inevitable in old age. thus old people have bad memory compared to younger people. The optimistic view implies that older individuals are wiser and therefore can therefore do well (or even better) on tests such as memory tests (compared to younger people). What really makes this study interesting, however, is that the individuals who did well after the positive stereotype exposure were influenced by the optimistic view of the topic of old age and wisdom rather than the pessimistic view, which shows how powerful stereotypes can be when introduced to a person.

I personally have heard the stereotype that Polish people are hard workers. I hold this with me and try to adhere to to it the best I can. Sure, without it, I would most likely continue to work hard, but the stereotype is another aspect of what motivates me every day. Positive stereotypes brings about a performance increase in many area of my life, due to the fact that it increases my motivation and determination.