Do you ever wonder why, every time people are put into groups and ordered to work together, there always seems to be roles that the members take up? This happens because people tend to judge how well other people will perform with the assignment. Factors like age, gender, and race are things that contribute to how much work your partners assume you will complete.

There is usually one person who self-assigns themselves as the “group leader”. This person typically handles most of the work and usually supervises everyone else, telling them what to do and suggesting what they should work on. This person is usually well-liked by the rest of the group. They tend to “carry” the group through what they need to do, and tend to perform well, which takes a lot of the responsibilities off the shoulders of others. This person usually takes up this position in most of the groups they work in. Others can recognize this and accept and even encourage this person to take up this stereotype.

Especially because stereotypes are hard to break, when a person already appears to be in this role, others will look at them in that way, and will always assume them to be, think, and act like that stereotype.

Another widely recognized role that a person is likely to take up in a group project is the one that just “doesn’t care”. Everyone knows who this is. This person is relied on the least. They not only don’t care about their grade, but they also don’t care about the grades of others, either. They tend to do the least amount of work of anyone in the group, and either just mess around or relax when they are supposed to be working. Others know who these people are and will dread having them in their group.

Out of the many other stereotypes that are present within this setting, the most prominent is the procrastinator. This role is always evident in at least one person in a group project. Sometimes, maybe even multiple. We all know what this person does. They sit around and put off the work until the last minute. Although sometimes during class, others are able to encourage them to do more work, at home, nothing can be done. This person often comes up with stories or excuses to redeem their lack of work. They claim that they had things to do, places to be but who really knows if they’re telling the truth?

There are a lot more stereotypes that are mutually recognized within most groups of people. And many people who read this might recognize some of those roles having been taken up by themselves.

Stereotypes surface when people recognize patterns in other people’s behavior. A student might know another and recognize how they might behave when trying to get work done, or getting their drive to work for good grades. This will cause development of stereotypes around the particular student. . Then the slightest hint of a similar personality in another might cause them to place a stereotype on that person too.

In group projects in particular, people who already know the stereotypes will naturally fall into them. This is because they have most likely done so many group assignments before and have always done the same amount of work and acted the same way with other groups.

This is not good for the productivity of the group, and it may be best to break these stereotypes to get more work done within the group. Maybe people should recognize when they are beginning to fall into a stereotype, and try to be different- maybe do more work or be more positive or supportive.