Stereotyping Exercise (EP)

Developed by Essential Partners, The StereoTyping Exercise is a structured dialogue activity designed to help participants explore their identities, reflect on personal experiences with stereotypes, and engage in conversations that foster understanding. Through guided self-reflection and facilitated discussion, participants gain insight into their perspectives and those of others. Read more in the post below.

---

---

Read more about the exercise here:

We have all had the experience of being stereotyped. People deal with stereotypes based on the way they appear or sound, where they are from, their age, their politics, or even the car they drive or the music they like.

This 60-75 minute activity is intended for small groups (up to eight participants) and includes structured worksheets, go-rounds, and a guided question-asking process. The format encourages balanced participation and ensures that individuals only share what they feel comfortable discussing. By creating a supportive environment, the exercise helps participants recognize assumptions, challenge biases, and listen with curiosity.

As a result, participants will come to a more complex understanding of their own identities and those of others. They will be less likely to make assumptions and to accept or engage in stereotypes. They will become more aware of the role stereotypes play in their own thinking and in their cultural context.

First designed by Essential Partners co-founder Richard Chasin in 1985, EP's Stereotyping Exercise has been used with permission by communities and organizations around the globe.

Want to learn more about our approach? Register for an upcoming workshop. Want to explore a collaboration with EP? Reach out for a free consultation.

Resource URL: https://whatisessential.org/resources/eps-stereotyping-exercise

About Essential Partners (EP)
Founded in 1989, Essential Partners helps individuals build relationships across differences to address their communities’ most pressing challenges.  

Its proven approach enables people to live, work, worship, and learn together more effectively. Through richer, healthier, and more inclusive dialogue, participants strengthen relationships while gaining deeper insight into themselves, each other, and the challenges they face collectively.  

Essential Partners believes that the most urgent problems can only be addressed by those who live and work together every day. Relationships rooted in trust and mutual understanding empower individuals to tackle complex issues—ranging from partisan polarization and political dysfunction to interfaith conflicts and abortion access—without compromising their core values or identities. The organization envisions a world of thriving communities, strengthened by difference and connected by trust.

ep_stereotyping_exercise_.pdf
File Size:	1433 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---