Surfing the company website I noticed a bald white guy who immediately struck me as an old detective. Now the video was an HR video, so I had no reason to suspect Mr. Bald to be a police offer. I wondered why I thought that, and the answer popped into my head immediately. Mr. Bald mirrored my frame of reference for what an aging police detective should look like. I’m not ready to blame The Closer outright. I can’t really explain where this particular frame of reference or even stereotype came from. Some people look like cops, or crooks, or bankers, or housewives, etc.
Dictionary.com defines frame of reference as a structure of concepts, values, customs, views, etc., by means of which an individual or group perceives or evaluates data, communicates ideas, and regulates behavior. By this definition, we take in data from people’s appearance and compare that data to specific sets of criteria we are familiar with and seek the best match. This simplifies our understanding of who new people are as well as new situations. We apply our frame of reference to the situation and act according to expectations about that frame of reference.
So, when I saw the bald dude I felt cop. What are some of your frame of reference-based stereotypes? Think hard about it, because being aware of it will allow you to control your reactions to people, putting you in a better place for communication.