The Importance of (Social) Labels

As we start to transition from general discussions about the psychology of diversity to more specific discussions of racism, sexism, heterosexism, weightism, ableism, ageism, and more, I want to pause to acknowledge the importance of labels and, in particular, social labels. Many sub-disciplines within psychology have shown that labels-as well as words and framing more generally-play a large role in shaping how we think about something. We’ll discuss some of this research in this video, as well as the relevance for our study of the psychology of diversity.
Race Labels: Labels that typically reflect differences in physical characteristics (e.g., bone structure, skin color, hair color).
Ethnicity Labels: Labels that typically reflect differences in cultural identification (e.g., nationality, ancestry, dress, cuisine, language).
Latinx: People who are from Latin America, excluding Spain; the “x” replaces the “o” or “a” to be more gender neutral and inclusive.
Hispanic: People of Spanish-speaking descent, encompassing countries from Latin America and Spain, excluding Brazil; Spanish people are considered Hispanic but Brazilians are not since they speak Portuguese.
Moniker: A name or label.