Also known as “categorization,” the process by which individuals or groups assign “names” or “categories” to people, situations, or phenomena to facilitate understanding of complex social reality. Such categorization helps to organize information quickly, but often leads to biases, simplification, and potentially inaccurate generalizations. Stereotyping is the attribution of a certain characteristic or category to a person or a group on the basis of certain real or assumed characteristics in order to predict their future behavior or actions. Stereotyping is based on generalization and simplification, in which each member of a given group is treated according to the same assumed characteristics, regardless of individual differences. Stereotyping is a normal and partly necessary cognitive mechanism for simplifying complex social reality, but it becomes problematic when it degenerates into prejudices and stereotypes that limit the understanding of others. Awareness of stereotyping processes can help to overcome prejudices and contribute to a fairer and more valuable attitude towards individual differences.