Our attitude toward our fellow human beings is often influenced from sources other than first-hand experiences. What we hear from our families, the media, and our daily personal contacts tends to heavily color our thinking with respect to other cultures. The human trait of generalizing also contributes to the opinions and perceptions we build.
(By 'generalizing', I mean that when we receive information from the media or our circle of friends, we tend to put that race or that culture into a category, even though it is often based upon one person or one incident.)
