Final answer:
Stereotyping is the tendency to generalize about people in a certain social category and ignore variations among them.
Step-by-step explanation:
The tendency to generalize about people in a certain social category and ignore variations among them is known as stereotyping.
A stereotype is an oversimplified generalization about a group of people. It is a belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, and many other characteristics.
For example, someone holding a stereotype about older adults may believe that all older adults are slow and incompetent, even though many individuals in that age group may be spry and intelligent.