What describes the mental shortcut of categorizing individuals based on limited information?

Stereotyping is a mental shortcut that involves categorizing individuals based on limited information or generalizations about a specific group. This process uses pre-existing beliefs and assumptions to make quick judgments about others, often leading to oversimplified views that do not take into account the complexity of individual differences.

For example, if someone encounters a person from a particular demographic and quickly attributes certain characteristics to them based solely on group identity without considering their personal experiences or traits, that is an instance of stereotyping. This can be problematic as it may lead to biases and misrepresentations, affecting interpersonal relationships and decision-making processes.

The other concepts, while related to cognition and perception, do not specifically capture the act of categorizing individuals based on limited information. Similarity generally refers to how alike two or more individuals or things are, and the halo effect describes the bias in which an impression in one area influences opinion in another area. Proximity pertains to the physical closeness of individuals or things and does not inherently involve categorization based on limited information.