AN ANALYSIS ON INTER-ETHNIC STEREOTYPE OF POPULATION AT SECTION 2, WANGSA MAJU, KUALA LUMPUR

The phenomenon of stereotype affects the interaction between various ethnic groups and is threatening unity in Malaysia. The term stereotype refers to a statement that is too general towards an ethnic group, whether negative or otherwise. Stereotyped beliefs about other ethnicities be able to cause various problems of interactions in life, especially in the situation of a diverse society, not to mention that this country has faced the bloody tragedy of May 13, 1969. In light of the importance of this concept of stereotypes, a study was carried out to identify the understanding as well as stereotypical beliefs by members of a multi-ethnic community towards other ethnicities. The quantitative approach was used with the application of a sampling technique called purposive sampling method. A total of 300 respondents who are among the multi-ethnic community living in Seksyen 2, Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur were chosen. Research findings based on three constructs namely: 1) simple detail construct, 2) construct considering all ethnic members to be the same, and 3) negative general statement construct have found that majority of respondents has their stereotypical understanding of other ethnicities (80%). Based on the finding, the study suggests that a further studies become relevance by diversifying the respondents according to their age, gender and social class so that the concept of stereotyping can be examined comprehensively.