This chapter defends an account of stereotypes, according to which stereotypes are (reliable or unreliable) widely-held associations of an attribute(s) and a social group. A conception of prejudice is advanced and put together with the foregoing to produce a definition of prejudicial stereotype. It is argued that (reliable) stereotypes are an essential heuristic in the making of credibility judgements in testimonial exchanges. There is, however, an ever-present risk that the stereotypes on which we rely are prejudicial, producing testimonial injustice. The wrong of testimonial injustice is analysed: someone is undermined in their capacity as a giver of knowledge.
Keywords: stereotype, credibility judgement, social imagination, social construction, testimonial injustice