# Avoiding something because "it's what's expected" - a term for it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405 "2019-05-03T02:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/1 "2019-05-03T02:36:55Z")
Suppose an African-American woman is in a situation where she could justifiably show anger, but knows that society has the “angry black woman” stereotype and therefore purposefully suppresses any public expression of anger - is there a term for this behavior? (that is, knowing what people would expect to happen, and therefore deliberately not doing it?) Ditto for any other stereotype or preconceived notion - a Jewish person who refuses to go into the banking/finance industry, or a black guy who doesn’t want to play basketball because of the stereotype, or an Asian who refuses to talk about math, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/2 "2019-05-03T05:51:16Z")
It’s the opposite of what you’re looking for, but there’s a psychological phenomenon called [stereotype threat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat). It refers to a situation where a person’s awareness that failure would confirm some negative stereotype creates anxiety and stress that lead to underperformance (relative to that person’s true individual potential). ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/3 "2019-05-03T08:52:58Z")
I’ve heard the phrase “acting against stereotype” for when someone intentionally avoids choices that would make them seem like they were being stereotypical. I believe the context where I came across it was racial, similar to your black man/basketball example. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/4 "2019-05-03T13:55:45Z")
Would this apply to me refusing to learn to play the Barney Miller theme because whenever someone found out I play bass they’d nearly always want me to play it? Or a drummer refusing to learn “Wipeout”? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/5 "2019-05-03T18:59:23Z")
I can’t think of a single term for it. _Betraying expectations_ might be used. Along with adjectives from _stubborn_ to _resolute_. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/6 "2019-05-05T22:37:13Z")
“Contrarian” for what’s stated in the title. For the specific examples in the OP, I’d use a hyphenated term like “contra-stereotype”, “stereotype-avoidant” or “stereotype-conscious.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/7 "2019-05-05T22:57:40Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > I can’t think of a single term for it. _Betraying expectations_ might be used. Along with adjectives from _stubborn_ to _resolute_. _Confounding expectations_ is the more common expression, I think. To _confound stereotype_ is the most concise expression I can come up with. Combining with the prior poster’s comment, perhaps _a contrarian desire to confound stereotype_ if clarity is preferred over brevity. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/8 "2019-05-05T22:57:58Z")
Breaking out of the mould? Going against the grain? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/9 "2019-05-05T23:47:05Z")
Expectation subversion? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/10 "2019-05-06T17:30:52Z")
Contrarianism? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/11 "2019-05-08T11:32:25Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Contrarianism? That’s probably the closest. I was definitely being contrarian when I decided I definitely _wasn’t_ going to apply for Oxford or Cambridge precisely because my teachers (at a state school) kept telling me that I must. Instead I went to a middling red-brick university and no doubt missed out on becoming some high-powered captain of industry :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/12 "2019-05-09T02:11:59Z")
Do you mean like this: ``` https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFxcJp2VQPU ``` or this: ``` https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJfRlAdkQWw ``` ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/13 "2019-05-09T13:00:24Z")
The thread title sounds a lot like “non-conformism”. But the OP example, not so much. At least as the term was used in the 50s for beatniks and such. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-something-because-its-whats-expected-a-term-for-it/833405/14 "2019-05-09T15:28:20Z")
I kind of see where the OP is coming from though; contrarian doesn’t quite describe it- that always struck me as a term describing a intentionally contrary pattern of behavior. Contrarians are typically people who do the opposite of what they’re told/expected to do, just for the sake of being contrary. I mean, I’ve known people who’d go out of their way to do something stupid like not eat vegetables, because the government and doctors told them they should. The OP’s talking more about intentionally not meeting stereotypical expectations because they’re stereotypical. That’s different by my reckoning, since it’s more focused than garden-variety contrarianism.