| class="wikitable"
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!Trait
!Description
!Notes |
| Obsession with guns
|The United States has a historical fondness for guns, and this is often portrayed in American media. A considerable percentage of Americans own firearms, and the United States has some of the developed world's highest death rates caused by firearms.[[http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/seventh_survey/7sc.pdf "The Seventh United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (1998 - 2000), data (PDF)"]. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Retrieved November 8, 2006.][[http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2011/11/Pew-Global-Attitudes-Values-Report-FINAL-November-17-2011-10AM-EST.pdf The American-Western European Values Gap], Pew Research Center, Global Attitudes Project][[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/03/20123277115372628.html "Why do Americans love their guns?"] Al Jazeera] A 2018 article attributed the high death rates to mass shootings or inner city violence, but the murder rate in America was then on a decline, and it appeared that suicide by firearm is a large contributor to the "gun-deaths" statistic.[{{Cite web |last=Weiss |first=Haley |date=2018-12-21 |title=The Disturbing Trend Behind America's Soaring Gun Deaths |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/12/gun-deaths-city-murders-suicides/578812/ |access-date=2019-08-05 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}] The international media often report American mass shootings, making these incidents well known internationally despite the fact that these kind of killings account for an extremely small portion of the firearms death rate.[[https://web.archive.org/web/20120721080026/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9414540/Batman-cinema-screening-shooting-a-history-of-mass-shootings-in-the-US-since-Columbine.html Batman cinema screening shooting: a history of mass shootings in the US since Columbine] The Telegraph, July 20, 2012][[https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/amoklauf-bei-batman-premiere-schuetze-installierte-in-seiner-wohnung-sprengstofffallen-11826284.html Schütze installierte in seiner Wohnung Sprengstofffallen] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20-07-2012][[http://www.jb.com.br/internacional/noticias/2012/07/20/policia-americana-tenta-desarmar-explosivos-em-casa-de-atirador/ Internacional - Polícia americana tenta desarmar explosivos em casa de atirador] Jornal do Brasil, July 20, 2012][[http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2012/07/20/etats-unis-une-fusillade-dans-un-cinema-fait-au-moins-10-morts_834530 Fusillade meurtrière à Aurora : «Les tirs partaient sans arrêt»] Libération, Monde, 20 juillet 2012] In 2007, the United States was ranked number one in gun ownership with a rate of 88.8 guns per 100 residents.[[http://www.city-data.com/knowledge/List_of_countries_by_gun_ownership.html "List of countries by gun ownership"], Knowledge Encyclopedia] In 2017, the United States again ranked number one in gun ownership with a rate of 120.5 guns per 100 citizens.[{{Cite web |last=Karp |first=Aaron |date=June 2018 |title=Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620231909/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/T-Briefing-Papers/SAS-BP-Civilian-Firearms-Numbers.pdf |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |work=Small Arms Survey |type=Briefing Paper}}]
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| Materialism, over-consumption, and extreme capitalism
|A common stereotype of Americans is that of economic materialism and capitalism.{{Citation needed|reason=According to whom? This seems like opinion/original research|date=November 2023}} They may be seen as caring most about money, judging all things by their economic value, and scorning those of lower socioeconomic status,[{{cite web |date=January 2016 |title=GROSS DOMESTIC PHILANTHROPY: An international analysis of GDP, tax and giving |url=https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-policy-and-campaigns/gross-domestic-philanthropy-feb-2016.pdf |access-date=July 18, 2022 |publisher=Charities Aid Foundation}}] Total charitable contributions in 2010 were higher in the United States than in any other country.
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| Lack of cultural awareness
|Americans may be stereotyped as ignorant of countries and cultures beyond their own.[{{Cite magazine |last1=Fergie |first1=Dexter |date=March 24, 2022 |title=How American Culture Ate the World |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/165836/american-culture-ate-world-righteous-smokescreen-globalization-review |access-date=July 3, 2022 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}] This stereotype shows them as lacking intellectual curiosity, thus making them ignorant of other cultures, places, or lifestyles outside of the United States.[{{cite book |last=Sykes |first=Charles J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdF7oqFIQv0C |title=Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add |date=September 15, 1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-14823-2}}]
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| Racism and racialism
|Racism had a significant presence in American history throughout the 18th, 19th, and early to mid 20th centuries. However, following the emancipation of Black slaves after the American Civil War and the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s, Americans of all races achieved the same freedoms and legal protections as the white-majority population, and discrimination against people of minority races due to their race is now illegal - though examples of racial discrimination do continue into the present, they are statistically rare. In a 2017 survey, 58% of Americans are concerned about structural racism.[{{Cite web |date=August 29, 2017 |title=More now see racism as major problem, especially Democrats |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/29/views-of-racism-as-a-major-problem-increase-sharply-especially-among-democrats/ |access-date=2021-04-12 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}]{{Citation needed|reason=This is actually evidence that 58% of Americans are concerned about structural racism, so this is not a good source for racism being a stereotype specific to Americans. This feels very much like original research to me. |date=November 2023}} The characterization of America as being a racist nation in the modern country is politically divisive, with Democrats largely favoring the notion that America and Western Society as a whole are built on racism, whereas Republicans largely maintain that while inequalities do exist, they are not the result of racial discrimination today or in the relevant past.
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| Environmental ignorance
|Americans may be seen as reckless and imprudent regarding the preservation of the environment. They may be portrayed as lavish, driving high polluting SUVs and unconcerned about climate change or global warming.{{Citation needed|reason=Portrayed as such by whom? Sociologists and cultural studies scholars exist, yet this article seems to be based entirely on opinion about Americans, rather than the exaggerated stereotypes other nationalities hold about Americans. I think this whole article should be deleted or at the very least much, much better sourced and rewritten. This seems like opinion/original research|date=November 2023}} The United States (whose population is 327 million) has the second-highest carbon dioxide emissions after China (whose population is 1.4 billion),[[http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/populations/ctypopls.htm Countries of the World, 2012-2014 estimated population values]. World Atlas. Retrieved November 17, 2014.] is one of the few countries which did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and one of three countries to refuse to participate in the Paris Agreement.[{{Cite web |last=Gillies |first=Rob |date=December 12, 2011 |title=Canada formally pulls out of Kyoto Protocol on climate change |url=http://www.startribune.com/world/135469408.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321002817/http://www.startribune.com/world/135469408.html |archive-date=2015-03-21 |website=StarTribune |agency=Associated Press}}][{{Cite web |date=June 18, 2007 |title=China now no. 1 in CO2 emissions; USA in second position |url=http://www.pbl.nl/en/news/pressreleases/2007/20070619Chinanowno1inCO2emissionsUSAinsecondposition |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129091342/http://www.pbl.nl/en/news/pressreleases/2007/20070619Chinanowno1inCO2emissionsUSAinsecondposition |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=November 17, 2014 |website=pbl.nl |publisher=Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency |type=Press release}}][United Nations Statistics Division, Millennium Development Goals indicators: [http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=749&crid= Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), thousand metric tonnes of CO2] (collected by CDIAC)][{{cite web |title=The environmentally unconscious one; or, Why I love America - Viewpoint - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College |url=http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/viewpoint/the-environmentally-unconscious-one-or-why-i-love-america-1.1916628}}] In the context of stereotyping, it is perhaps more relevant to look at {{CO2}} production per capita; the USA compares favorably with oil-producing nations in the Middle East, with Qatar at 40.3 metric tons per capita versus the United States' 17.6 metric tons per capita, though they are behind most European countries. Germany, for instance, emits only 9.1 metric tons per capita.[[http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?order=wbapi_data_value_2010+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc CO2 emissions per capita 2010]. World Bank. Retrieved November 17, 2014.] However, the United States has reduced their energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 12% from 2005 to 2018 while, in the same time period, the world's energy-related emissions have increased by 24%.[{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2020 |title=Latest Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks Shows Long-Term Reductions, with Annual Variation |url=https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/latest-inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-shows-long-term-reductions-0#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20is%20a,24%25%20from%202005%20to%202018.}}]
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| Arrogance and nationalism
|Americans are often stereotyped as arrogant. They are frequently depicted in foreign media as excessively nationalistic and obnoxiously patriotic, believing the United States is better than all other countries and patronizing foreigners.[Clark, Jayne (2006). [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-04-27-ugly-americans_x.htm That 'ugly American' image is getting a makeover guide]. USA Today. Retrieved March 16, 2008.] Americans may be seen by people of other countries as arrogant and egomaniacal.[[http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-end-of-arrogance-america-loses-its-dominant-economic-role-a-581502.html The End of Arrogance] by Spiegel Staff, Der Spiegel Online International][[https://relevantmagazine.com/current/america-arrogant-2/ America, the Arrogant?] by Jonathan Merritt, June 23, 2012, Relevant Magazine] In 2009, then-U.S. President Barack Obama said that the United States has "shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive" towards its allies.[{{cite news |last=Harnden |first=Toby |date=April 3, 2009 |title=President Barack Obama: America has been 'arrogant and dismissive' towards Europe |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5101244/President-Barack-Obama-America-has-been-arrogant-and-dismissive-towards-Europe.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}}]
|See also: Americecentrism, Ugly American (pejorative), and Global arrogance |
| Jingoism
|Another common stereotype is that Americans want to be "the world's policemen", believing that the entire world needs their help – even if this results in preemptive military intervention – because they are somehow exceptional.{{Citation needed|reason=According to whom? This seems like opinion/original research|date=November 2023}} This relatively recent stereotype spawned from Cold War and post-Cold War military interventions such as the Vietnam War and Iraq War, which many people opposed.
The United States is also stereotyped being a country with Hero syndrome in foreign media. The Hero syndrome manifests itself when the protagonist suffering the syndrome creates supposed, implied or ostensible crises only to eventually resolve them thereby becoming the savior of the day, the hero of the moment.
American militarism is lampooned in several works, including the satirical film Team America: World Police (2004).
|See also: Pax Americana |
| Workaholic culture
|While the stereotype of hard-working Americans is often a positive one, the United States has also been criticized in recent years as a workaholic culture.[{{cite magazine |last=Handley |first=Meg |date=April 19, 2012 |title=Is America's Workaholic Culture Padding Corporate Profits? |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/04/19/is-americas-workaholic-culture-padding-corporate-profits |access-date=December 23, 2016 |magazine=U.S. News & World Report}}][{{cite web |last=Cooper |first=Gary L. |date=May 25, 2011 |title=America can learn from Europe on work-life balance |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/25/cooper.vacation.europe/ |access-date=December 23, 2016 |publisher=CNN}}][{{cite news |last=Reaney |first=Patricia |date=July 7, 2015 |title='Americans are definitely workaholics' |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/r-checking-work-emails-at-home-its-part-of-the-job-for-most-americans-2015-7 |access-date=December 23, 2016 |agency=Reuters}}] In The Huffington Post, Tijana Milosevic, a Serbian who had traveled to Washington, D.C. for a degree, wrote, "In fact my family and friends had observed that I shouldn’t have chosen America, since I would probably feel better in Western Europe — where life is not as fast paced as in the US and capitalism still has a 'human face.'" She noted that "Americans still work nine full weeks (350 hours) longer than West Europeans do and paid vacation days across Western Europe are well above the US threshold."[{{cite news |last=Milosevic |first=Tijana |date=January 8, 2011 |title=Workaholism in America: A European's Perspective |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tijana-milosevic/workaholism-america-europe_b_805975.html |access-date=December 22, 2016 |work=The Huffington Post}}] Researchers at Oxford Economics hired by the US Travel Association estimated that in 2014 "about 169m [vacation] days, equivalent to $52.4bn in lost benefits", went unused by American workers.[{{cite news |last=Kasperkevic |first=Jana |date=September 7, 2015 |title=Why is America so afraid to take a vacation? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/sep/07/america-vacation-workaholic-culture-labor-day |access-date=December 23, 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian}}] Professor Gary L. Cooper argued Americans "have a great deal to learn from Europeans about getting better balance between work and life" and wrote: The notion that working long hours and not taking holidays makes for a more productive workforce is, in my view, a managerial myth, with no foundation in organizational or psychological science. The human body is a biological machine, and like all machines can wear out. In addition, if employees don't invest personal disposal time in their relationships outside, with their family, loved ones and friends, they will be undermining the very social support systems they may need in difficult and stressful times
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| Obesity
|A very common stereotype of Americans, attested across the globe, is that they are overweight or obese.[{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Charlotte |date=2009 |editor-last1=Rothblum |editor-first1=Esther |editor-last2=Solovay |editor-first2=Sondra |title=The Fat Studies Reader |publisher=New York University Press |pages=327-333 |chapter=39. Maybe It Should Be Called Fat American Studies |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814777435.003.0044 }}][{{cite journal |last1=Nguyen |first1=Hanh Thi |last2=Kellogg |first2=Guy |date=Spring 2010 |title=I Had a Stereotype That American Were Fat”: Becoming a Speaker of Culture in a Second Language |journal=The Modern Language Journal |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=56-73 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00983.x }}][{{cite journal |last1=Forth |first1=Christopher E. |date=2018 |title=France and the fattened American: animality, consumption and the logic of gavage |journal=Food, Culture & Society |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=350-366 |doi=10.1080/15528014.2018.1451041 }}] The "fat American" trope usually goes hand-in-hand with stereotypes of consumerism, but geopolitically, it has also been associated with expansionism and cultural imperialism.[{{cite journal |last1=Forth |first1=Christopher E. |date=2020 |title=The Fat Imaginary in Trump's America: Matter, Metaphor, and Animality |journal=Cultural Politics |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=287-407 |doi=10.1215/17432197-8593578 }}] In 2017, a study found that overweight Asians were more likely to be seen as "American" than non-overweight Asians, though the same was not true for other ethnicities.[{{cite journal |last1=Handron |first1=C. |last2=Kirby |first2=T. A. |last3=Wang |first3=J. |last4=Matskewich |first4=H. E. |last5=Cheryan |first5=S. |date=2017 |title=Unexpected Gains: Being Overweight Buffers Asian Americans From Prejudice Against Foreigners |journal=Psychological Science |volume=28 |issue=9 |pages=1214-1227 |doi=10.1177/0956797617720912 }}]
|See also: Obesity in the United States |
| Driving habits
|Americans are seen to be over-reliant on personal automobiles, while neglecting other forms of transport such as biking or public transport.[{{cite news |author=Adam Gabbatt |date=13 March 2022 |title='I can't move my car': Americans struggle as vehicle expenses rise |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/13/us-car-vehicle-expenses-rise |access-date=10 August 2022 |work=The Guardian}}] They are also seen to be easily confused by roundabouts.[{{cite web |author=Julia Willing |date=4 August 2021 |title=Americans Finally Found Out About Roundabouts And Of Course They Don't Know How To Use Them |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliawilling/why-dont-americans-understand-roundabouts |access-date=10 August 2022 |website=BuzzFeed}}][{{cite news |author=John Metcalfe |date=10 March 2016 |title=Why Does America Hate Roundabouts? |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/mapping-america-s-resistance-to-traffic-roundabouts |access-date=10 August 2022 |website=Bloomberg News}}]
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