That is a direct quote from a Brit I won’t name and shame. Not here anyway. At the time it was said we were sitting in a bar in Clapham, London, and surrounded by blonde Aussie girls wearing Ugg boots.

“The thing is,” my friend leaned forward conspiratorially, “all Australians are intrinsically racist, and they have bad tattoos and mullets with really long, plaited bits at the back.” He waited to gauge my reaction, with the same earnest expression on his face that had been there ever since I told him I was leaving to live in Australia.

“But Xxxxxx, are you sure that you aren’t being a little bit…well…racist?” I said.

“No. No.” My friend shook his head solemnly. “It’s okay to say that because it’s true.”

Unfortunately it wasn’t the first, nor the last criticism of Australians I heard before I left. Uncultured, beer-drinking louts*. Beach bums who like to travel and throw shrimps on barbies and wear thongs instead of sandals.

As stereotypes go, it’s not the worst. Every nation and person has at least one negative group attached to it, so we’re all in this together at least. The Oxford English dictionary defines a stereotype as a “widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”.

The thing is, don’t we all do it? People love giving names to things and putting people in boxes. Often, by defining someone else we can define ourselves. Perhaps this is how we understand the world and put it in order. Stereotypes are just extensions of a name, and something we often use before we have real, tangible information.

Sometimes, stereotypes are entirely correct. Take the English, for example. At least 40% of conversations between the English and English will involve the weather. And for most English people, there is nothing quite as beautiful as queuing up. I also have an Irish friend who is told frequently “oh you’re Irish, you love a drink.” Fortunately, she just laughs it off… and orders another.

Of course, stereotyping can have more serious implications. The term stereotype threat, coined in the mid-90s, describes the effects of boxing a group or individual negatively. A study by psychologist Claude Steel found that when a person has been perceived a certain way, anxiety could lead to confirmation of stereotype. Not a million miles away from self-fulfilling prophecy, the theory goes that if you are expected to behave or perform in a certain manner, it is possible that you will do just that. In his study, Steel measured the intellectual performance of African-Americans versus European-Americans taking a test used to determine college entrance in the US African-American students performed less well on the test, which fell in line with national averages. However, in a separate experiment the instructions of the test were changed so that its participants no longer believed that the test accurately measured intellectual performance. This change quite obviously reduced the performance gap between the two groups.

The term has since been used in a wide number of discussions and experiments about perceived inequalities in society, from gender pay gaps to Islam-ophobia to age-related issues.

Type ‘stereotypes’ into Google and you’ll get hundreds of articles, blogs and videos about all sorts of negative takes on social groupings, as well some better-known examples. Famously, last year, BBC show Top Gear caused a furore after its presenters were filmed talking unfavourably about Mexican-manufactured cars. While pitched as a lighthearted dig, the insults allegedly led the Mexican government to demand an apology.

Stereotypes are clearly everywhere. So why do we do it?

Psychologists say it is because our brains are wired to do so automatically.

"Stereotypes are categories that have gone too far," says John Bargh, PhD, of New York University. Speaking to Psychology Today, he said "When we use stereotypes, we take in the gender, the age, the color of the skin of the person before us, and our minds respond with messages that say hostile, stupid, slow, weak. Those qualities aren't out there in the environment. They don't reflect reality."

Stereotype bias begins as early as five, Margo Monteith, Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky, told the magazine. A lot of children have ‘definite and entrenched’ stereotypes about social groups before they have even developed an opinion.

"Children don't have a choice about accepting or rejecting these conceptions, since they're acquired well before they have the cognitive abilities or experiences to form their own beliefs," she told Psychology Today.

And that’s even before the worldwide media steps in. TV adverts for example, are rife with stereotype. You’ve seen them all and you know that typically men advertise cars and women advertise chocolate. Last year, the Washington Post published an article about the Asian American man being portrayed as the ‘tech’ guy on screens. In media-savvy circles it’s known as the ‘match up’ theory, which decrees that consumers are more likely to be moved by products advertised by a spokesperson who ‘fits’ the product. Washington post Artcile Want more? I stumbled across this website for Australian ads in particular and there are plenty. (http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/australian-stereotypes/)

Skeptical and think you might be above stereotype bias? Why not then try Harvard University’s Implicit Association test. Designed to measure racial bias, the test uses words and pictures to determine whether people associate certain words with races. Before beginning the test, the site warns users that they might not welcome the results. You’ve been warned. (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/)

Whether you agree with your ‘diagnosis’ or not, or even place any value on testing of this kind, it at least allows us to consider how we categorise people in our own lives. By recognising that all of us have made assumptions using stereotypes at some point, we can make the first step towards challenging bias.

It is not just those outside of Australia that have opinions on its inhabitants. Since arriving here, I’ve noted that Aussies hold certain views of people according to what city they live in, some of which I have compiled below in a suitably simplistic fashion.

Melbournite – hipster, likes drinking coffee in small bars and cafes fashioned of balsa wood

Sydney-sider – media suit with a penchant for gas guzzling cars and wrap around shades

Canberra – nothing to report here. Ever.

Adelaide – hick.  Thinks Adelaide is the best place on earth because he/she hasn’t been anywhere else on earth.

I have seen a fair few tattoos in Adelaide. And met with a few questionable low-rise ponytails and politics. But not all at once. Like anywhere, people here are far too complex to box. I used to think tattoos were a sign of low intelligence (my bad). I don’t think so anymore. In fact, I rather like them.

I suppose the real key to challenging negative bias is to check yourself in regularly. Recognise that you’re doing it. Keep meeting people. While you’re at it, consider how someone might categorise you and keep challenging your own stereotype. You never know, you might just change someone’s mind. Or your own.

*Actually, come to think of it, that’s not unlike what the French say about the English.