Stereotypes of South Asians consist of various generalized beliefs about individuals from South Asia which derive from the region's history and interaction with other cultures and peoples. These stereotypes are often rooted in orientalism, xenophobia and racism and date back to the history of European colonialism and imperialism in the Indian subcontinent during the 18th and 19th centuries along with the immigration of South Asians to the English-speaking world in the 20th century. According to academics Omar Rahman, David Pollock and John Berry, such stereotypes, which have been primarily propagated through popular culture, have influenced the process of acculturation for South Asian immigrants in Western nations.

From the 16th century onwards, European colonialists began to arrive in the subcontinent as part of the Age of Discovery. This contact soon led to the proliferation of stereotypes of the region's inhabitants by Europeans, which increased as the majority of South Asia came under colonial rule. European and North American commentators promulgated various stereotypes of South Asians, many of which served as implicit justification for colonial rule. During the 19th and 20th centuries, there were significant levels of immigration from South Asia to Africa, the Americas and Europe, which led to creation of further stereotypes. These stereotypes can have the effect of dehumanizing those of South Asian descent, making them more prone to abuse or being the victim of a crime and potentially leading to depression and ill-health.

South Asians are stereotyped around the world in ways that are dehumanizing, and in some cases it can lead to depression and mental health issues.

According to a study by Burr et al. (2002), cultural stereotypes among women from South Asian communities have been linked to patterns of suicide and depression. Medical research reveals that women from South Asian populations in the UK had high rates of suicide while low rates of untreated depression. In order to examine how cultural stereotypes are created within the discourse around mental health, a study used qualitative techniques such as focus groups and interviews with mental health care providers. General Practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists, among other mental health care providers, took part in the research. It examined at their backgrounds, expertise, and knowledge of the situation when it came to caring for women in South Asian communities. Due to professionals' tendency to view cultural differences as inflexible, and fixed categories, the South Asian communities in Britain have been marginalized. According to the study, the expertise of mental health care providers may be influenced by these biases, which may cause errors in diagnosis and treatment. If these misconceptions are accepted as "facts" they might alter diagnoses and mislead therapies for women.

Stereotypes included cultural prejudices related to the South Asian predilection for certain professions, such as medicine, engineering, and computing, or their presence in service industries as motel owners or cab drivers. As South Asians continue to assimilate, more positive perceptions prevail.

South Asians are stereotyped as belonging to two socioeconomic groups. They are stereotyped either as convenience store or restaurant owners, cab drivers or motel operators who are uneducated, greedy, with large families and live in crowded homes. Alternatively, they are stereotyped as snobbish, upwardly-mobile software programmers and doctors, who lack English-speaking fluency and are willing to take a lower salary. These stereotypes are built, claim scholars, by media shows such as the Bangladeshi store owners represented as Sirajul and Mujibur in David Letterman's show, or by the character Apu in The Simpsons, or the Babu Bhatt character on Seinfeld, or the British TV show The Kumars at No. 42 (though this may be an intentional invoking of the stereotype to call attention to it). This contrasts with the reality that South Asians are active, in various levels of prominence and service, in every profession.

Along with East Asian people, South Asians are stereotyped as model minorities with certain expected behavior. These stereotypes are encouraged by media stories such as an article by Forbes magazine entitled "Indian Americans: The New Model Minority". Richwine claims, "The success of Indian Americans is often ascribed to the culture they bring with them, which places strong – some would even say obsessive – emphasis on academic achievement". Similarly, while Asian Indians in the United States have among the highest percentage of college degrees as well as highest income among all ethnic and racial groups, for every South Asian who has a degree with high income, there is another South Asian who struggles to gain job skills and become trained to be gainfully employed.

In a 1993 study of stereotypes held by midwives in the British National Health Service, several stereotypes were found to be prevalent against women of South Asian descent. One, the South Asian mothers were stereotyped as abusing the social service and failing to take recommended treatment. Second, they were stereotyped as those who make a fuss about nothing. Third, they were stereotyped as lacking "normal maternal instinct". The study found communication difficulties to be part of the problem, particularly among women who were Muslim South Asians with Urdu as their first language; this problem vanished when hospital staff of South Asian descent were included in the team attending the expectant mother. Further, the study found experimenter's bias in a population wide study that included white British people, Britons of South Asian descent and British people from other parts of the world. Contrary to the stereotypes, comparative analysis revealed that the rate of health care service use, rate of diligent treatment and follow up, as well as "maternal instinct" behavior was no different among South Asian women than natives or other ethnic groups.