Stereotypes
Lecture Overview • Stereotype formation • Stereotype activation and application • Stereotype change and regulation • Stereotype measure
Definition • Beliefs about a covariation between some personality or demographic characteristics and behaviors that influence social judgment. • Stereotypes may be positive, negative or neutral. • They may reflect reality or be biased (Krueger, Hassman, & Acevedo, 2003; Spears, 2002).
Stereotype Formation • Cognitive factors • Affective factors
Stereotype FormationCognitive factors • Illusory correlation: (memory or attention bias) • A tendency to notice and memorize co-occurrence between infrequent events (e.g. being minority, being aggressive) • Detection (and generalization) of covariation
Illusory correlationHamilton & Gifford, 1976 • Group A : 20 sentences (frequent) • Group B: 5 sentences (rare) • Desirable behaviors: 20 sentences (frequent) • Undesirable behaviors: 5 sentences (rare) • No correlation between group membership and trait.
Illusory Correlation • Rare (group B) + Rare (undesirable behavior) = SALIENCE • SALIENCE ATTENTION • ATTENTION MEMORY, JUDGMENT
Detection of CovariationCognitive factor • Tendency to categorize events and to notice covariation. + • Tendency to generalize this covariation beyond the experience. • Leads to interpretation to ambiguous event.
Detection of CovariationHills, et al. 1990 • Initial stage: Faces + personal profile. Facial features and personality are correlated. • Next stage: Faces + ambiguous profile • Results: Unconscious beliefs about correlation has been strengthened.
Realistic Conflict TheoryAffective factor • Limited resources lead to conflict between groups • Direct competition leads to prejudice. • Prejudices are higher when the job market is scarce. • Economic hardship – more violence toward outgroup members.
Scapegoat theory • Tendency to blame outgroup members in the experienced troubles. • Plague epidemic – lead to Jews pogroms.
In-group bias • Minimal group paradigm (Tajfel, 1982) • Procedure • Ss. divided into 2 groups by arbitrary criterion. • Klee style vs. Kandinsky style • Coin toss • DV: Money allocation, attitudes
Reason for the in-group bias • Self-esteem gain.
Outgroup homogeneity • Perception that individuals in the outgroup are more similar to each other • Quattrone & Jones, 1980 • Ss. watched a student who made a choice (type of music). Ss’ own college vs. another college • DV: Predict what % of students of this college would make the same choice.
Reasons for outgroup homogeneity • Less information about out-group members
Stereotype maintenance and activation • Priming Priming of social category Stereotype activation Interpretations
Devine, 1982 • Procedure: • Stage 1: Subliminal Priming: • Stereotype-related words: Black, rhythm, Africa, ghetto, welfare, lazy • Stage 2:Judgment of ambiguous behavior. (Donald) • Results: • Ss. judged the behavior as more hostile. • Conclusion: • African American concept activates stereotype of hostility.
Consequences of stereotype activation • Activation is automatic and inevitable • Effortful suppression and inhibition is possible. (Devine, 1989)
Stereotype maintenance and activation • Self-fulfilling prophecy Expectations Our own behaviors Another person’s behavior
Bargh, Chen, and Burrow, 1996 • Procedure • Tedious odd-even task. • Subliminal face exposure: black vs. white. • Message about an error: Need to start the task from the beginning. • DV: Videotaping of reactions. • Results: More hostile behavior after being exposed to black faces.
Stereotype measure • Explicit • Modern racism • “It is easy to understand the anger of Black people in America” • “Over the past few years, Blacks have gotten more economically than they deserve”.
Stereotype Measure • Implicit • IAT • Priming • Word-completion task
Spencer, 1998 • Procedure • Bogus IQ test: positive vs. negative feedback. • Word-completion task • BL _ _ K • RI _ E • Cognitively busy (rehearsal) / nothing • Results: Positive feedback. • Stereotype activation in “no busy” condition • Negative feedback: • Stereotype activation in both conditions.
Spencer, 1998 • Conclusion • Stereotype activation requires some efforts • But it still may be activated when the resources are scarce in certain situations.
