stereotypes 1

what are stereotypes?

• generalised beliefs about or expectations from members of group

• not necessarily fixed or inaccurate

difference between stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination?

• stereotyping - the cognitive component of attitudes towards a social group; beliefs about what a particular group is like

• prejudice - the affective (feeling) component of attitudes towards a social group

• discrimination - the behavioural (action) component of attitudes towards a social group

why do we form and use stereotypes?

• schemas - cognitive frameworks for organising, interpreting and recalling information

• categorising for efficiency - sometimes least cognitive effort is preferable

• motivational purpose - feel positive about group identity in comparison to other social groups

describe Bodenhausen (1990)

• participants presented with info from a legal trial - designed to draw on stereotypes that suggest the defendant is guilty but objectively ambiguous

• participants were either morning or evening people - tested in least preferred time of day so they have limited resources

• stronger reliance on stereotypes when cognitive resources are scarce

stereotype content model (Fiske et al., 2002)

• stereotypes about most groups contain just two underlying dimensions: competence (status) and warmth (competition)

describe Deutsch, LeBaron, and Fryer (1987)

• asked participants to rate how warm, happy, carefree and relaxed a number of people were based on verbal description accompanied by: no photo, smiling photo or non-smiling photo

• women were perceived as less happy, carefree and relaxed than men when not smiling

• non-smiling women were rated less happy, carefree and relaxed than woman with no photo - not found for men

• evidence of negative consequences of ‘positive’ stereotypes

how do stereotypes influence cognitive processing?

• where we direct attention - attend to stereotype-consistent info

• how we interpret info - interpret ambiguous info in line with stereotypes

• what we remember - recall more stereotype-consistent info

• how we gather info - ask questions to confirm our beliefs

describe Snyder and Swann (1978)

• participant ‘interviewers’ were led to believe that an interviewee that was either introverted or extroverted

• they selected questions from a prepared list

• they chose questions likely to confirm expectations