[Illusory Correlation] - Hamilton and Rose (1980)

Aim of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

To investigate how illusory correlations contribute to the maintenance of social stereotypes.

Procedure of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

Performed three experiments:

1. Participants read sets of sentences describing different occupations with adjective pairs (e.g. Doctor w/ smart and wealthy), along with non-stereotypical adjectives.

2. Participants read sets of sentences with adjective pairs either consistent with the stereotypes or unrelated to them.

3. Adjectives were either inconsistent or unrelated

Participants then estimated how often each of the trait adjectives accurately described the members of the occupational group.

Results of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

Participants showed systematic biases to make the perceived correlation and stereotypes more consistent with eachother.

Conclusions of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

Concluded that when two infrequent events occur together, illusory correlations are triggered due to the heightened attention observers pay to them (they're encoded better).

Strengths of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

- Shows a correlation between illusory correlations and stereotypes

- Reduced chance of social desirability bias, as members of groups were not present (increased validity)

Limitations of Hamilton and Rose (1980)

- Assumes that the participants all shared the same stereotypical concepts for each group