Hamilton and Gifford (1976)

aim

to investigate illusory correlations based on the co-occurrence of infrequent events OR to investigate how illusory correlations can distort how we process information

method

participants were 104 undergraduates

procedure

read series of descriptions from 2 fictional groups - Group A & Group B

• Group A - 18 desirable behaviours & 8 undesirable behaviours

• Group B - 9 desirable & 4 undesirable behaviours

• Group B was minority - were smaller in size than Group A

• ratio of desirable to undesirable behaviours was equal in both groups - no actual correlation between behaviours & group membership

descriptions included individual group membership & specific behaviour (desirable or undesirable)

groups were abstract cuz researchers didnt want previously held stereotypes to interfere with results

participants read descriptions one by one

after, they were asked to estimate how many members of each group performed desirable & undesirable behaviours

results

participants overestimated frequency of group B members performing negative behaviours

conclusion

researchers concluded there was an illusory correlation between group membership & undesirable behaviour

researchers argued that illusory correlations were caused by event distinctiveness - meeting a member of a minority is ‘rememberable” & so is encountering an undesirable behaviour

strengths

large sample size - generalizability

two groups that were the exact same proportion, just one was smaller(the minority) and the other was larger (the majority)

using undergraduates was better than using elementary school students, because undergraduates are more developed (they have developed their sense of right and wrong, as opposed to elementary school children who are still figuring out what’s right and what’s wrong)

limitations

low ecological validity - cannot determine or conclusively say that illusory correlations can lead to the development of stereotypes under natural conditions. In actual life, there’s more context that could factor into one’s creation of a stereotype, such as socioeconomic background

applications

Dangers of constantly highlighting the negatives of a particular racial group on the news. Because people constantly hear about a racial group engaging in a negative behaviour, they may believe that all members of that group hv negative behaviours

Police or law enforcement may expect a member of a minority group to be involved in an illegal activity, but ignore the fact that a member of a majority group is actually involved in that dangerous activity.

Doctors also tend to “over-remember” obese patients compared to other patients. Obese patients may suffer more from illusory correlation bias than other patients. This could hinder the diagnosis - doctors may allow there illusory correlation bias to lead their judgement, and diagnose the patient with a stereotypical diagnosis