Stereotyping of older adults: The role of target facial cues and perceiver characteristics.

This 2-part study used photograph-age and photograph-stereotype sorting tasks to examine the role of target facial cues in stereotyping of older persons. As predicted, young, middle-aged, and older participants associated photographs of those who looked older and those with a neutral facial expression with fewer positive stereotypes than other photographs. Participants also selected fewer positive stereotypes for photographs of women than of men, except when the photographs showed old-old (80 years and over) men. Participant age affected stereotyping only of the photographs of old-old persons, with older participants selecting fewer positive stereotypes for those photographs than middle-aged and young participants. These results establish the importance of facial cues in the age stereotyping process and suggest age boundaries for positive stereotypes of men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From passive acceptance to social disruption: Towards an understanding of behavioural responses to discrimination.

Reactions to discrimination encompass a large array of potential behaviors, ranging from acceptance of the unfair treatment through to collective protest. The present study explored the possibility that the preference for acceptance and for normative individual actions is in part an artifact: of failing to distinguish between 2 levels of collective behavior (group support and group organization) and of failing to consider the role of effort. In addition, this study explored the distinction between normative and antinormative acceptance: 2 ways of "doing nothing," each with different societal implications. When behavioral responses to discrimination are conceptualized according to this new behavioral framework, more collective and antinormative behaviors were observed among the 80 participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic stereotypes: The traditional approach, a new look.

In this paper it is proposed that it is both meaningful and socially relevant to view ethnic stereotypes as beliefs generally shared in the community about characteristics of various groups. The implications of this traditional approach are discussed. The argument is also made, however, that traditional assessment procedures do not readily permit the measurement of individual differences in the tendency to adopt stereotypes and thus do not allow for the investigation of stereotyping as a process. An alternative measurement procedure is described, and its applications to study a number of aspects of the stereotyping process are summarized. Research bearing on the consequences on ethnic stereotypes viewed as consensual beliefs is also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest.

The question addressed is, when do disadvantaged-group members accept their situation, take individual action, or attempt to instigate collective action? Ss attempted to move from a low-status group into an advantaged, high-status group and were asked to respond to their subsequent rejection. Ss who believed that the high-status group was open to members of their group endorsed acceptance and individual actions. When access to the high-status group was restricted, even to the point of being almost closed (tokenism), Ss still preferred individual action. Disruptive forms of collective action were only favored by Ss who were told that the high-status group was completely closed to members of their group. Ss who believed they were near to gaining entry into the high-status group favored individual protest, while Ss distant from entry were more likely to accept their position. The theoretical and societal implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit gender stereotyping in judgments of fame.

Implicit (unconscious) gender stereotyping in fame judgments was tested with an adaptation of a procedure developed by L. L. Jacoby, C. M. Kelley, J. Brown, and J. Jasechko (1989). In Experiments 1–4, participants pronounced 72 names of famous and nonfamous men and women, and 24 or 48 hr later made fame judgments in response to the 72 familiar and 72 unfamiliar famous and nonfamous names. These first experiments, in which signal detection analysis was used to assess implicit stereotypes, demonstrate that the gender bias (greater assignment of fame to male than female names) was located in the use of a lower criterion (B) for judging fame of familiar male than female names. Experiments 3 and 4 also showed that explicit expressions of sexism or stereotypes were uncorrelated with the observed implicit gender bias in fame judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A ratio measure of sex stereotyping.

The goals of these two studies were (a) to develop a measure of cultural sex stereotypes and individual differences in sex stereotyping and (b) to determine the accuracy of cultural sex stereotypes. Stereotype measures were based on ratio scores. For a given attribute, the strength of a stereotype was indexed by the ratio of perceivers' estimates of the percentage of women versus men with that attribute. In Study 1, one group of subjects estimated the prevalence in men and women of 30 socially desirable traits. A second group of subjects rated themselves on the same traits, thus providing group norms that were used as criteria for accuracy. Ratio measures were found to be useful in identifying the content of cultural sex stereotypes and in assessing individual differences in stereotyping. Individual differences in stereotyping were found to generalize across a wide variety of traits. To assess accuracy, stereotypes were compared with group norms. Group norms showed only a few large sex differences on traits, although there were many small sex differences. Stereotypes were much more extreme; that is, large sex differences were assumed to exist for virtually every trait. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and extended the findings to socially undesirable sex stereotypes. Implications of these results are discussed for the "kernel of truth" debate and for schema theories of stereotyping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal beliefs and cultural stereotypes about racial characteristics.

Social stereotypes may be expressed as personal beliefs about the characteristics of a group or as beliefs about the predominant cultural view of a group. In a study with a full intergroup design, Black and White participants rated Black and White racial groups. Results supported 3 sets of predictions derived from a projection model of stereotyping. First, participants' personal beliefs predicted their ratings of cultural stereotypes even when the group averages of personal beliefs and cultural stereotypes were statistically controlled. Second, interrater agreement in stereotype ratings was substantial for both rating tasks. Third, members of both groups underestimated how favorably their own group was rated by members of their respective out-group. Implications of the findings for the mental organizations of stereotypes, their measurement, and their consequences for social behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies for Social Inference: A Similarity Contingency Model of Projection and Stereotyping in Attribute Prevalence Estimates.

Most models of how perceivers infer the widespread attitudes and qualities of social groups revolve around either the self (social projection, false consensus) or stereotypes (stereotyping). The author suggests people rely on both of these inferential strategies, with perceived general similarity moderating their use, leading to increased levels of projection and decreased levels of stereotyping. Three studies featuring existing individual differences in perceived similarity as well as manipulated perceptions supported the predictions, with similarity yielding increased projection to, and decreased stereotyping of, various in-groups and out-groups. Evidence that projection and stereotyping may serve as inferential alternatives also emerged. The model and accompanying results have implications for research on social comparison and projection, stereotyping and prejudice, and social inference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the leaky math pipeline: Comparing implicit math-gender stereotypes and math withdrawal in female and male children and adolescents.

Many models assume that habitual human behavior is guided by spontaneous, automatic, or implicit processes rather than by deliberate, rule-based, or explicit processes. Thus, math-ability self-concepts and math performance could be related to implicit math-gender stereotypes in addition to explicit stereotypes. Two studies assessed at what age implicit math-gender stereotyping can be observed and what the relations between these stereotypes and math-related outcomes are in children and adolescents. Implicit math-gender stereotypes could already be detected with Implicit Association Tests (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) among 9-year-old girls. Adolescent girls showed stronger implicit gender stereotypes than adolescent boys, who, on average, did not reveal implicit gender-stereotypic associations. Girls also already showed an implicit affinity to language versus math at 9 years of age. In a regression analysis, implicit math-gender stereotypes predicted academic self-concepts, academic achievement, and enrollment preferences above and beyond explicit math-gender stereotypes for girls but (with the exception of achievement) not for boys. These findings suggest implicit gender stereotypes are an important factor in the dropout of female students from math-intensive fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An individual and quantitative measure of stereotypes.

Proposes a quantitative and individual measure of stereotyping, based on defining stereotypes as probabilistic predictions that distinguish the stereotyped group from others. Data indicate that the proposed measure, though related to the familiar Katz and Braly (D. Katz and K. W. Braly, 1933) checklist, is a substantially new measure of stereotyping rather than simply a quantitative version of the checklist. It is argued that the theoretical and empirical value of the proposed measure is justification for abandoning the Katz and Braly measure. Theoretically, the new measure relates stereotype research to attribution theory as part of a Bayesian approach to the psychology of prediction. Empirically, the new measure opens interesting questions about stereotypes, especially about stereotype validity and the "kernel of truth" hypothesis. A study using the new measure revealed that diverse groups of Ss (N?=?75) had some similar stereotypes of Black Americans, that these stereotypes were relatively accurate, and that contrary to the "kernel of truth" hypothesis, these stereotypes were seldom exaggerated. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and mental representation of stereotypes.

A mixed model of stereotype representation was tested. Experiment 1 examined the development of stereotypes about novel groups. Results showed that, at low levels of experience, stereotypic group knowledge is derived from information about particular group exemplars. However, as experience increases, an abstract group stereotype is formed that is stored and retrieved independently of the exemplars on which it was based. Results of Experiment 2 suggest that preexisting stereotypes about well-known groups are represented as abstract structures in memory. These results indicate that stereotypical knowledge is most likely to be exemplar-based in the absence of abstract stereotypes. The implications of these findings for other aspects of stereotyping and social perception are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Was Walter Lippmann interested in stereotyping?: Public opinion and cognitive social psychology.

Walter Lippmann's public Opinion is much cited but little read. A review of references to Public Opinion by social psychologists over the last 20 years reveals the widespread beliefs that (1) the book focuses primarily on group stereotypes and prejudice, and (2) the concept of stereotyping originated with Lippmann. However, stereotypes, as currently conceived--as opposed to schemata more generally--do not play a central role in the book, and Lippmann did not introduce the concept (although he may have broadened it). In addition, throughout his long and distinguished career, he showed little interest in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Nonetheless, Public Opinion is a seminal work in the area of cognitive social psychology and (like other little read citation classics) still deserves to be read--including, ironically, by students of stereotyping and prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in medical students' perceptions of family practice resulting from a required clerkship

BACKGROUND: Career choice research has shown that exposing medical students to family medicine, through a special medical school emphasis or a required clerkship, correlates with an increased rate of selection of family practice. It has been hypothesized that actual exposure to family medicine mitigates the negative stereotypes held by many medical students. METHODS: This study used a qualitative strategy to examine how a family medicine clerkship altered medical students' perceptions and attitudes toward this specialty. A series of 12 focus groups were conducted with the students who had just completed a required family medicine junior core clerkship at our institution. RESULTS: Focus group findings confirmed the existence of negative stereotypes about family practice among medical students and provided additional information on their nature and origins. In addition, student comments indicated that a third-year family medicine clerkship experience dispelled this negative stereotyping and instilled in students a greater respect for and interest in family practice. CONCLUSION: Third-year clerkships can enhance students' perceptions of family practice by dispelling negative stereotypes and by providing medical students with a more accurate portrayal of the nature of this primary care specialty.     

Cultural myths and supports for rape.

Tested hypotheses derived from social psychological and feminist theory that acceptance of rape myths can be predicted from attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual conservatism, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Personality characteristics, background characteristics, and personal exposure to rape, rape victims, and rapists are other factors used in predictions. Results from regression analysis of interview data from 598 randomly selected adults indicate that the higher the sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of interpersonal violence, the greater an S's acceptance of rape myths. In addition, younger and better educated Ss revealed fewer stereotypic, adversarial, and proviolence attitudes and less rape myth acceptance. Implications for understanding and changing this cultural orientation toward sexual assault are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Not all stereotyping is created equal: Differential consequences of thoughtful versus nonthoughtful stereotyping.

Much research emphasizes heuristic use of stereotypes, though stereotypes have long been considered as capable of influencing more thoughtful processing of social information. Direct comparisons between thoughtful and nonthoughtful stereotyping are lacking in the literature. Recent research in attitude change emphasizes the different consequences of judgments arising from relatively thoughtful versus nonthoughtful processes. Therefore, increased thought could not only fail to decrease stereotyping but might also create stereotypic perceptions that are more likely to have lasting impact. The current studies demonstrate thoughtful and nonthoughtful stereotyping within the same setting. More thoughtful stereotyping is more resistant to future attempts at change and to warnings of possible bias. Implications are discussed for the typical research questions asked after observing stereotypic judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit prejudice and stereotyping: How automatic are they? Introduction to the special section.

This special issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition addresses issues of the measurement and the malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes. The findings raise fundamental questions about the assumptions underlying the assessment of implicit prejudice, particularly with regard to the widely used Implicit Association Test (A. Greenwald, D. McGhee, & J. Schwartz, 1998) and the assumption of extant models of prejudice and stereotyping that implicit biases are automatically and invariantly activated when perceivers come in contact with members of stigmatized groups. Several of the articles show that contextual manipulations produce reductions in implicit manifestations of prejudice and stereotyping. The articles in this issue, in challenging conventional wisdom, are thought provoking and should be generative in the field's ongoing efforts to understand the role of implicit (and explicit) processes involved in prejudice and stereotyping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power in Stereotypically Masculine Domains: A Social Influence Strategy X Stereotype Match Model.

This work examines the hypothesis that stereotypes of groups to which low-power people belong should influence the perceptions and behavior of powerful people only when those stereotypes are both contextually relevant (e.g., women in masculine domains) and provide information of relevance given powerful people's beliefs about the relation between subordinates and goal attainment. Findings across two studies supported predictions. In a masculine domain, when high-power men were attentive to subordinate weaknesses that may produce thwarts to goal attainment, stereotypes of women defined the contextually relevant shortcomings of women, and stereotype-consistent high-power behaviors ensued. In contrast, when powerful men were attentive to subordinate strengths that may enhance goal strivings, stereotypes of women were uninformative (i.e., did not contain information about relevant strengths); female and male employees were responded to and, in turn, performed and reacted similarly. The implications of these findings for theorizing on the relation between power and stereotyping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Controlling other people: The impact of power on stereotyping.

Presents a theory of the mutually reinforcing interaction between power and stereotyping, mediated by attention. The powerless attend to the powerful who control their outcomes, in an effort to enhance prediction and control, so forming complex, potentially nonstereotypic impressions. The powerful pay less attention, and are more vulnerable to stereotyping. The powerful (1) need not attend to the other to control their own outcomes, (2) cannot attend because they tend to be attentionally overloaded, and (3) if they have high need for dominance, may not want to attend. Stereotyping and power are mutually reinforcing because stereotyping itself exerts control, maintaining and justifying the status quo. Two legal cases and a body of research illustrate the theory and suggest organizational change strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance: A theoretical and empirical reexamination.

M. R. Burt (1980) concluded that acceptance of rape myths was strongly related to adversarial sexual beliefs, tolerance of interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping. However, the scales designed to assess these variables appear to share an emphasis on hostile attitudes toward women. Using alternative measures and 3 samples of undergraduates (N?=?429; 199 men and 230 women), the authors demonstrated that hostility toward women can partially account for the relation of the various Burt constructs with rape myth acceptance. In addition, a direct measure of hostility toward women exhibits considerably more predictive power among men than women, suggesting that rape myths may function differently for men and women and that there is significant utility in exploring a more broadly defined construct of misogyny for understanding the acceptance of sexual violence toward women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stigma consciousness: the psychological legacy of social stereotypes

Whereas past researchers have treated targets of stereotypes as though they have uniform reactions to their stereotyped status (e.g., J. Crocker & B. Major, 1989; C. M. Steele & J. Aronson, 1995), it is proposed here that targets differ in the extent to which they expect to be stereotyped by others (i.e., stigma consciousness). Six studies, 5 of which validate the stigma-consciousness questionnaire (SCQ), are presented. The results suggest that the SCQ is a reliable and valid instrument for detecting differences in stigma consciousness. In addition, scores on the SCQ predict perceptions of discrimination and the ability to generate convincing examples of such discrimination. The final study highlights a behavioral consequence of stigma consciousness: the tendency for people high in stigma consciousness to forgo opportunities to invalidate stereotypes about their group. The relation of stigma consciousness to past research on targets of stereotypes is considered as is the issue of how stigma consciousness may encourage continued stereotyping.