Write down your definition of
Stereotype.
Sociocultural Cognition #4
Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on
behaviour.
STEREOTYPE

A social perception of an individual in terms of
group membership or physical attributes
A
generalization about a group and then attributed to
members of that group
 Book
 These
definition on page 113
stereotypes can be + or –
 Examples??
A
form of social categorization which can affect
behaviour
STEREOTYPE THREAT
Occurs when one is in a situation where
there is a threat of being judged or
treated stereotypically , or a fear that
your actions will unintentionally
confirm the stereotype
STEELE AND ARONSON (1995)

30 minute verbal, multiple choice, test
 One
group was told it was a “genuine test of their
abilities”
 African-Americans
scored lower than whites
A
second group was told it was a lab task used to study
how certain problems are solved
 African-Americans
scored higher than the first group
 African-American scores rose to the level of white students
 Other
studies corroborate these findings
Conclusion
Stereotype threat can affect the members of just about any social or
cultural group, if the members believe that stereotype
SPOTLIGHT ANXIETY

Causes emotional distress and pressure that may
undermine performance
 Steele

(1997)
Spencer et al (1977)
 Stereotype: women
are not as strong in mathematics
as men
 When given a difficult math test
 women
who were strong in math underperformed
compared with equally qualified men
 A literature test showed no disparity between the sexes

There was no stereotype threat about literature
HOW ARE STEREOTYPES FORMED?

Campbell (1967)
 Two
1.
2.

sources of stereotypes
Personal experience with individuals and groups
Gatekeepers: media, parents, and other members of our
culture
Campbell argues that stereotypes have a basis in
some reality

The “grain of truth” hypothesis

What are some problems with this hypothesis??

Attribution errors are common
ILLUSORY CORRELATION
Hamilton & Gifford (1976)
 People see a relationship b/n two variables even
when there is none

 For

example, women’s inferior ability in math
Researchers say that illusory correlation is an
example of “cognitive bias”
A
person’s tendency to make errors in judgment
based on cognitive factors (ie, attribution errors)
CONFIRMATION BIAS
Once illusory correlations are made people tend
to seek out or remember information that
supports the relationship
 People tend to overlook information that
contradicts what they already believe

SNYDER & SWANN (1978)

Had female college students create a set of
questions to ask a person
 One
group was told the person they would ask was
an introvert
 The other group, an extrovert

The questions they prepared confirmed their
perceptions of who they were to meet
 Examples: introvert: “What
do you dislike about
parties?”; extrovert: “What do you do to liven up a
party?”
OTHER MEANS OF CREATING STEREOTYPES

Taking on the in-groups ideas
 Individuals
may conform to the group norms in
regards to the out-groups

Rogers & Frantz (1962)
 White
immigrants to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe today)
developed more stereotypes about the locals the
longer they stayed
 They
adopted the social representations of the dominant
group
JANE ELLIOTT

Elliott in the 1960’s decided to tackle the
problem of stereotypes, prejudice, &
discrimination
A Class Divided