Stereotype
A generalized belief about a category of people.
A stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people, representing an expectation about every person of that group. In social psychology, stereotypes are understood as cognitive structures that simplify information processing by relying on previously stored knowledge, though they are often faulty and resistant to new information. Research on their accuracy has yielded mixed results, with some studies finding them inaccurate and others suggesting they may reflect reality in certain cases.
- field
- Social psychology
- type
- Cognitive belief
- components
- Explicit and implicit
- dimensions
- Warmth and competence (SCM); agency, beliefs, communion (ABC)
- related_concepts
- Prejudice, discrimination, racism
Lore & Background
Stereotypes can be explicit or implicit. Explicit stereotypes are conscious beliefs that a person knowingly uses to judge others, and their bias can be partially mitigated through conscious control, though attempts often fail to be truly impartial. Empirical research, such as a study on age stereotypes by Huang and Ruthermund, showed that people consciously weigh context before applying explicit stereotypes rather than judging blindly. Implicit stereotypes, by contrast, are automatic and involuntary associations that lie in the subconscious, built on associative networks in semantic memory and automatic activation; individuals have no control or awareness of them.
Reader's Guide
Stereotypes are significant because they shape intergroup attitudes and can lead to prejudice and discrimination. They are considered the cognitive component of intergroup attitudes, distinct from the affective component (prejudice) and behavioral component (discrimination). Possible prejudicial effects include justifying ill-founded prejudices, unwillingness to rethink attitudes, and preventing stereotyped groups from entering or succeeding in activities. Research on stereotype content has evolved from early views of uniform antipathy to models like the stereotype content model (SCM), which posits that stereotypes vary along warmth and competence dimensions, and the agency–beliefs–communion (ABC) model, which adds a dimension of beliefs. These models help predict behavior toward stereotyped groups, such as inter-group cooperation based on perceived similarity in agency and beliefs.
Did You Know?
- Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral.
- Explicit stereotypes operate through deliberation and controlled reasoning, not simple automatic association.
- Implicit stereotypes are built on associative networks in semantic memory and automatic activation.
- The ABC model of stereotype content includes dimensions of agency, beliefs, and communion.
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