How cognitive processes shape implicit stereotypes: a literature review

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Stereotypes are fundamental to social cognition, representing the automatic associations and evaluations individuals hold about social groups. Their automatic activation, characterized by rapid and often unconscious processes, makes them resistant to change and persistent across contexts. However, evidence shows that motivated individuals can modulate these processes under certain conditions. This essay explores the mechanisms underlying stereotype formation and maintenance, integrating Clark’s predictive brain model and Hinton’s culture in mind framework to examine how cognitive and cultural factors interact. The predictive brain framework suggests that human cognition operates on Bayesian principles, using prior experiences to predict and interpret stimuli. This aligns with the culture in mind perspective, which emphasizes how cultural norms shape cognitive processes, including stereotypes. These models illustrate how stereotypes arise from the dynamic interplay between individual cognition and broader cultural influences. Key modulators of stereotypes include decision-making, emotion regulation, and motivation. Decision-making often relies on implicit processes, where automatic associations influence behaviour outside conscious control, but neural systems can regulate these effects. Emotional regulation, through the management of arousal levels, can influence the cognitive application of stereotypes, potentially reducing their impact. Motivation drives selective stereotype use, shaped by personal goals and cultural expectations. Understanding the cognitive and cultural roots of implicit stereotypes is crucial for designing effective interventions to reduce inequalities and promote equity in educational, occupational and social contexts, and the cross-sectional approach allows us to understand how different forms of discrimination intersect with each other to reinforce inequalities and strengthen deep-rooted prejudices. This essay aims to be part of the increasingly relevant debate on intergroup dynamics and the creation of a more inclusive and equitable society, emphasising the need for new perspectives and deconstruction of biases in research.