On Malleable and Immalleable Subtypes

Abstract

Although relatively brief encounters with counterstereotypic targets can change automatic stereotypes, the capacity to subtype such counterstereotypic targets can also protect stereotypes against change. In a novel combination of these findings, the current research hypothesized that malleability in one subtype of a category engendered by mental imagery ( Blair, Ma, & Lenton, 2001 ) would not bleed over easily into other prominent subtypes of a category. Supporting this hypothesis, imagining a strong businesswoman elicited a reversal of the “women-as-weak” stereotype – but only for women presented in business contexts (i.e., businesswomen). When women were presented in domestic contexts (i.e., homemakers), the mental imagery had no effect on the stereotype of women as weak. Thus, these data suggest that stereotype malleability elicited by mental imagery can be subtype-specific, with changes in one subtype not bleeding over easily to other subtypes of the category.