The crossed-categorization hypothesis: Evidence of reductions in the strength of categorization, but not intergroup bias

Abstract

Deschamps and Doise’s (1978) classic crossed categorization hypothesis states that both category differentiation and intergroup bias should be reduced in crossed conditions (e.g., race × gender groups comprised of Asian females, Asian males, White females, and White males) compared to simple conditions, where people vary on just one social category. Although there has been extensive work testing this hypothesis, we suggest that conclusions from this work are limited because (1) almost none of it has examined category differentiation outcomes, (2) several studies that have examined intergroup bias effects have not directly tested the classic hypothesis, and (3) no studies have examined both categorization and bias outcomes simultaneously. We conducted two experiments to overcome these limitations. In Experiment 1, target race (Asian or White) and gender were manipulated. In Experiment 2, target relationship status (single or significant other) and hometown size (big town or little town) were manipulated. In both experiments, categorization was weaker in crossed than simple conditions, but there was no evidence of reduced intergroup bias in crossed contexts.