Toward a narrative conceptualization of stereotypes: contextualizing perceptions of public housing residents

Abstract

Expansion of policies aimed at empowering disenfranchised groups, for example, resident/tenant participation in public housing, have been greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm. However, negative beliefs about the intelligence, ability, and morality of these groups, may interfere with the implementation of these policies. A greater understanding of social perceptions may lead to interventions that diminish interference. Traditional stereotyping research methods rely on trait conceptualizations that have been criticized as inadequate to fully describe social perceptions. This study examines the utility of a narrative approach to studying stereotypes about public housing residents. A group of college students (authors) wrote stories about a public housing resident and described the resident using trait objectives. Two readers, one given the story and the other the trait list, predicted how the author responded on various public housing belief and attitude instruments. Results indicate that stories and traits convey unique information not expressed by the other and offer preliminary support for the added usefulness, especially contextual information, of a narrative framework for studying stereotypes. The relevance of a narrative approach for understanding how stereotypes may undermine empowerment-based policies, in this case tenant participation in public housing, will also be explored. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.