Negative Metastereotypes Research Articles

I Like You More if I Think You Like Me: The Effect of Metastereotypes on Attitudes Toward People With Deafness

ABSTRACTIn the present article we aimed at investigating the role of metastereotypes and gender on hearing people’s attitudes towards people with deafness. Ninety-six Italian hearing adults participated in a 2 × 2 experimental study. Participants were presented with the results of a fictitious but apparently real survey concerning the opinions people with deafness have of hearing people. Metastereotypes (positive vs. negative) were manipulated through this presentation. Results showed that metastereotypes interacted with participants’ gender in determining their attitudes towards people with deafness: when positive metastereotypes were activated, women’s attitudes appeared more favorable toward people with deafness if compared to the negative metastereotypes condition. No effect of metastereotypes was observed among male participants. In conclusion, the activation of metastereotypes can be a useful means in intervening to improve attitudes toward people with deafness.

メタステレオタイプと集団相互依存観が外集団に対する反応に及ぼす影響

The current research examined the moderating role of beliefs in group interdependence on effects of negative meta-stereotypes. The effects of meta-stereotypes among Japanese participants were explored by examining responses toward a fictitious Korean defendant (Study 1), or a real political agenda between Korea and Japan (Study 2), after being exposed to negative views that Koreans might have of Japanese. In addition, the extent to which participants believed in group interdependence between the nations was measured. The results of the two experiments revealed that effects of negative meta-stereotypes were moderated by beliefs in group interdependence. The individuals with higher beliefs in group interdependence responded more favorably toward the outgroup when faced with negative meta-stereotypes, perhaps in an attempt to disconfirm the negative meta-stereotypes. On the other hand, the individuals with lower beliefs in group interdependence reciprocated with unfavorable responses when faced with negative meta-stereotypes.

When Do Low Status Groups Help High Status Groups? The Moderating Effects of Ingroup Identification, Audience Group Membership, and Perceived Reputational Benefit

Previous research has demonstrated that, when negative metastereotypes are made salient, members of low status groups help members of high status groups in order to improve the reputation of their low status group and its associated social identity. The present research investigated three potential moderators of low status groups’ outgroup helping: ingroup identification, audience group membership, and perceived reputational benefit. In Study 1 (N = 112) we found that members of a low status group (Keele University students) were most likely to offer to help raise funds for a high status group (University of Birmingham students) when they were high identifiers who had considered a negative metastereotype and believed that their responses would be viewed by an outgroup member. In Study 2 (N = 100) we found a similar effect in an intergroup context that referred to psychology students (low status ingroup) and junior doctors (high status outgroup), showing that the effect was limited to people who perceived reputational benefit in helping the outgroup. The practical and social implications of these findings are discussed in relation to intergroup contact and international relations.

On the psychological barriers to the workplace: when and why metastereotyping undermines employability beliefs of women and ethnic minorities.

We investigated the effect of how one might expect one’s group to be viewed by a dominant outgroup (i.e., metastereotypes) on employability beliefs of members of disadvantaged groups. Based on the extensive literature on stereotype threat, we hypothesized that activating negative metastereotypes would undermine employability beliefs of members of disadvantaged groups, because such beliefs are likely to threaten their state self-esteem. In particular, we expected that an effect of negative metastereotyping on employability beliefs would be explained by momentary self-doubts and be particularly evident among members whose dispositional self-esteem is high rather than low to begin with. Taken jointly, results from a correlational study (n = 80) and an experimental study (n = 56) supported these hypotheses, and discussion focuses on their implications for mobility into the workplace.

When disadvantaged adolescents strike out: the impact of negative metastereotypes on delinquency

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of perceived negativity against the ingroup on delinquency in disadvantaged social groups. It is based on assumptions from labeling theory and social identity theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors hypothesized that negative metastereotypes towards the outgroup “majority society” (i.e. the perception of the outgroup holding negative stereotypes against the ingroup) would enhance delinquent behavior. Based on recent findings from research on self‐esteem and aggression, the authors further hypothesized that self‐esteem would moderate this effect, namely that delinquency‐enhancement would be strongest for individuals high in self‐esteem. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of incarcerated adolescents (n=225) and a sample of educationally disadvantaged adolescents (n=92), respectively.FindingsNegative metastereotypes towards the “majority society” are positively related to delinquent behavior. This effect is particularly strong when disadvantaged individuals' positive self‐regard is high.Research limitations/implicationsThis research gives important, new insights on the basis of cross‐sectional, correlative data. Future research should aim to corroborate the findings by use of experimental or longitudinal designs.Originality/valueThe paper shows that the perception of negative stereotypes against one's disadvantaged ingroup in society is a risk factor for delinquent behavior. It furthermore highlights how personality differences in self‐esteem influence this relationship. The research builds a bridge between criminological labeling theory and social‐psychological social identity theory.

The effect of metastereotyping on judgements of higher-status outgroups when reciprocity and social image improvement motives collide.

Two experiments examined the effect of metastereotype valence on high and low identifiers' judgments of an outgroup. As high identifiers are strongly emotionally invested in the ingroup, we expected that such group members would feel angry when they activate negative metastereotypes which would correspondingly lead to less favourable evaluation of the outgroup. We further expected this pattern to be particularly visible when high identifiers could communicate their dissatisfaction to an outgroup (but not an ingroup) audience presumably to persuade the outgroup to reevaluate their attitudes toward the ingroup. We did not expect low identifiers to reflect the valence of metastereotypes in their outgroup attitudes and judgments, given their weak emotional ties with the ingroup and because such members are likely to feel that metastereotypes do not apply to them personally. Results from two experiments (Study 1, N = 78; Study 2, N = 80) supported these predictions and are discussed in light of the implications of metastereotyping for intergroup relations.

Outgroup Helping as a Tool to Communicate Ingroup Warmth

The authors extend previous research on the effects of metastereotype activation on outgroup helping by examining in more detail the role of group impression management motives and by studying direct helping (i.e., helping the outgroup believed to hold a negative view of the ingroup). Data from three experiments provided full support for the communicative nature of direct outgroup helping by demonstrating that outgroup helping in response to a negative metastereotype was predicted by participants' concern for the image of their ingroup, but not by their self-image concerns. Moreover, group image concerns predicted outgroup helping but not ingroup helping and predicted outgroup helping only when a negative metastereotype was activated, compared with a positive metastereotype, or a (negative or positive) autostereotype. The results also ruled out an alternative explanation in terms of denying the self-relevance of the metastereotype.

Downplaying a compromised social image: The effect of metastereotype valence on social identification

AbstractThis research examined the prediction that group members' levels of identification with the in‐group would be influenced by the valence of salient metastereotypes. Specifically, we expected those group members who activate negative metastereotypes to report lower levels of identification with the in‐group compared with those who activate positive metastereotypes. We further expected the above effect to be mediated by fluctuations in self‐view: Those group members who activate negative metastereotypes should experience lowered self‐view (or self‐esteem), which would then lead them to downplay their membership of the negatively valued in‐group. In addition, we expected this mediated effect to be particularly visible among those who were less strongly identified with the in‐group to begin with. Results obtained across two studies in which metastereotype valence was manipulated support the predicted main effect and the moderated mediation hypothesis. Discussions highlight the need for a positive social image when concern about the negative connotations of one's social group membership is raised. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intergroup Anxiety in Interracial Interaction: The Role of Prejudice and Metastereotypes

Intergroup contact is known to promote positive intergroup relations. However, in natural settings race groups tend to self-segregate. Prejudice and metaperceptions are hypothesized to act as barriers to mixing. The experiment reported in this article investigates the role of prejudice and metastereotypes in producing the intergroup anxiety experienced in a simulated contact situation. The experiment was replicated at three different universities and involved different combinations of race groups. Participants believed that they were communicating in an Internet chatroom with two other students, who were either of the same or of a different race to themselves. Participants’ level of prejudice and degree of negative metastereotypes were both found to be predictors of the intergroup anxiety experienced in this interaction, with metastereotypes emerging as more important. The implications of these results for addressing negative intergroup relations in South Africa are discussed.

When Thinking That You are Fat Makes You Feel Worthless: Activation and Application of Meta-Stereotypes When Appearance Matters

This research examined whether normal-weight people who believe they are overweight expect that other people negatively stereotype them when their appearance becomes relevant. Moreover, it was examined whether these negative “meta-stereotypes” in turn make people feel worthless. Indeed, the first study showed that body weight dissatisfied women automatically activated negative meta-stereotypes about being overweight when they thought their appearance was evaluated. Study 2 revealed that only meta-stereotypes about being overweight, and not traits that are unrelated to the meta-stereotype, mediate the relation between body weight dissatisfaction and self-evaluation. Study 3 replicated this finding by manipulating body weight dissatisfaction. Finally, study 4 revealed that body weight dissatisfied women are especially likely to feel negative about themselves as a result of applying negative meta-stereotypes when their body is visible.

Helpful Only in the Abstract?

This study tested the hypothesis that empathizing with out-group members is beneficial outside of, but not within, intergroup-contact situations. We predicted that in the context of intergroup interaction, the potential for evaluation would lead individuals' perspective-taking efforts to take on an egocentric and counterproductive flavor. As predicted, when empathy was instantiated during an intergroup exchange, it failed to exert its usual positive effect on intergroup attitudes and led higher-prejudice individuals to derogate an out-group member who was an interaction partner; empathy also blocked the prejudice-reducing influence of intergroup contact. Mediation analyses indicated that activation of negative metastereotypes regarding the out-group's view of the in-group accounted for these effects. The findings, which demonstrate ironic effects of empathy in intergroup interaction, indicate that interventions based on studies of individuals' reactions to out-group members in the abstract might have dramatically different consequences when put into practice in real exchanges between members of different groups.

METASTEREOTYPES AND THE BLACK-WHITE DIVIDE: A Qualitative View of Race on an Elite College Campus

We employ qualitative in-depth and focus group data to examine how racial stereotypes affect relations between Black and White undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania. Specifically, we employ the concept of metastereotypes—Blacks' knowledge and perceptions of the racial attitudes that Whites have of Blacks. Our interest is in the accuracy of Black students' beliefs about Whites' racial attitudes to their group, and the consequences of metastereotypical thinking for Black students' academic performance. We find that the Black students in our sample possess some clear and largely negative metastereotypes concerning how Whites generally think about Blacks, and these metastereotypes are quite accurate. Moreover, these negative group images are at the heart of a key campus “problem”—Whites' hostility to affirmative action and the assumption that Blacks are not qualified to be at the university; and, ironically, most Blacks seem to have internalized a piece of these negative stereotypes. These results are a tangible manifestation of double-consciousness—Blacks' perceptions of themselves both through their own eyes and through the eyes of Whites, and evidence of Steele's theory of stereotype threat, in as much as Black students expend considerable energy attempting to debunk the myth of Black intellectual inferiority.