Outgroup Stereotypes Research Articles

Perceived social structural relations and group stereotypes: A test of the Stereotype Content Model in Malaysia

Using data from two studies, the current research tests the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) within a Malaysian context using Chinese and ethnic Malay participants. The aim of the research is to examine the theoretical underpinnings of the SCM in a new context by investigating the role of aspects of the perceived social structure that have not been considered previously. In line with the SCM it is found that the two dimensions of warmth and competence underlie in-group and out-group stereotypes in Malaysia. In addition, the in-group was evaluated more positively than the out-group on both dimensions. Furthermore, perceived economic social status rather than cultural or power status was related to out-group competence (Study 1), and to out-group warmth (Studies 1 and 2). Higher perceived economic competition was weakly and not consistently associated with less out-group warmth, and political competition was not related to warmth.

The Impact of Hispanic and White Group Cues on Attitudes Towards the Violation of Generic Norms

While much work in political science has examined the impact of racial cues on individual perceptions, we know little about how individuals evaluate members of minority outgroups on issues that are not linked to stereotypes. We measure the impacts of Hispanic and White cues on individual assessments related to a stereotype-independent norm violation: alcoholism. We test three competing theories – cognition, intergroup emotions, and social identity – using a population-based vignette experiment included in the General Social Survey. Our results contradict much of the literature, but keep with social identity theory's predictions. Hispanic alcoholics, when Hispanics constitute the outgroup, are assessed less negatively than White alcoholics in the ingroup, the latter experiencing what is called the black sheep effect. The black sheep effect occurs when ingroup members are more punitive towards members of the ingroup than the outgroup. However, the black sheep effect does not extend to measures that are more consistent with outgroup stereotypes, such as violence or money mismanagement; Hispanic alcoholics are evaluated more negatively than Whites on these measures. The implication is that the effect of racial cues depends strongly on issue linkages to group stereotypes.

Accuracy, Consensus, In-Group Bias, and Cultural Frame Shifting in the Context of National Character Stereotypes

We examined Finns’ and bilingual Swedish-Finns’ stereotypes regarding personality differences between Finns and Swedish-Finns and compared them with their respective self-ratings. Stereotype ratings by both groups converged on depicting Swedish-Finns as having a more desirable personality. In-group bias also influenced stereotypes. Contrary to predictions based on the Stereotype Content Model, out-group stereotypes were not compensatory. Consistent with the kernel of truth hypothesis of national stereotypes, Swedish-Finns’ aggregate self-ratings resembled their stereotype of personality differences between the two groups, and their personality self-ratings were more desirable than Finns’ self-ratings. Tentatively suggesting the occurrence of cultural frame shifting, the resemblance between Swedish-Finns’ self-ratings and their stereotype of Swedish-Finns was, although only marginally statistically significantly, somewhat stronger when the self-ratings were provided in Swedish.

Help-Seeking Helps

Seeking help from an outgroup can be difficult, especially when the outgroup is known to stereotype the ingroup negatively and the potential recipient cares strongly about its social image. However, we ask whether even highly identified ingroup members may seek help from a judgmental outgroup if doing so allows them to disconfirm the outgroup’s negative stereotype of the ingroup. We presented participants with one of two negative outgroup stereotypes of their ingroup. One could be disconfirmed through seeking help, the other could not. Study 1 ( n = 43) showed group members were aware of the strategic implications of seeking help for disconfirming these stereotypes. Study 2 ( n = 43) showed high identifiers acted on such strategic knowledge by seeking more help from the outgroup when help-seeking could disconfirm a negative stereotype of their group (than when it could not). Implications for the seeking and acceptance of help are discussed.

Bicyclists' violations—automobile drivers' fault? simultaneous increases in population-level bicycle violation and safety in a complex adaptive system of social traffic behaviour

BackgroundBicyclists famously flout traffic rules, sometimes causing collisions with automobiles. Some research suggests that road users adapt to each other's behaviour, reducing conflicts. However, few bicycle safety studies investigate potential...

Neighborhood conflicts: the role of social categorization

Purpose – In a multicultural context, this study aims to investigate the effect of ingroup versus outgroup categorization and stereotypes on residents' emotional and behavioral reactions in neighbor-to-neighbor conflicts. Based on the literature on the “black sheep effect”, the authors predicted that residents would actually be more irritated by ingroup than outgroup antagonists. Secondly, they predicted that reactions to deviant behavior by an outgroup antagonist would be shaped by the valence of stereotypes about the respective groups. Design/methodology/approach – Residents with either a native-Dutch or a Turkish background (n=529) completed a questionnaire on outgroup stereotypes, and responded to a conflict situation in which the ethnicity of an antagonist was manipulated between subjects. Findings – Supporting the black sheep effect, results reveal that both native-Dutch and Turkish residents reported more negative emotions towards an ingroup than an outgroup antagonist. In addition, when confronting an outgroup antagonist, stereotype negativity was related to more negative emotions and intentions for destructive conflict behavior. Social implications – The current study demonstrates that residents may actually get irritated more easily by ingroup than outgroup antagonists. Reactions to outgroup antagonists are further moderated by stereotype valence; negative outgroup stereotypes may lead to less tolerance towards outgroup antagonists and higher chances for conflict escalation. Originality/value – This is the first paper in which evidence for the black sheep effect is obtained in a field study and simultaneously for majority and minority members. In addition, evidence is presented that emotions may mediate the influence of the antagonist's group membership on conflict behavior.

Stereotyping by omission: Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive.

Communicators, motivated by strategic self-presentation, selectively underreport negative content in describing their impressions of individuals and stereotypes of groups, particularly for targets whom they view ambivalently with respect to warmth and competence. Communicators avoid overtly inaccurate descriptions, preferring to omit negative information and emphasize positive information about mixed individual targets (Study 1). With more public audiences, communicators increasingly prefer negativity omission to complete accuracy (Study 2), a process driven by self-presentation concerns (Study 3) and moderated by bidimensional ambivalence. Similarly, in an extension of the Princeton Trilogy studies, reported stereotypes of ethnic and national outgroups systematically omitted negative dimensions over 75 years--as anti-prejudice norms intensified--while neutral and positive stereotype dimensions remained constant (Study 4). Multiple assessment methods confirm this stereotyping-by-omission phenomenon (Study 5). Implications of negativity omission for innuendo and stereotype stagnation are discussed.

Discourses of identity: Outgroup stereotypes and strategies of discursive boundary-making in Chinese students’ online discussions about “the other”

In the public discourse about Mainland China (MLC) in Hong Kong (HK), China is usually presented as ingroup, and the “one-country-one-people” ideology is widely supported. In the private discourse, however, MLC is usually presented as outgroup. This article analyzes spontaneous online discussions from a chat forum where local and non-local Chinese students in an Intercultural Communication class discuss self- and other-categorizations in HK and MLC. The analyses demonstrate that a wide range of mitigation strategies is used, suggesting that students constantly engage in face-threatening activities. The data also show that HK students’ stereotypes of MLC are remarkably negative, and that MLC students defend themselves by constructing counter-narratives about the rejected mother and her ungrateful child. The discussion argues that social identity is a flexible concept which constantly changes depending on context and situation, and it suggests that the students’ narratives should be seen as examples of different types of discourse: a Western and an Eastern discourse with fundamentally different norms for self- and other-construction. Finally, the paper argues that only by addressing potentially painful issues, and verbalizing taboos in the strained relationship between HK and MLC, is it possible, over time, to reconcile the opposing discourses about “the other”.

Warmth and Competence: Stereotypes of the Elderly Among Young Adults and Older Persons in Brazil

According to the Stereotype Content Model, out-group stereotypes vary on the dimensions of warmth and competence ( Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002 ). Studies in other cultural settings have shown that elderly persons are often viewed as warm but not very competent. The present study was designed to examine societal stereotypes of the elderly among 118 Brazilians of different ages. Participants reported that Brazilian society views the elderly as more warm than competent. With regard to competence there were age-related differences with older persons seeing the elderly as more competent than did younger persons. Interpretations in terms of in-group preference and developmental changes are put forth.

Social Representations: A Normative and Dynamic Intergroup Approach

This commentary outlines an approach to social representations which emphasizes the normative and dynamic nature of shared knowledge. Social representations both connect and divide people, for example through shared ingroup and outgroup stereotypes derived from antagonistic social representations. Through asymmetrical intergroup communication and influence, in turn, social representations are formed, maintained, and contested. In this dynamic process, powerful majorities attempt to define the meaning of new or otherwise important information as a function of their group norms, while subordinate minorities employ propaganda techniques of social influence to resist majority influence and propose alternative positions.

Stereotypes in the making

This article analyzes how a group of Hong Kong students talk about people in other countries in an informal group discussion. The focus is on the discursive construction of outgroup stereotypes, and the analyses show that the attitudes discussed in the group are highly variable, even contradictory — across as well as within individual group members. Discursive Psychology is used as the theoretically informed analytic approach for the analysis, and Social Identity Theory (Tajfel) and Self-Categorization Theory (Turner) are proposed as the overall theoretical frameworks which seem to encompass the different themes uncovered in the analyses. The article argues that personal experience, rhetorical ends, and group dynamics are salient factors in terms of explaining the construction and nature of the stereotypes. Furthermore, it is argued that intergroup differentiation is important in accounting for the process of stereotype-construction, and that cognitive dissonance, as well as accusations of prejudiced identities, appear to have little noticeable effect on individual group members or intra-group harmony. Finally, the article argues that this group discussion could be seen as an example of predominant discourses and ideological positions about Western and Asian ‘others’ which exist in contemporary Hong Kong society.

Who we were and who we will be: The temporal context of women's in‐group stereotype content

Research has elaborated considerably on the dimensions of out-group stereotype content and on the origins and functions of different content combinations. Less attention has been given to the origins and functions of in-group stereotype content. We argue that in-group stereotypes are likely to serve different social identity functions, and thus attract different content, dependent on individual differences in in-group identification and on the temporal perspective of the perceiver. Two studies (Ns = 43 and 93) found that women's in-group stereotype content varied as a function of gender group identification and temporal perspective. When the past was primed, highly identified women generated stereotypes that emphasized the warmth (but not competence) of their group. When the future was primed, highly identified women generated stereotypes that emphasized the competence (as well as warmth) of their group. These results are discussed in terms of the use of stereotypes for social creativity versus social change.

Self-Ambivalence and Resistance to Subtle Self-Change Attempts

Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence but has not uncovered features of the self-concept representation that make it susceptible to such change. Using research on attitude ambivalence as a foundation, the current article predicted that the self would be most likely to respond to a subtle change induction when the targeted self-beliefs were objectively ambivalent (e.g., possessed both positive and negative features). Using self-esteem conditioning (Experiment 1) and outgroup stereotype priming (Experiment 2), it was found that people were more susceptible to subtle change inductions as objective self-ambivalence increased. Notably, the consistency between dominant self-views (positive or negative) and the change induction did not influence these results. These effects held for objective ambivalence, but not subjective ambivalence, and only when the objective ambivalence measure was relevant to the change induction. Mechanisms of the observed moderation and the implications of self-ambivalence for understanding self-change are discussed.

Stereotypes and the discursive accomplishment of intergroup differentiation

This article analyzes how employees in a global business organization talk about their colleagues in other countries. Employees were asked to discuss their work practices in focus group settings, and give examples of how they experience ‘the other’. Using Discursive Psychology and Politeness Theory as the analytic approaches, the article analyzes pieces of discourse to disclose social psychological phenomena such as group identity, intergroup differentiation, and stereotypes. The analyses show that talking about ‘the other’ is potentially face-threatening, and mitigating discourse features are used repeatedly to soften the criticism. We also see how uncovering stereotypes is a mutual accomplishment in the group, and how group members gradually move from relatively innocent to blatantly negative outgroup stereotypes. The analyses also show that participants engage in meta-reflections on the nature of stereotypes, which may serve as another mitigating device, and that talk about ‘the other’ is used to create intergroup differentiation. Finally, the article discusses the implications of these findings for cross-cultural communication and work practices in organizations.

Delegitimisation of Disliked Political Organisations Through Biased Language and Acronyming

The study investigated the use of biased language and acronyming in political organisations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The study surveyed the discourses of political parties that were posted on the internet. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the discourses of the political parties. The results indicated that political organisations used biased language to delegitimise the opposition. The ingroup and outgroup stereotypes were evident in the discourses. Acronyms of opposition political parties were used pejoratively. The findings of this study suggest that political parties in developing democracies have a tendency of using biased language and acronyming to disparage the opposition. Biased language and acronyming of the outgroup in African politics could result in hate speech directed at individuals and political violence.

National identity and in-group/out-group attitudes with Greek-Cypriot children

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the internalization of national identity and in-group/out-group attitudes among Greek-Cypriot children. We also aimed to investigate whether the internalization of national identity develops as a single/unified construct, or is manifested as the result of independent dimensions (i.e., national pride, degree of internalization, affect towards national group, etc.). Moreover, we examine whether the degree of national identity and “enemy images” (i.e., out-group stereotypes) are dependent on age and gender. In the present study, the participants were 75 Greek-Cypriot children, 40 boys and 35 girls with mean age of 10.03 years. The participants were divided into two age groups; younger group (n = 18) and older group (n = 57) with a mean age of 6.95 years for the younger group and 11.00 years for the older group. The results provide evidence against the thesis that the internalization of national identity in Greek-Cypriot children is a unified and consistent construct. In fact, internal consistency analysis reveals that each dimension of national identity is relatively independent. Further analyses show that none of the aspects of national identity correlate significantly with either positive or negative out-group attitudes. The internalization of national pride, however, shows a significant positive correlation with in-group positive bias. Accordingly, national pride and a positive internalization of national identity are negatively correlated with negative in-group attitudes. Age and gender comparisons reveal that girls show significantly higher scores on the importance of national identity subscale, and there is also a significant age by gender interaction on the same subscale showing that older boys have higher scores than younger boys but younger girls have significantly higher scores than older girls. The results of our study are discussed in relation to the sociocultural context of Greek-Cypriot society and the effects of the collective conflict experiences in the development of enemy images in childhood.

Race Salience and Essentialist Thinking in Racial Stereotype Development

The authors explored the emergence and antecedents of racial stereotyping in 89 children ages 3-10 years. Children completed a number of matching and sorting tasks, including a measure designed to assess their knowledge and application of both positive and negative in-group and out-group stereotypes. Results indicate that children start to apply stereotypes to the out-group starting around 6 years of age. Controlling for a number of factors, 2 predictors contributed significantly toward uniquely explaining the use of these stereotypes: race salience (i.e., seeing and organizing by race) and essentialist thinking (i.e., believing that race cannot change). These results provide insight into how and when real-world interventions aimed at altering the acquisition of racial stereotypes may be implemented.

Intergroup contact and reduction of explicit and implicit prejudice toward immigrants: a study with Italian businessmen owning small and medium enterprises

A field study was conducted to test the effectiveness of intergroup contact (Allport, The nature of prejudice, 1954) as a predictor of explicit and implicit attitudes toward immigrants and to examine the processes driving its effects. Participants were Italian businessmen owning small and medium enterprises in Northern Italy who had daily contact with their immigrant workers. We tested a model in which contact ameliorated explicit attitudes, measured as support for social policies toward immigration, through reduced negative outgroup stereotypes. Furthermore, we predicted that contact would have a direct, unmediated effect on improved implicit attitudes toward immigrants, assessed with an Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., J Personal Soc Psychol 74:1464–1480, 1998). The results were fully consistent with predictions, thus providing strong support for the contact hypothesis at both an explicit and at an implicit level. The lack of correlation between explicit and implicit attitudes supports dual-process models, suggesting that the two types of attitudes are formed through different processes. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Self-Activation and Out-Group Contrast

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that higher in-group identifiers primed with an out-group stereotype show contrastive behavioral responses because they activate the in-group, social-self. However, priming the personal-self can lead to contrastive judgments. We investigated whether personal self-activation was also evident for higher identifiers primed with an out-group. An experiment demonstrated that higher identifiers primed with an out-group showed faster responses to self-words than higher identifiers primed with the in-group. This findings suggest that the personal-self is also activated for higher identifiers primed with an out-group, and this self-activation may underlie their contrastive responding.

The uniquely human content of stereotypes

The uniquely human content of stereotypes was measured in nine different inter-group comparisons that varied in terms of competence and warmth. Results indicated that the infrahumanization bias understood as people s tendency to see in-group relative to out-group stereotypes as more human occurred in almost all inter-group situations. Secondly, mainly out-groups that lack both warmth and competence were clearly infrahumanized as a result of a denial of out-group humanity. Finally, results suggested that among the different out-groups it was especially those high in competence, low in warmth that were seen as most uniquely human. As such, the current work extends previous research on infrahumanization to stereotypes, shows that group typology moderates the infrahumanization bias and demonstrates the affinity between the uniquely human and the competence dimension.