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The influence of self‐related goals on the use of stereotypical and individuating information
Author(s) -
SANITIOSO RASYID,
FREUD KAREN,
LEE JENNIFER
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0992(199609)26:5<751::aid-ejsp789>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology
The present study examines the influence of motives in the use of stereotypical and individuating information in perceiving a target person who is an outgroup member. Subjects were given both gender stereotypical and non‐ (or counter‐) stereotypical behavioural descriptions of a target person who was always opposite‐sexed to the subjects. Subjects expected either to compete or to cooperate with the target on a task described as either masculine or feminine. The findings showed that anticipated interaction (to compete or to cooperate) and the nature of task (masculine or feminine) jointly influenced whether the subjects attend to stereotypical or non‐stereotypical information. It is argued that this selective attention to, and consequently recall of, the target's behavioural descriptions is influenced by the need to perceive the potential partner as competent, and the potential competitor as incompetent. Thus, self‐related concerns may either increase or decrease stereotyping.