Premium
Context‐dependent variation in social stereotyping 2: The relationship between frame of reference, self‐categorization and accentuation
Author(s) -
Haslam S. Alexander,
Turner John C.
Publication year - 1992
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/ejsp.2420220305
Subject(s) - psychology , categorization , social psychology , operationalization , stereotype (uml) , social identity theory , social comparison theory , cognitive psychology , context (archaeology) , social perception , variation (astronomy) , social group , perception , linguistics , epistemology , physics , neuroscience , astrophysics , biology , paleontology , philosophy
This paper examines the hypothesis that patterns of stereotypic accentuation reflect the degree to which judged stimuli share the same social category membership as the stereotyper, Following self‐categorization theory, the degree of this shared identity is operationalized in terms of the meta‐contrast ratio as a function of the positions of (a) stereotyper and (b) stereotyped target relative to (c) the stereotyper's frame of reference. Three experiments are reported which sought to manipulate shared category membership either by extension of subjects' frame of reference or by extremitization of target and subject with respect to that frame. As predicted, greater shared identity was associated with stronger assimilation of the target to subjects' own position and with change in stereotype content. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of personality, social judgement and social cognition. Like the accentuation processes which underpin them, it is proposed that stereotypes are sensitive to comparative context and that they reflect veridically the social self‐categorical properties of stimuli.