Citation

Phills CE, Hahn A, Gawronski B. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

The University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0146167219899234

PMID

32013752

Abstract

Although stereotypes and prejudice are commonly regarded as conceptually distinct but related constructs, previous research remains silent on the processes underlying their relation. Applying the balance-congruity principle to the concepts (a) group, (b) valence, and (c) attribute, we argue that the valence of attributes contained in a group-stereotype shapes evaluations of the group, while prejudice toward a group influences which attributes are stereotypically associated with the group. Using fictitious (Experiments 1 and 3) and real (Experiments 2 and 4) groups, the current studies demonstrate that (a) experimentally induced changes in the valence of semantic attributes associated with a group (stereotypes) influence implicit prejudice toward that group (Experiments 1 and 2), and (b) experimentally induced changes in the valence of a group (prejudice) influence implicit stereotyping of that group (Experiments 3 and 4). These findings demonstrate a bidirectional causal relation between prejudice and stereotypes.

Language: en

Keywords

balance-congruity principle; evaluative conditioning; implicit social cognition; prejudice; stereotypes