IB Psychology - Stereotypes (Extended Response)

Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect
on behaviour.
Due to the complexity of our social environment, there is a surplus of information available to us. Our
social world needs to be made simpler because we are limited in our capacity to process and retain
information. Social categorization is one method of avoiding this information overload. Stereotypes serve
as the basis for social categorization.
In terms of social categorization, a "stereotype" refers to a mental representation of a certain person or a

group of people. When a set of traits is used to describe a group of individuals, those traits are frequently
applied to every member of the group, which has an impact on the behaviour of both the individuals who
hold the stereotype and those who are subject to it. The prejudices we hold about other people are often
based on their race and gender, but they can also be influenced by their political views and personalities.
Based on a particular group's membership or physical characteristics, this generalisation may be either
positive or negative.
Even so, the majority of stereotypes in use today are negative, exaggerating a quality and cognitively
associating it with all members of the group, leading to discrimination and prejudice and raising
self-esteem about oneself and their in-group. For example, Jews are greedy; women are bad drivers; white
people can't dance; black people are uncivilised; etc.
However, there may also be some positive stereotypes, such as the notion that Asians are smart,
Christians are "good" people, women are organised, etc.
There are several theories on the development of stereotypes, including social categorisation, the grain of
truth hypothesis, and illusory correlation.
I. Earlier on, Tajfel (1971) suggested that stereotypes emerge naturally as a result of social
categorisation, which is when individuals categorise groups of people based on common traits or
characteristics. This does not, however, explain how it actually occurs.
Stereotypes have a significant ability to negatively impact a particular group's behaviour through
categorisation and by being a part of thoughts resistant to change, which can be described by
stereotype threat.
Stereotype threat is the anxiety of acting in a way that might inadvertently confirm a stereotype or
the threat of stereotypical judgement or treatment in a circumstance. According to Steele (1997),
stereotype-targeted individuals suffer from spotlight anxiety, a form of emotional stress that
hinders performance.
Supporting Study: Aronson and Steele (1995)

Aronson and Steele conducted a study in 1955 to investigate the effect stereotype threat
performance in a test.
A 30 minute verbal test was conducted on two groups of each, African Americans and European
Americans. One group was told that it was an articulation test, whilst the other group was told
that it was a laboratory task.
In findings, African Americans scored lower than European Americans when told it was an
articulation test, but performed better than European Americans when told it was a laboratory
task.
This demonstrates that stereotype threat can affect an individual's performance in a task. If the
group members buy into the stereotype, it might have an impact on them. Therefore, harbouring
such stereotypes can undermine these groups' performance, causing them to underperform in
order to fulfil the stereotype. This can explain why some racial and social groups think they are
more or less intelligent than others.
II. In his grain of truth hypothesis, Campbell (1967) argued that experiences are generalised and
passed on to groups as a result of an experience shared with an individual of the group or
stereotype that are categorised to them. He states that there are two keys to stereotypes: (i)
personal experiences with the groups and people we stereotype and (ii) gatekeepers (parents,
media, other members of our culture).
However, this theory has been criticised, since errors in attribution are prevalent.
III. Hamilton and Gifford (1976) argued instead, that stereotypes are formed through a type of
cognitive bias, “a person's tendency to make errors in judgement based on cognitive factors,”
known as 'illusory correlation' because people see a relationship between two variables even
when there is none, for example, "blonds" or "women," etc.
After illusory correlations are formed, people actively seek to confirm and support their beliefs by
looking for evidence in a biassed manner, which is known as 'confirmation bias.'
Illusory correlation comes in many forms, such as culturally based prejudice about social groups.
Confirmation bias may cause us to reinforce previously developed stereotypes. Hence
acknowledged that stereotypical thinking is resistant to change.
Supporting Study: Hamilton & Gifford (1976)

In 1976, Hamilton and Gifford investigated illusory correlation of group size and negative
behaviour.
Researchers asked participants to read descriptions about two made-up groups (Group A) and
(Group B). The descriptions were based on a number of positive and negative behaviours.
Group A (majority group; twice as many members as Group B) - performed 18 positive and 8
negative behaviours.
Group B (minority group) – performed 9 positive and 4 negative behaviours.
Although there was no correlation between group membership and the types of behaviours
exhibited by the groups, in that the proportion of negative and positive was the same for both
groups, the participants did seem to have an illusory correlation, more of the undesirable
behaviours were attributed to the minority Group B.
The findings are based on the idea that distinctive information draws attention.
Group B members and negative behaviours are both numerically fewer and therefore more
distinct than Group A members and negative behaviour, therefore, stands out more than the
combination of Group A members performing such behaviours causing illusory correlation.
This study demonstrates illusory correlation, as the participants had formed an illusory correlation
between the size of the groups.
Key Study: The Princeton Trilogy
1. Katz and Braley (1933) performed an experiment investigating how traditional social
stereotypes had a cultural basis by asking 100 male students attending Princeton University to
choose 5 words from a list of 84 words to describe different ethnicities.
Results showed that there were many words chosen for certain ethnic groups, and that they
confirmed negative stereotypes. Additionally, they were extremely positive about their own ethnic
group (ingroup favouritism to maintain a successful social identity).
In conclusion, it was hypothesised that stereotypes were developed through gatekeepers like the
media and cultural perspectives as the majority of the Princeton students were never exposed to
the ethnic groups that they classified.
2. Gilbert (1951) replicated the experiment of Katz and Braley but found that more people were
reluctant to categorise ethnic groups into words that defined them. There was also less uniformity
of agreement about unfavourable traits compared to the 1933 study.
However, the findings from the 1933 study were also drawn from this one, as the students had
particularly unfavourable opinions on the Japanese ethnic group (perhaps as a result of Pearl
Harbour), and this knowledge had been passed on to them via television, radio, and the news.
3. Karlins et. al (1969), the most recent replication of this study, was one where students objected
to classifying ethnic groups. When the task was completed, there was greater agreement on the
stereotypes assigned to the different groups compared to the 1951 Gilbert study.
Researchers concluded that this was a reemergence of social stereotyping, but in the direction of a
more favourable stereotype image.
Stereotypes have traditionally been viewed as resistant to change, highly consensual, and
unfavourable. These assumptions imply that stereotype change is difficult to achieve and that
even if stereotypes do change, that change may not translate into improved intergroup relations
because new stereotypes may be just as unfavourable and consensual as the stereotypes that they
replaced.
However, the findings of the Princeton trilogy say otherwise. It suggests that many of the
stereotypes under investigation have become more favourable over time. This pattern seems to
paint an encouraging picture. Perhaps, the potentially damaging effects attributed to stereotypes
have lessened over time.
To recapitulate, stereotypes simplify our social world and as the studies demonstrate, stereotypes are
widely held to assess and generalise a group of people. Stereotypes may lead to discrimination and
prejudice and affect the behaviour of those who create the stereotype and also those who are stereotyped.
Thus, it can be concluded that stereotypes most often negatively affect behaviour; however, gradual
development has been noticed.

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Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect

In terms of social categorization, a "stereotype" refers to a mental representation of a certain person or a

Supporting Study: Aronson and Steele (1995)

Supporting Study: Hamilton & Gifford (1976)

Key Study: The Princeton Trilogy

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