The proposed work is focused on the acquisition and use of stereotypes, with particular attention to issues of measurement, development, accuracy, and change. Stereotypes are generalization about the attributes of group members. And, as such, they may be exaggerations, over generalizations, and prejudicial. Certainly they often lead to and follow from intergroup conflict. Our past work has focused on perceptions of group variability as one component of group stereotypes. The current proposal extend this work and focuses of a variety of issues in the stereotyping domain. The first studies are devoted to the issue of stereotype and prejudice measurement, at both the controlled and automatic levels. This work builds on our previous research that has documented differing ideological beliefs about the role of ethnicity in our society between African American and White American youth. The second set of studies is focused on the issue of stereotype acquisition, examining the fundamental distinction of whether they are learned from socializing agents (and are largely abstraction based) or by contact with group members (and are largely instance based). We examine the implications of this difference for issues of perceived variability, group representation, stereotype change, and stereotype application. Next we propose studies that examine the role of perceived group variability in moderating stereotype change in response to disconfirming information. The fourth set of studies extends our previous work on stereotype accuracy. Finally, two studies are proposed to examine conditions under which stereotypic knowledge is particularly likely to be used in social judgment. Our past work has relied on both laboratory studies and field or survey work involving stereotypes about real-world groups. The presently proposed studies continue this methodological preference. Our strong belief is that both sorts of research approaches are important to achieving a full understanding of stereotyping and prejudice in our society. Ultimately such an understanding is necessary if we are to reduce social conflict induced by intergroup hostilities.
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