All people are members of multiple social categories. And it is well known that when individuals are judged on the basis of one categorization system over another (for instance as a Black person rather than as a lawyer), this can profoundly affect how they are judged and responded to. The present research concerns the general issue of which of many available categorization systems are most likely to be used when judging others. The experiments investigate how the momentary construct accessibility of a given categorization system influences social categorization. In the experiments, the accessibility of a single social category will be increased by varying either the recency or frequency with which that categorization system has been used, or by varying the motivational importance of the categorization for the subjects. It is expected that the category which is currently most accessible will be used to a greater extent than other available categories, when processing information about target persons who are members of multiple social categories. The results of this research into social-cognitive and social- motivational processes of social categorization will provide insight into the determinants of social stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes, and a foundation from which strategies designed to reduce and/or redirect social categorization may proceed.
