Stereotypes of Norwegian social groups

Using data from two studies, the current research tests the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) within a Malaysian context using Chinese and ethnic Malay participants. The aim of the research is to examine the theoretical underpinnings of the SCM in a new context by investigating the role of aspects of the perceived social structure that have not been considered previously. In line with the SCM it is found that the two dimensions of warmth and competence underlie in-group and out-group stereotypes in Malaysia. In addition, the in-group was evaluated more positively than the out-group on both dimensions. Furthermore, perceived economic social status rather than cultural or power status was related to out-group competence (Study 1), and to out-group warmth (Studies 1 and 2). Higher perceived economic competition was weakly and not consistently associated with less out-group warmth, and political competition was not related to warmth.

The stereotype content model (SCM) provides a basis to investigate stereotypes of different social groups. Previous SCM research has shown that the “welfare recipients” are stereotyped negatively, with low warmth and low competence. However, prior research has not considered different categories of income support recipients who may be stereotyped differently. Using the SCM, we investigated the stereotypes held by the Australian general population (n = 807) towards five key social groups (unemployed, people with a mental disability, people with a physical disability, single parents, elderly). People with a mental or physical disability and the elderly were similar regardless of whether they were described as receiving income support payments or not. In contrast, the unemployed and single parents were stereotyped with significantly lower levels of warmth and competence when they were receiving payments. This research shows that the needs and circumstances of different groups may be reflected in different levels of community support.

ABSTRACTTrust begins with our first impression of others. But which matters most in forming the first impression that others possess stereotypically trustworthy facial features, that they look like us, or that they belong to our social group? This study explored the interaction among stereotypical trustworthiness, kinship (based on facial resemblance), and group membership (using arbitrary groups) in the formation of first impressions. Each participant rated 48 stimuli varying in stereotypical trustworthiness (trustworthy vs. untrustworthy), facial resemblance (self vs. other), and group membership (ingroup vs. outgroup) on three traits (trustworthiness, competence, and attractiveness). We observed unique interaction patterns for each of the three traits and we speculate that there is a match between the primacy of the information and the primacy of the evaluated dimension that influences the formation of first impressions. In addition, we propose that group membership may drive first impressions in the absence of kinship information. Our integrative approach brings us closer to understanding the formation of first impressions, and thus trustworthiness and trust, in real-life situations. Our findings outline stimulating directions for further research.

Two alternative hypotheses regarding group differentiation on the two fundamental content dimensions of competence and warmth were tested in this study; the first one based on the stereotype content model (SCM) and the other combining SCM with social identity theory and acknowledging the neglected role of group size. In addition, the potential of consensual stereotypes to counter predictions based on SCM was explored. Nationwide, representative samples of high- and low-status Swedish- and Finnish-speaking minority and majority groups in Finland and Sweden (N = 2075) attributed stereotypic traits reflecting the two content dimensions of competence and warmth to the in- and outgroup. In contrast to predictions based on SCM minority groups favoured the ingroup on both competence and warmth, regardless of status, suggesting that the contextual variable group size should be acknowledged in future studies. Also against expectations based on SCM the high-status groups did not differentiate the ingroup on competence; however, only on warmth. Group ratings on specific traits revealed consensual stereotypes for Swedish- and Finnish-speakers across the countries. Results are discussed in relation to ideology, primacy of warmth and group history.

The purpose for this study was to investigate adolescents’judgments about the appropriate punishment of other adolescents for accused transgressions in situations where stereotype information was present or absent. Ninety-two male and 85 female, predominantly European-American, ninth-grade adolescents made judgments about the appropriateness of punishing members of social reference groups for accused transgressions about which there was no clear evidence that the students from the group actually committed the transgressions. In two of the four conditions the accused transgressions were consistent with group stereotypes whereas in the other two conditions the accused transgressions were inconsistent with group stereotypes. The majority of adolescents judged the act of punishing a group without proper evidence as wrong and used moral reasons to justify those decisions.

Identity, Beliefs, and Political Conflict

We propose a theory of (a) reliance on stereotypes and individuating information in implicit person perception and (b) the relationship between individuation in implicit person perception and shifts in implicit group stereotypes. The present research preliminarily tested this theory by assessing whether individuating information or stereotypes take primacy in implicit judgments of individuals under circumstances specified by our model and then testing the malleability of implicit group stereotypes in the presence of the same (or additional) counterstereotypic individuating information. Studies 1 and 2 conceptually replicated previous research by examining the effects of stereotype-inconsistent and stereotype-consistent individuating information on implicit stereotype-relevant judgments of individuals. Both studies showed that stereotypic implicit judgments of individuals made in the absence of individuating information were reversed when the individuals were portrayed as stereotype-inconsistent and were strengthened when targets were portrayed as stereotype-consistent (though in Study 2 this strengthening was descriptive rather than inferential). Studies 3 and 4 examined whether the strong effects of individuating information found in studies 1 and 2 extended to the social groups to which the individuals belonged. Even in the presence of up to eight counterstereotypic exemplars, there was no evidence of significant shifts in group stereotypes. Thus, the data showed that the shifts in implicit judgments that were caused by individuating information did not generalize to stereotypes of the social groups to which the individuals belong. Finally, we propose modifications to our theory that include potential reasons for this lack of generalization that we invite future research to explore.

Crime alerts are meant to raise community awareness and identify individual criminal suspects; they are not expected to affect attitudes and beliefs toward the social group to which an individual suspect belongs. However, psychological principles of learning, categorization, and memory predict that what is learned about an instance can color perception of an entire category. At the intersection of psychology, criminal justice, sociology, and media studies, two experiments were conducted to test the effect that providing individual racial identity in crime alerts has on racial group stereotypes. In Experiment 1, participants visualized four scenarios involving Black or White would-be criminals. Results revealed that in the case where Black would-be criminals were made salient in memory, participants demonstrated significantly more negative implicit stereotypes toward Blacks as a group compared with a condition in which White would-be criminals were more salient in memory. In Experiment 2, participants read a written description of a crime scene with a suspect who was either depicted as White or Black, and then imagined the suspect. On both implicit and explicit measures of group stereotypes obtained afterward, participants who read about a Black criminal reported and revealed more anti-Black/pro-White stereotypes than did those who read about a White criminal. Crime alerts that mention racial identity, whatever their benefit, come with the burden of shifting stereotypes of social groups. In this context, the value of racial identification in crime alerts warrants reconsideration.

Perceptions of clothes can be distinctive, varying across individuals, situations, cultures, and time. Evidence from daily life and from existing literature across disciplines, although disparate, all point to the importance of clothing in the workplace. With a systematic inductive approach, we identify three universal and distinctive clothing characteristics at work - formality, provocativeness, and fashionability - as well two other categories - uniforms and religiosity of clothing - which are tied to particular social groups. Drawing on attribution theory and the stereotype content model, we provide a cohesive conceptual framework in which clothing characteristics influence observers’ perceptions of wearer’s competence and warmth through observers’ dispositional attribution process. These perceptions, in turn, influence performance appraisals and supportiveness directed at wearers. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research and implications for employees and employers with regard to managing clothing practices and avoiding potential biases.

Susan T. Fiske discusses the stereotype content model, which explores varieties of dehumanizing prejudice that all deny other people their full humanity, diminishing them by reducing them to animals, robots, or objects. Each inflicts its own distinct damage. This chapter offers the stereotype content model as a framework for understanding this. As the chapter argues, cultures share knowable dimensions for differentiating societal groups. Among them are groups' status and interdependence (cooperation and competition). Groups' perceived place in the social structure then predicts their stereotype content; status predicts competence, and cooperation predicts warmth. The stereotype content model locates a society's perceptions of its groups in a warmth-by-competence space. For example, homeless people are allegedly neither competent nor warm (not trustworthy, sociable); they are dehumanized as disgusting and animalistic. Older people are seen as well-intentioned (warm) but incompetent; they are dehumanized as passive objects that evoke pity. Rich people are stereotypically competent but cold, enviable, yet evoking robots. Only the society's ingroup is fully human, both competent and warm. This chapter also describes the nature of current evidence for the model from surveys and lab experiments. Many examples come from the extreme outgroups, the most dehumanized. Having summarized what the model says about dehumanization, the next section addresses what alternative theories have to say, and comments on points of consensus about the two primary dimensions and their nature. The closing sections discuss implications for dehumanization and interventions to rehumanize its targets.

Commentary

The stereotype content model (SCM) is a prominent model of social perception proposing two dimensions of evaluation: Warmth and competence. Occupational stereotypes have rarely been assessed in this model, especially in the German context, albeit their important impact on how individuals experience gainful occupation and navigate everyday social interactions. Responding to recent methodological critiques regarding the SCM's scale performance, we developed a context‐adapted, well‐performing German‐language SCM scale and assessed warmth and competence ratings of 13 occupational groups in a heterogeneous sample (N = 425). Using the alignment optimization procedure to allow for more reliable latent mean value comparisons, we found occupational stereotypes to differ substantially on both dimensions, with Firefighters presenting the most favorable and Politicians and Unemployed people showing the least favorable evaluations. We discuss our findings in terms of their content‐wise and methodological meaning as well as their implications for research and in occupational contexts.

Given that education plays a key role in the development of social attitudes, intentions to learn about other social groups is a strategic addition to cognitive and affective models of attitudes towards others. This project examined related yet discrete aspects of attitudes towards Australian Aboriginal peoples that are expressed by beginning teachers (N = 266). Cognitive aspects indicate positive and negative stereotyping of the social group. Affective aspects across situations relate positive feelings and negative feelings of guilt, worry and anger. Results suggest differential links from cognitive and affective aspects to intentions for positive and negative actions, and intentions to gain experience with others. The findings implicate broadly defined components of attitudes in situations where individuals have limited experience with people in other social groups.

Introduction: Group memberships play an important role in promoting psychological well-being and supporting social functioning. However, studies suggest that individuals with social anhedonia, a characteristic defined by limited pleasure from social bonds, may show abnormalities in their desire to cultivate positive feelings, such as belongingness, from social groups. Still, these abnormalities have not been studied in the context of intergroup processes, leaving the relation between social anhedonia and subjective evaluations of group memberships unclear. Methods: Across three studies (Ns = 124-659), we examined associations between social anhedonia and affective and cognitive attitudes about different types of ingroups and outgroups using self-report and behavioral measures. Results: Taken together, results indicate that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative feelings and beliefs about most ingroups and outgroups from everyday life, as well as negatively biased stereotyping of many prominent social groups. At the same time, individuals with either extremely high or low levels of social anhedonia did not report significantly different intergroup attitudes when group memberships were experimentally manipulated in a minimal group setting. Discussion: Overall, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative subjective evaluations of long-established, real-world ingroups, but not of a newly formed ingroup that requires little motivation or social engagement to maintain group membership. Aberrant feelings and attitudes toward one's ingroups are consistent with the theory that social anhedonia is related to anomalies in the need to belong within social groups from everyday life and could inform psychosocial interventions for related psychopathologies.

Mental illness (MI) stigma has been characterized as multi-dimensional including problems of knowledge (stereotypes), attitudes (prejudice) and behavior (discrimination); however, most research practice is predominantly applying unidimensional behavioral measures such as social distance scales. Moreover, specific types of MIs and different forms of discriminatory behaviors are not being differentiated. The Stereotype Content Model predicts that group stereotypes (warmth, competence) are linked with different forms of discriminatory behaviors (harm or facilitation) via emotional prejudices (pity, envy, contempt). The present study sought to establish how differential stereotypic perceptions of MI subgroups elicit distinct forms of behavioral discrimination via emotional prejudices. A community sample (N = 60) was randomly assigned to one of three conditions representing MIs across the warmth-competence stereotype space. Patterns of self-completed measures for stereotypes, emotions and behaviors differed significantly between conditions. The association between stereotypes and behaviors were largely mediated by emotions. Systematic patterns of stereotypic perceptions, emotional prejudices and behavioral discrimination are present for individuals with different types of MIs. Hence, generic measures of discrimination, such as social distance scales, may be misleading. Intervention strategies should consider the systematic variation of the factors involved in stigma, differentiating by type of MI and discriminatory behaviors.