The influence of self-related goals on the use of stereotypical and individuating information

✍ Scribed by RASYID SANITIOSO; KAREN FREUD; JENNIFER LEE

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 774 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0046-2772
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0992(199609)26:5<751::aid-ejsp789>3.0.co;2-#

✦ Synopsis

The present study examines the influence of motives in the use of stereotypical and individuating information in perceiving a target person who is an outgroup member. Subjects were given both gender stereotypical and non-(or counter-) stereotypical behavioural descriptions of a target person who was always opposite-sexed to the subjects. Subjects expected either to compete or to cooperate with the target on a task described as either masculine or feminine. The ,findings showed that anticipated interaction (to compete or to cooperate) and the nature of task (masculine or feminine) jointly influenced whether the subjects attend to stereotypical or nonstereotypical information. It is argued that this selective attention to, and consequently recall of, the target's behavioural descriptions is influenced by the need to perceive the potential partner as competent, and the potential competitor as incompetent. Thus, selfrelated concerns may either increase or decrease stereotyping.