Project Details
Description
Impression formation theories suggest that stereotypes automatically influence judgments unless perceivers undergo the cognitive effort of individuating targets. Targets can promote this process by engaging in actions that disconfirm the stereotype (i.e., counterstereotypical behaviors). Ideally, these behaviors should promote positive impressions of targets that accurately reflect individual attributes rather than category-based judgments. However, current person perception frameworks do not acknowledge that individuation can have negative consequences for men and women. Because gender stereotypes are not only descriptive (reflecting what people 'are') but also prescriptive (reflecting what people 'should be'), disconfirming them can lead to sanctions for atypical behavior. For example, confident and competitive female job applicants are perceived as highly knowledgeable and qualified for high status positions, but they are also viewed as socially deficient and unlikable, which results in hiring discrimination. Similarly, modest and communal men are perceived as likable, but they are also viewed as less competent and hirable than are competitive men. Past research has identified numerous ways in which counterstereotypical men and women are sanctioned. These sanctions represent social barriers to gender-atypical behaviors and are, therefore, an effective means by which sex stereotypes are maintained. Moreover, they suggest an important gap in current thinking about person perception. Several experiments will examine the processes that underlie these barriers. The mechanisms to be investigated stem from expectancy-violation, system-justification, and social comparison theories. Because each of these frameworks relies on involuntary processes, implicit as well as explicit methods will be employed. In concert, the research should afford answers to why perceivers sanction atypical targets, and thereby contribute to the development of a theory of motivated implicit social cognition. The research will also provide insight into the social psychological obstacles that prevent people from successfully counteracting group-based expectancies.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 9/1/01 → 8/31/04 |