Inducing perceived group variability triggers the incorporation of counter-stereotypic information into a generalized stereotype change

TL;DR

This paper shows that making people perceive more diversity within a group makes them more likely to update stereotypes with new, counter-stereotypic information.

Contribution

The study integrates three research areas to show that inducing perceived group variability reduces stereotype resistance and increases flexibility in group representations.

Findings

Highlighting dissimilarities among group members increases incorporation of counter-stereotypic information into stereotypes.

Perceived variability reduces resistance to stereotype change, making group representations more flexible.

This effect occurs even in central tendency measures of stereotypes.

Abstract

Perceived variability is the extent to which individuals perceive group members as being similar to one another. Previous research has focused on how: group variability is perceived (and measured); information indicative of group heterogeneity can lead to reductions in stereotypicality; or how stereotype-inconsistent information can result into increased perceived variability. The present combines the three lines of research into a single research venue. In previous studies the stereotypicality of a group representation was influenced by priming stereotype-unrelated traits in an unrelated-context, prior to stereotype measurement; but priming counter-stereotypic traits had no effect on stereotypicality, although it boosted perceptions of group's variability. The present study examines whether highlighting dissimilarities among members of the same professional groups results in subsequent changes in the reported stereotype for a, not yet mentioned, group. The more the dissimilarity among group members, the more likely individuals were to incorporate counter-stereotypic information into the targeted-group, described as less stereotypic, even in central tendency measures. Importantly, the generating mechanism may involve a modification of participants' overall perception of variability. When members within professional groups are perceived as dissimilar, the well-known resistance of stereotypes to counter-stereotypic information is lessened making the group representations more flexible and less biased.