Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changing Stereotypes with Disconfirming Information

  • Chapter
Stereotyping and Prejudice

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Social Psychology ((SSSOC))

Abstract

Some of the most powerful bases of intergroup stereotyping are rooted in the social and economic structure of society itself. Whether we are talking about blacks and whites in the U.K. or the U.S., Germans and Turks in the Federal Republic of Germany, or Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, it should be acknowledged at the outset that such groups are often characterized by different living conditions, different occupational positions, and so on (see Hewstone & Brown, 1986a). These structural factors notwithstanding, social psychologists can arguably best analyze stereotypes in terms of their psychological bases and consequences. This chapter deals with how stereotypes can be changed by providing information that disconfirms existing, predominantly negative images of the outgroup.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelson, R.P. (1959). Modes of resolution of belief dilemmas. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 3, 343–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1985). A Bayesian analysis of attribution processes. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 261–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G.W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C.A. (1983). Abstract and concrete data in the perseverance of social theories: When weak data lead to unshakable beliefs. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 93–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C.A., Lepper, M.R., & Ross, L. (1980). Perseverance of social theories: The role of explanation in the persistence of discredited information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1037–1049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J.A., & Thein, R.D. (1985). Individual construct accessibility, person memory, and the recall-judgment link: The case of information overload. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1129–1146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgida, E., & Howard-Pitney, B. (1983). Personal involvement and the robustness of perceptual salience effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 560–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M.B., Dull, V., & Lui, L. (1981). Perceptions of the elderly: Stereotypes as prototypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 656–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M.B., & Kramer, R.M. (1985). The psychology of intergroup attitudes and behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, 219–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M.B., & Miller, N. (1984). Beyond the contact hypothesis: Theoretical perspectives on desegregation. In N. Miller & M.B. Brewer (Eds.), Groups in contact: The psychology of desegregation, (pp. 281–302 ). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R.J., & Turner, J.C. (1981). Interpersonal and intergroup behavior. In J.C. Turner & H. Giles (Eds.), Intergroup behavior, (pp. 33–65 ). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, N., & Mischel, W. (1977). Traits as prototypes: Effects on recognition memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 38–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaiken, S. (1980). Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 752–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, C.E. (1981). Person categories and social perception: Testing some boundaries of the processing effects of prior knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 441–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costrich, N., Feinstein, J., Kidder, L., Maracek, J., & Pascale, L. (1975). When stereotypes hurt: Three studies of penalties for sex-role reversals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 11, 520–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crocker, J., Hannah, D.B., & Weber, R. (1983). Person memory and causal attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 55–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darley, J.M., and Goethals, G.R. (1980). People’s analyses of the causes of ability-linked performances. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, (Vol. 13 ) (pp. 1–37 ). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dustin, D.W., & Davis, H.P. (1970). Evaluative bias in group and individual competition. Journal of Social Psychology, 80, 103–108.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrook, J.A. (1959). The effect of emotion on cue utilization and the organization of behavior. Psychological Review, 66, 183–201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eiser, J.R., & Stroebe, W. (1972). Categorization and social judgement. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erber, R., & Fiske, S.T. (1984). Outcome dependency and attention to inconsistent information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 709–726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, S.T. (1982). Schema-triggered affect: Applications to social perception. In M.S. Clark & S.T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition: The 17th Annual Carnegie Symposium, (pp. 55–77 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, D., & Finchilescu, G. (1986). Contact in a ‘non-contact’ society: The case of South Africa. In M. Hewstone & R.J. Brown (Eds.), Contact and conflict in intergroup encounters, (pp. 119–136 ). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. ( 1961 ed.) The interpretation of dreams. New York: Science Editions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K.J., & Jones, E.E. (1963). Mental illness, predictability, and affective consequences as stimulus factors in person perception. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 6, 95–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R.J. (1977). Mines and migrants. Johannesburg: Ravan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurwitz, S.B., & Dodge, K.A. (1977). Effects of confirmations and disconfirmations on stereotype-based attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 495–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamill, R., Wilson, T.D., & Nisbett, R.E. (1980). Insensitivity to sample bias: Generalizing from atypical cases. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 578–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, D.L. (1979). A cognitive-attributional analysis of stereotyping. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, (Vol. 12 ) (pp. 53–84 ). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, D.L. (Ed.). (1981). Cognitive processes in stereotyping and intergroup behavior. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, D.L., & Rose, T. (1980). Illusory correlation and the maintenance of stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 832–845.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, D.L., & Trolier, T.K. (1986). Stereotypes and stereotyping: An overview of the cognitive approach. In J.F. Dovidio & S.L. Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination and racism, (pp. 127–163 ). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastie, R. (1981). Schematic principles in human memory. In E.T. Higgins, C.P. Herman, & M.P. Zanna (Eds.). Social cognition: The Ontario Symposium, (Vol. 1 ) (pp. 39–88 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastie, R. (1984). Causes and effects of causal attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 44–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastie, R., & Kumar, P.A. (1979). Person memory: Personality traits as organizing principles in memory for behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 25–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastorf, A.H., & Cantril, H. (1954). They saw a game: A case study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 129–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M. (1988). Attributional bases of intergroup conflict. In W. Stroebe, A.W. Kruglanski, D. Bar-Tal, & M. Hewstone (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup conflict: Theory, research and applications, (pp. 47–71 ). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Brown, R.J. (Eds.). (1986a). Contact and conflict in intergroup encounters. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Brown, R.J. (1986b). Contact is not enough: an intergroup perspective on the “contact hypothesis” In M. Hewstone & R.J. Brown (Eds.), Contact and conflict in intergroup encounters, (pp. 1–44 ). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., Gale, L., & Purkhardt, N. (1988). Intergroup attributions for success and failure: Group-serving bias and group-serving causal schemata. Unpublished manuscript, University of Bristol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Jaspars, J. (1984). Social dimensions of attribution. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), The social dimension: European developments in social psychology, (pp. 379–404 ). Cambridge/Paris: Cambridge University Press/Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., Jaspars, J., & Lalljee, M. (1982). Social representations, social attribution and social identity: The intergroup images of “public” and “comprehensive” schoolboys. European Journal of Social Psychology, 12, 241–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Ward, C. (1985). Ethnocentrism and causal attribution in Southeast Asia. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 614–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E.T., & Bargh, J.A. (1987). Social cognition and perception. Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 369–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karlins, M., Coffman, T.L., & Walters, G. (1969). Fading of stereotypes in three generations of college students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13, 1–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H.H. (1972). Causal schemata and the attribution process. In E.E. Jones, D.E. Kanouse, H.H. Kelley, R.E. Nisbett, S. Valins, & B. Weiner, Attribution: Perceiving the anises of behavior, (pp. 151–174 ). Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kulik, J.A. (1983). Confirmatory attribution and the perpetuation of social beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1171–1181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, L.Z. (1982). Judging a book by its cover. A cognitive analysis of the relationship between physical appearance and stereotyping. In A. Hastorf & A. Isen (Eds.), Cognitive social psychology, (pp. 149–211 ). New York: Elsevier North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D.T., & Turnbull, W. (1986). Expectancies and interpersonal processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 37, 233–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, N., Brewer, M.B., & Edwards, K. (1985). Cooperative interaction in desegregated settings: A laboratory analogue. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 63–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T.F. (1979). The ultimate attribution error: Extending Allport’s cognitive analysis of prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 5, 461–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T.F. (1981). Extending the stereotype concept. In D.L. Hamilton (Ed.), Cognitive processes in stereotyping and intergroup behavior, (pp. 303–331 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T.F. (1986). The intergroup contact hypothesis reconsidered. In M. Hewstone & R.J. Brown (Eds.), Contact and conflict in intergroup encounters, (pp. 169–195 ). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1981). Attitudes and persuasion: Classic and contemporary approaches. Dubuque, IA: W.C. Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M.T., & Snyder, C.R.R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In R.L. Solso (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola Symposium, (pp. 55–86 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyszczynski, T.A., & Greenberg, J. (1981). Role of disconfirmed expectancies in the instigation of attributional processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 323–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quattrone, G.A., & Jones, E.E. (1980). The perception of variability within in-groups and out-groups: Implications for the law of small numbers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 141–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeder, G.D., & Brewer, M.B. (1979). A schematic model of dispositional attribution in interpersonal perception. Psychological Review, 86, 61–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regan, D.T., Straus, E., & Fazio, R. (1974). Liking and the attribution process. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 385–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M. (1981). Memory processes and social beliefs. In D.L. Hamilton (Ed.), Cognitive processes in stereotyping and intergroup behavior, (pp. 145–181 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M. Evans, M., & Fulero, S. (1979). Recall for confirming events: Memory processes and maintenance of social stereotypes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15, 343–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M., & John, O.P. (1985). Social categorization and behavioral episodes: A cognitive analysis of the effects of intergroup contact. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 81–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M., & Park, B. (1986). On the confirmability and disconfirmability of trait concepts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 131–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Showers, C., & Cantor, N. (1985). Social cognition: A look at motivated strategies. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, 275–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E.R., & Miller, F.D. (1983). Mediation among attributional inferences and comprehension processes: Initial findings and a general method. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 492–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M., & Cantor, N. (1979). Testing hypotheses about other people: The use of historical knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 330–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M.L., & Frankel, A. (1976). Observer bias: A stringent test of behavior engulfing the field. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 857–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M., & Swann, W.B. (1978). Hypothesis-testing processes in social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1202–1212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srull, T.K. (1981). Person memory: Some tests of associative storage and retrieval models. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 7, 440–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, W.G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology, (Vol. 2 ) (pp. 599–658 ). New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, W.G.; & Stephan, C.W. (1985). Intergroup anxiety. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 157–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strenta, A.C., & Kleck, R.E. (1984). Physical disability and the perception of social interaction: It’s not what you look at but how you look at it. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 279–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1969). Cognitive aspects of prejudice. Journal of Social Issues, 25, 79–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, D.M., & Gardner, R.C. (1969). Ethnic stereotypes: Their effects on the perception of communications of varying credibility. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 23, 161–173.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, D.M., & Jaggi, V. (1974). Ethnocentrism and causal attribution in a South Indian context. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 5, 162–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.E. (1981). A categorization approach to stereotyping. In D.L. Hamilton (Ed.), Cognitive processes in stereotyping and intergroup behavior, (pp. 83–114 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.E., & Crocker, J. (1981). Schematic bases of social information processing. In E.T. Higgins, C.P. Herman, & M.P. Zanna (Eds.), Social cognition: The Ontario symposium on personality and social psychology, (pp. 89–134 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S.E., & Fiske, S.T. (1978). Salience, attention and attribution: Top of the head phenomena. In L. Berkowitz (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology, (Vol. 11 ) (pp. 249–288 ). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trope, Y. (1986). Identification and inferential processes in dispositional attribution. Psychological Review, 93, 239–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, R., & Crocker, J. (1983). Cognitive processes in the revision of stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 961–977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B. (1985). “Spontaneous” causal thinking. Psychological Bulletin, 97, 74–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilder, D.A. (1984). Intergroup contact: The typical member and the exception to the rule. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20, 177–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilder, D.A. (1986). Cognitive factors affecting the success of intergroup contact. In S. Worchel & W.A. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations, (pp. 49–66 ). Chicago: Nelson Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R.M. (1964). Strangers next door: Ethnic relations in American communities. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter, L., Uleman, J.S., & Cunniff, C. (1985). How automatic are social judgments? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 904–917.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Miles Hewstone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Daniel Bar-Tal

  2. Psychologisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, D-6900, Heidelberg 1, Federal Republic of Germany

    Carl F. Graumann

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, 20742, College Park, MD, USA

    Arie W. Kruglanski

  4. Psychologisches Institut, Universität Tübingen, 7400, Tübingen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Wolfgang Stroebe

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hewstone, M. (1989). Changing Stereotypes with Disconfirming Information. In: Bar-Tal, D., Graumann, C.F., Kruglanski, A.W., Stroebe, W. (eds) Stereotyping and Prejudice. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3582-8_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3582-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8165-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3582-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation