Stereotypes and stereotyping: What's the brain got to do with it?

Abstract

Influential social-psychological models suggest that perceivers frequently use information-processing strategies that result in the stereotype-based construal and treatment of other people. To elucidate in greater detail when, why, and how social encounters elicit stereotyping, researchers have begun to incorporate neuroscientific tools into their repertoire of investigative methods. The current article reviews these studies and considers their significance in light of existing theories of person perception, knowledge representation, and impression formation. Finally, using the concrete example of stereotyping, benefits and pitfalls of adopting a social neuroscience approach are discussed.

Keywords:

• Bias
• Body perception
• Event-related potentials
• Expectancy violations
• Face perception
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging
• Ingroup
• Outgroup
• Person categorisation
• Person evaluation
• Person individuation
• Person knowledge
• Person perception
• Prejudice
• Social neuroscience
• Stereotype activation
• Stereotype application
• Stereotype content
• Stereotype control