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Abstract
Two alternative hypotheses regarding group differentiation on the two fundamental content dimensions of competence and warmth were tested in this study; the first one based on the stereotype content model (SCM) and the other combining SCM with social identity theory and acknowledging the neglected role of group size. In addition, the potential of consensual stereotypes to counter predictions based on SCM was explored. Nationwide, representative samples of high- and low-status Swedish- and Finnish-speaking minority and majority groups in Finland and Sweden (N = 2075) attributed stereotypic traits reflecting the two content dimensions of competence and warmth to the in- and outgroup. In contrast to predictions based on SCM minority groups favoured the ingroup on both competence and warmth, regardless of status, suggesting that the contextual variable group size should be acknowledged in future studies. Also against expectations based on SCM the high-status groups did not differentiate the ingroup on competence; however, only on warmth. Group ratings on specific traits revealed consensual stereotypes for Swedish- and Finnish-speakers across the countries. Results are discussed in relation to ideology, primacy of warmth and group history.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland. I wish to acknowledge Karmela Liebkind for valuable comments and suggestions on a draft of this manuscript and to thank Erling Solheim and Christian Starck for comments regarding statistical analyses.
Notes
1. The Swedish language in Finland has the status of a national language, but the Swedish-speakers will be referred to as a minority because of their small number compared with the Finnish-speakers.
2. The perceived comparative status of the four groups in this study was checked among 185 Finnish- and 79 Swedish-speaking students at the University of Helsinki. The status of the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden was quite unanimously perceived as lower than the status of the Swedish-speaking majority in Sweden (96% of both Swedish- and Finnish-speaking students perceived the Swedish-speaking majority in Sweden to have higher status than the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden) as well as lower than the status of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland (94% of the Swedish- and 100% of the Finnish-speaking students perceived the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland to have higher status than the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden) (Liebkind et al., Citation2008).
3. Respondents with no variance in their answers within a certain scale were filtered out.
4. Education was measured by asking the respondents to indicate their level of education on a scale ranging from elementary school to university.
5. These six traits were chosen on the basis that they were most similar to those used in earlier research to reflect the two fundamental stereotype dimensions; warmth and competence (e.g. Abele et al., Citation2008a). In earlier studies positive traits have been shown to reflect the two dimensions more reliably and distinctly than negative ones (e.g. Yzerbyt et al., Citation2005; Abele et al., Citation2008b).
6. Differences between mean scores for outgroup ratings on the six specific traits (separately for competence and warmth) were tested separately for each target group with paired samples t-tests. For the competence traits (Figure ) all means differed significantly from each other within each target group (p < 0.05), except for the difference between self-confident and competitive (p = 0.066) when the majority in Sweden was judged. For the warmth traits (Figure ) all differences within each target group were significant (p < 0.05) except for the difference between trustworthy and polite (p = 0.560) when the minority in Finland was judged and trustworthy and loyal (p = 0.972) when the majority in Sweden was judged.
7. In order to further explore the degree of consensus regarding which specific traits could be seen as typically Swedish or typically Finnish, ingroup ratings and ratings of the neighbouring country were added to the analysis so that all in- and outgroup ratings of Swedish target groups on the one hand and all equivalent in- and outgroup ratings of Finnish target groups on the other were summarized. Differences between mean scores were tested with paired samples t-tests and effect sizes were calculated. Results of the summaries revealed that politeness and self-confidence were seen as more Swedish traits, while persistence was seen as a more Finnish trait. Competitiveness was seen as marginally more Swedish, while there was no significant difference between the ratings regarding the traits trustworthy and loyal.