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Abstract
We explored the effect of making salient a positive stereotype toward an out‐group member. Combining personalization theory and contact theory, we predicted increased acceptance of an out‐group only when: (a) positive information is presented about an individual out‐group member, rather than his or her social category, and (b) that information confirms a stereotype of that out‐group. Confirming this prediction, in two 2×2 factorial experiments, each with an additional no information control condition, participants liked an out‐group more when presented with positive stereotypical information about an out‐group member than when presented with equally positive non‐stereotypical information about that out‐group member, or when presented with either type of information about the out‐group as a whole.
Notes
1. The reference to the target as a friend of the author's in the individual conditions cannot account for the obtained results in view of the fact that the LSD post hoc comparisons on the one‐way ANOVAs for both studies found no reliable differences between the individual/non‐stereotypical target condition and any of the other conditions save the individual/stereotypical target condition (ps>.43).
2. The individual and group articles differed slightly in length (215 words and 150 words respectively). Thus, length is confounded with the “individual vs group” manipulation. However, it is unlikely that the difference in article length can account for the obtained effect. The one‐way ANOVAs conducted on both studies yielded a simple effect between the two individual conditions (stereotypical and non‐stereotypical) but no simple effect is found between the group conditions. Yet for the comparison within each of these simple effects, length is controlled. Thus, length per se cannot simultaneously account for (a) the effect of trait found in the two individual conditions and (b) the absence of an effect of trait in the two group conditions.
3. Paolini et al. (Citation2004) also tested whether positive information about out‐group members would decrease prejudice toward the out‐group, but failed to find this effect. This may be attributable to the fact that target profiles contained both stereotypical and counterstereotypical traits, rather than solely the former.
4. There were no significant experimenter×treatment interactions.
5. There are relatively smaller n sizes in Experiment 2 than Experiment 1. Nevertheless, a reliable effect was found, indicating a robust phenomenon. In addition, the fact that these results conceptually replicate those of Experiment 1 further boosts our confidence in them.