Social categorization and stereotyping: 'You mean I'm one of "them"?'

What happens when people discover that they are members of a group about which they have previously formed some stereotype? To address this question, procedures previously shown to induce negative stereotypes of minority groups were combined with a social categorization manipulation. Participants in a distinctiveness-based illusory correlation paradigm (Hamilton & Gifford, 1976) either knew nothing about their group membership, or learned that they were a member of the minority group or the majority group either before or after being presented the stereotype-engendering stimulus materials. Results revealed that social categorization into the minority group before stimulus presentation eliminated the perceived stereotype and reversed the evaluative bias, whereas social categorization into the minority group after stimulus presentation had no effect on the perceived stereotype and only a weak effect in reducing the evaluative bias. Social categorization into the majority group either before or after stimulus presentation had little effect on the perceived stereotype and evaluative bias. These results clarify the process underlying the influence of social categorization on stereotype formation, underscore the distinction between affective and cognitive influences on stereotype formation and stereotype change, and offer insights into 'autostereotyping' among members of minority groups.