Mixed Discriminatory Judgments of Individuals’ Warmth and Competence-Related Abilities

Abstract

Although several studies have demonstrated that stereotypes can be mixed in terms of warmth and competence (e.g., cold but competent), the possibility of mixed discrimination has received very little attention so far. To this end, the present study investigated mixed discriminatory judgments of individuals. In two studies, the participants judged the empathic (warmth) and the cognitive (competence) ability of individuals who differed only in whether they belonged to a group typically stereotyped as warm but incompetent or cold but competent. Study 1 compared Greeks with Germans (nationality) and Study 2 preschool teachers with lawyers (occupation). In both studies, the judgments were discriminatory in a mixed pattern consistent with the groups’ stereotype content.

When beauty helps and when it hurts: An organizational context model of attractiveness discrimination in selection decisions

“…We found the opposite pattern in the cooperation condition. Nevertheless, future research might replicate our results across different task types (also see Carlsson, Björklund, & Bäckström, 2012) to provide further evidence for our theory.…”

Competence and warmth stereotypes prompt mental illness stigma through emotions

“…Only recently has research examined the circumstances in which one behavior is more likely than another based on stereotype content. When one stereotype dimension is made salient via experimental instructions (Becker & Asbrock, ), or target group comparison (Carlsson, Bjorklund, & Backstrom, ), its corresponding behavioral dimension evidences stronger effects. For example, if warmth is made salient for a HC/LW group or group member, then warmth is associated with greater active harm but no change in passive facilitation.…”

How predictions of economic behavior are affected by the socio-economic status of the target person

“…These earlier studies have attempted to mimic real-life situations, related to, e.g., recruitment, where predictions of others' behavior are based on limited information (one piece of relevant behavior has been presented to anchor the judgment and act as a counterweight to the stereotype). The results show that behavioral predictions are affected by the activated stereotype, which concerned physical attractiveness (Mobius & Rosenblat, 2006) or nationality or profession (Carlsson et al, 2012). To date, there is no related research on the stereotype of the poor.…”

“…The participants were also provided with different levels of diagnostic information concerning how the individuals in the scenarios had acted earlier in similar situations (cf. Carlsson et al, 2012;Mobius & Rosenblat, 2006). One third of the scenarios had no diagnostic information; one third had moderately strong diagnostic information; one third had strong diagnostic information.…”

“…Previous related research in behavioral economics (Mobius & Rosenblat, 2006) and in social psychology (Carlsson, Björklund, & Bäckström, 2012) has asked participants to predict future behavior based on incomplete information-i.e., where the available relevant information for the prediction is limited. In these occasions, participants need to base their prediction on something more than just the information provided, where stereotypes might fill the gap.…”