Stereotypes of Norwegian social groups

Abstract

We present a pilot study and two main studies that address the nature of stereotypes of social groups in Norway within the framework of the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). The first study focused on stereotypes of a wide range of groups across categories such as gender, age, religious conviction, socioeconomic and health status. The second study focused on stereotypes of immigrant groups. Participants (n = 244 and n = 63, respectively) rated the groups on perceived warmth, competence, status, and competition. Results from both studies support the applicability of the SCM in Norway and provides a unique insight into stereotypes of Norwegian social groups.

The perception of the poor: Capturing stereotype content with different measures

“…Supporting the picture that the poor are derogated in egalitarian welfare states too, relevant research from Norway, one of Sweden's cultural neighbors, indicates that the stereotype of poor people is similar to the stereotype identified in North America (Bye, Herrebrøden, Hjetland, Røyset, & Westby, 2014;Underlid, 2005). However, when comparing how poor and welfare recipients are depicted in the news-media, they were found to be more negatively depicted in Britain as compared to Sweden and Denmark (Larsen & Dejgaard, 2013).…”

“…The results supported the application of the SCM on the Swedish stereotype of the poor, and fit well with earlier findings regarding this stereotype in other countries (cf. Asbrock, 2010;Bye et al, 2014;Cuddy et al, 2008;Durante et al, 2013): The content of the stereotype of poor people consists of relatively low ratings on both competence and warmth (i.e. LC-LW or LC-L/MW), always with a higher rating on warmth than competence.…”

Poor but Warm, Rich but Cold (and Competent): Social Classes in the Stereotype Content Model

“…To that database, we added new SCM data collected in Finland (Durante, Fiske, Mähönen, & Jasinskaja, ), Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Pakistan (Durante, Fiske, Gelfand, & Stillwell, ); SCM data from Norway were collected independently by Bye, Herrebrøden, Hjetland, Røyset, and Westby (), and reanalyzed here. Both “rich” and “poor” groups were evaluated by all these samples, except for Pakistan, which had listed only the “poor” as a salient group.…”

Ambivalent stereotypes link to peace, conflict, and inequality across 38 nations

“…More specifically, three items assessed competence (competent, capable, and skilled), five items assessed warmth (warm, friendly, sincere, well-intentioned, and moral), and they were presented intermixed. [Norwegian warmth items were friendly, warm, good-natured, and sincere; competence items were competent, confident, capable, and skillful (32). German warmth items were likeable, warm, and good-natured; competence items were competent, competitive, and independent (33).…”

“…Across the new samples, the number of distinct groups ranged between 16 and 37. An analogous procedure generated the list of groups in Germany (33), Norway (32), and the United States (34). Table S1 summarizes demographic information for each sample in our extended database: With total numbers missing for three samples, ∼1,796 participants (54.81% female, weighted mean age = 25.92) took part in this phase.…”