CROSS-NATIONAL OUTGROUP HOMOGENEITY - UNITED-STATES AND SOUTH-AFRICANSTEREOTYPES

Research on cross-national stereotypes has been largely descriptive, p rimarily examining the content of such stereotypes rather than explori ng more process-related issues concerning stereotype formation, use, a nd change. One particular component of stereotypes that has implicatio ns for these issues is the perceived variability of social categories. In this article we report data from white United States and South Afr ican samples on the perceived variability of both groups. We find cons istent support for the outgroup homogeneity effect in these data, that is, the tendency to see outgroups as less variable than ingroups. Add itionally, we show that the perception of outgroup variability is nega tively related to ethnocentrism or the tendency to engage in outgroup derogation. Finally, we explore whether outgroup familiarity and knowl edge moderate these effects.