STEREOTYPES

The stereotyping literature within psychology has grown considerably o ver the past decade. In large part, this growth can be attributed to p rogress in understanding the individual mechanisms that give rise to s tereotypic thinking. In the current review, the recent psychological l iterature on stereotypes is reviewed, with particular emphasis given t o the cognitive and motivational factors that contribute to stereotype formation, maintenance, application, and change. In addition, the con text-dependent function of stereotypes is highlighted, as are the repr esentational issues that various models of stereotypes imply.