ENHANCING THE IMPACT OF COUNTERSTEREOTYPIC INFORMATION - DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTIONS FOR DEVIANCE

Counterstereotypic behavior by a single our-group member often fails t o change out-group stereotypes because it can be dismissed as an excep tion to the rule. The impact of the ''exception'' fan be strengthened by making the exception appear to be a typical out-group member and by encouraging a dispositional attribution for the exception's counterst ereotypic behavior. These hypotheses were supported in 3 experiments u sing both artificial and real social categories and both positive and negative stereotypes. When counterstereotypic behavior by a typical me mber of the out-group was attributed to a stable internal cause, it wa s effective in moderating out-group stereotypes. However, the same beh avior had virtually no impact when it was either performed by an atypi cal group member or attributed to external causes or to unstable inter nal causes.