EFFECTS OF STEREOTYPICALITY AND PERCEIVED GROUP VARIABILITY ON THE USE OF ATTITUDINAL INFORMATION IN IMPRESSION-FORMATION

In line with Susan Fiske and Steven Neuberg's continuum model of impre ssion formation it was found that when a social category was perceived as homogeneous on a stereotypic trait, a target's behavioral discrepa ncy from that stereotype elicited attention to and elaboration of indi viduating information. Individuating information consisted of the targ et person's attitude toward a stereotype-unrelated issue. Perceived va riability was manipulated. Impressions of the stimulus person were rel ated to participants' own attitude toward the issue, suggesting a simi larity-attraction effect. In the atypical-behavior/low-variability con dition, this relationship was mediated by attitude-related thoughts. T his suggests a cognitive-response-mediated effect leading to relativel y individuated impressions. All results were consistent across two dif ferent stimulus groups that were associated with complementary stereot ypes.