RESISTING CHANGE - INFORMATION-SEEKING AND STEREOTYPE CHANGE

Despite recent laboratory successes in demonstrating stereotype change in response to disconfirming information, stereotypes remain resistan t to change or modification. The reported research employed an informa tion gathering methodology in which perceivers could control the amoun t and nature of the information they received about members of a stere otyped group prior to evaluating the group on a number of stereotype-r elevant characteristics. Perceivers showed a stereotype-preservation b ias in their information gathering (Experiments 1 and 2) and, conseque ntly, showed no modification of existing stereotypic beliefs. Experime nt 3 manipulated the salient processing goals under which perceivers g athered information and found that, under certain conditions, the ster eotype preservation bias could be overcome and stereotypes moderated.