COGNITIVE MODELS OF STEREOTYPE CHANGE .4. MOTIVATIONAL AND COGNITIVE INFLUENCES

Three experiments investigating the effects of cognitive and motivatio nal factors on stereotype change are reported Trait ratings in all thr ee experiments showed there to be greater stereotype-change when stere otype-inconsistent information was dispersed across many group members than when it was concentrated in only a few. A sorting task (Experime nt 1) indicated that, in the concentrated conditions the stereotype di sconfirmers were more strongly isolated from the rest of the group tha n in the dispersed conditions. Free recall protocols (Experiment 2) sh owed greater memory for the target exemplars when subjects anticipated interaction with a group member than when no interaction was anticipa ted The questions subject chose to ask target group exemplars were als o influenced by anticipated future interaction. Subjects chose more st ereotype-inconsistent questions when interaction was anticipated than when no interaction was anticipated Experiment 3 showed the impact of stereotype-inconsistent information to be greater when expectancies fo r the stereotyped group are weaker. A cued-recall task yielded evidenc e of spontaneous subtyping. All these studies support the subtyping mo del, even in the presence of cognitive and motivational factors that m ight be expected to impede stereotype change.