THE EXISTENCE OF A BLACK CLOTHING STEREOTYPE - THE IMPACT OF A VICTIMS BLACK CLOTHING ON IMPRESSION-FORMATION

The present experiment examined the existence of a black clothing ster eotype in victims reports concerning sexual harrassment. The black clo thing stereotype is concerned with the idea that people who are dresse d in black make a dishonest and aggressive impression. Observer charac teristics such as gender and the acceptance of sexual harrassment myth s were investigated in order to find out whether this stereotype exist s in different kind of people or only in subgroups (such as males or p eople high in sexual harrassment myths acceptance). In the experiment, 59 observers (college students) were exposed to a videotaped account of a victim of sexual harrassment. The victim wore either black or lig ht clothing. The outcomes revealed the existence of the black clothing stereotype. Moreover, this stereotype existed in all groups and not o nly in subgroups. The practical implications of the findings are discu ssed.