STEREOTYPE FORMATION AND ENDORSEMENT - THE ROLE OF IMPLICIT THEORIES

Five experiments supported the hypothesis that peoples' implicit theor ies about the fixedness versus malleability of human attributes (entit y Versus incremental theories) predict differences in degree of social stereotyping. Relative to those holding an incremental theory, people holding an entity theory made more stereotypical trait judgments of e thnic and occupational groups (Experiments 1, 2, and 5) and formed mor e extreme trait judgments of novel groups (Experiment 3). Implicit the ories also predicted the degree to which people attributed stereotyped traits to inborn group qualities versus environmental forces (Experim ent 2). Manipulating implicit theories affected level of stereotyping (Experiment 4), suggesting that implicit theories can play a causal ro le. Finally, implicit theories predicted unique and substantial varian ce in stereotype endorsement after controlling for the contributions o f other stereotype-relevant individual difference variables (Experimen t 5). These results highlight the importance of people's basic assumpt ions about personality in stereotyping.