STEREOTYPE EFFICIENCY RECONSIDERED - ENCODING FLEXIBILITY UNDER COGNITIVE LOAD

According to the encoding flexibility model, stereotypes are efficient because they facilitate, in different ways, the encoding of both ster eotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information when capacit y is low. Because stereotypical information is conceptually fluent, it may be easily understood, even when resources are scant. As a result, processing resources may shift from stereotypical toward counterstere otypical information, which is difficult to comprehend under such cond itions. Thus, whereas inconsistent information receives greater attent ion (Experiments 1-3) and perceptual encoding (Experiment 4) when reso urces are depleted, the conceptual meaning of consistent information i s extracted to a greater degree under such conditions (Experiment 5). Potential moderating roles of stereotype strength and perceiver motiva tions are discussed, as are the implications of these results for dual process models of stereotyping.