When we wonder what it all means: Interpretation goals facilitate accessibility and stereotyping effects

In four studies, the authors show that interpretation goals facilitate acce ssibility and stereotyping effects. Study I shows that priming traits that are descriptively inapplicable to a target stimulus affect target interpret ations when an interpretation goal is primed but not when no such goal is p resent. Studies 2 and 3 show that the range of judgment dimensions affected by applicable trait primes increases when people are interpretation motiva ted. Studies 3 and 4 show that behavior that is only weakly related to ster eotypical beliefs is interpreted in stereotypical terms when an interpretat ion goal is activated, whereas no such stereotyping effect occurs when perc eivers are not so motivated. Implications for models of accessibility and s tereotyping effects are discussed.