The effects of social category norms and stereotypes on explanations for intergroup differences

A 2-stage model of the construction of explanations for differences between groups is presented. Category norms affect which of 2 groups becomes "the effect to be explained," and stereotypes shape attributions about that grou p. In 3 experiments, 288 participants wrote explanations for differences be tween gay and straight men. Explanations focused on gay men who were also j udged to have more mutable attributes. However, these effects were not corr elated. Participants focused explanations on straight men when explicitly i nstructed to do so (Experiment 1), Explanations focused on both groups equa lly when the gay men constituted the numerically larger sample, when gay me n were more typical of the overarching category (i.e., people with AIDS) th an straight men, or when more straight men were described as performing the behavior (Experiment 2). Stereotype-consistent information prompted more e ssentialist references and fewer reconstructive references to gay men than did stereotype-inconsistent information (Experiment 3). The relevance of th is model for theories of norms, stereotypes, and for the conduct of social science is discussed.