Social categorization and behavioral episodes: a cognitive analysis of the effects of intergroup contact

The effects of intergroup contact on stereotypic beliefs, it is argued, depend upon (1) the potential susceptibility of those beliefs to disconfirming information and the degree to which the contact setting "allows" for disconfirming events, and (2) the degree to which disconfirming events are generalized from specific group members to the group as a whole. To account for the generalization of attributes from a sample to a population, we present a cognitive-processing model. The model assumes that impressions of groups are most heavily influenced by the attributes of those members most strongly associated with the group label. In order for group stereotypes to change, then, disconfirming information must be associated with the group labels. However, a number of powerful cognitive processes work against this association. As a consequence, we predict that stereotype change will be relatively rare under "normal" circumstances but may occur when disconfirming information is encountered under circumstances that activate the group label (e.g., when disconfirming attributes are associated with otherwise typical group members).