Stereotyping and Social Judgment

As a social psychologist, I study stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. My research focuses on how stereotypes affect judgments of and behavior toward individual members of stereotyped groups. My model of "shifting standards" suggests that by virtue of holding a stereotype, we use category-specific standards against which we judge members of stereotyped groups. For example, an individual woman might be judged as more aggressive than a comparable man because she is judged relative to a lower standard (or expectation) for women's aggressiveness. The subjective language of adjectives allows for these shifts to occur: "Very aggressive" can mean something different when applied to a woman versus a man. At the same time, if forced to choose the more aggressive person, or to rate aggression "objectively," men tend to be seen as more aggressive than women. Thus, judgments of individual group members may either assimilate to group stereotypes, or contrast from them. Similarly, stereotypes may lead us to set low minimum standards for members of groups stereotyped as lacking some attribute, but also higher standards to confirm they possess the attribute. For example, in a masculine work domain, women may need to show less evidence of competence to meet minimum standards for the job, but more evidence of competence to confirm their ability to perform. This research points to the complex ways that stereotypes affect social judgment and suggests that individual targets of judgments may sometimes receive contradictory feedback.