On the basis of theorizing that proposes that category representations include a variety of associations and not simply trait information, two studies investigated whether the automatic activation of stereotypic traits following category priming is a necessary mediator of automatic social behavior. The results across both studies demonstrated an automatic behavior effect; participants primed with the elderly responded more slowly to general lexical decisions than participants not primed with the elderly. The results also provide evidence for automatic stereotypic trait activation; participants primed with the elderly responded faster to stereotypic than nonstereotypic traits. Moreover, consistent with the view that stereotypes are multicomponential, category priming predicted automatic social behavior in ways independent of mediation-by-trait activation.
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