Three studies investigated the role of schemata and stereotypes in generating expectations about the future behavior of group members. Subjects were exposed to behaviors that violated their schema-based expectancies and were asked to make estimates about the probable actions of the individual responsible for the actions (target) or another member of the stereo"ped group. Results showed that subjects often expected (or predicted) these targets to engage in future compensatory behavior Results also suggested that, under conditions of excessive inconsistent, subjects ceased expecting compensatory behavior and based their estimates on their recent observations of the target's behavior. However, subjects continued to expect compensatory behavior from another member of the target's social group. A mechanism for stereotype maintenance that accounts for these findings is proposed. In addition, implications of this analysis for self concept maintenance and social judgments were discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
2.
Aronson, E. (1969). The theory of cognitive dissonance: A current perspective. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 1-34). New York: Academic Press.
3.
Aronson, E. , & Carlsmith, J. M. (1962). Performance expectancy as a determinant of actual performance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 65, 178-182.
4.
Baumeister, R. F. , Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1993). When ego threats lead to self-regulation failure: The negative consequences of high self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 141-156.
5.
Brewer, M. B. (1988). A dual process model of impression formation. In T. K. Srull & R. S. Wyer, Jr. (Eds.), Advances in social cognition (Vol. 1, pp. 1-36). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
6.
Crocker, J. , Hannah, D. B., & Weber, R. (1983). Person memory and causal attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 55-66.
7.
Darley, J. M. , & Fazio, R. H. (1980). Expectancy confirmation processes arising in the social interaction sequence. American Psychology, 35, 867-881.
8.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
9.
Fiske, S. T. , & Neuberg, S. L. (1990). A continuum model of impression formation, from category-based to individuating processes: Influences of information and motivation on attention and interpretation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 23, pp. 1-74). New York: Academic Press.
10.
Fiske, S. T. , & Taylor, S. E. (1984). Social cognition. New York: Random House.
11.
Fiske, S. T. , & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
12.
Fiske, S. T. , & Von Hendy, H. M. (1992). Personality feedback and situational norms can control stereotyping processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 577-596.
13.
Higgins, E. T. , Rholes, W. S., & Jones, C. R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141-154.
14.
Jones, E. E. (1986). Interpreting interpersonal behavior: The effect of expectances. Science, 234, 41-46.
15.
Jones, E. E. , Worchel, S., Goethals, G. R., & Grumet, J. F. (1971). Prior expectancy and behavioral extremity as determinants of attitude attribution. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 59-80.
16.
Linville, P. W. , Fischer, G. W., & Salovey, P. (1989). Perceived distributions of the characteristics of in-group and out-group members: Empirical evidence and a computer simulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 165-188.
17.
Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
18.
Martin, L. L. , Seta, J. J., & Crelia, R. A. (1990). Assimilation and contrast as a function of people's willingness and ability to expend effort in forming an impression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 27-37.
19.
Miller, L. C. , & Turnbull, W. (1986). Expectancies and interpersonal processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 37, 233-256.
20.
Neuberg, S. L. , & Fiske, S. T. (1987). Motivational influences on impression formation: Outcome dependency, accuracy-driven attention, and individuating processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 431-444.
21.
Seta, C. E. (1987). The role of retrieval contexts in memory for expectancy congruent and incongruent social actions. Dissertation Abstracts International 48, 373DB. (University Micro films No. DA 8803796)
22.
Seta, J. J. , & Seta, C. E. (1982). Personal equity: An intrapersonal comparatory system analysis of reward value. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 222-235.
23.
Seta, J. J. , & Seta, C. E. (1992). Personal equity-comparison theory: An analysis of value and the generation of compensatory and noncom-pensatory expectancies. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 13, 47-66.
24.
Seta, J. J. , Seta, C. E., & Erber, M. W. (1993). The role of cost in generating expectations and value: A personal equit-comparison theory analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 14, 103-119.
25.
Snyder, M. (1981). On the self-perpetuating nature of social stereo-types. In D. L. Hamilton (Ed.), Cognitive processes in stopping and intffgroup behavior (pp. 183-212). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
26.
Swann, W. B. , Stein-Seroussi, A., & Giesler, R. B. (1992). Why people self-verfy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 392-401.
27.
Taylor, S. E. , & Crocker, J. (1981). Schematic bases of social information processing. In E. T. Higgins, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Social cognition: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 1, pp. 89-134). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
28.
Weber, R. , & Crocker, J. (1983). Cognitive processes in the revision of stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 961-977.
29.
Wilson, T. D. , lisle, D. J., Kraft, D., & Wetzel, C. G. (1989). Preferences as expectation-driven inferences: Effects of affective expectations on affective experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 519-530.
