Individuation of Self and Stereotyping of others

Abstract

This study investigated whether people who present themselves as individuated tend not to see others in stereotyped ways. 106 undergraduates completed a measure of self-individuation and a measure of stereotyping others. The measure of self-individuation, the Individuation scale, has 12 items on which respondents rate their willingness to engage in individuating behavior such as self-disclosure and attention-getting. The measure of stereotyping has 40 items on which respondents rate the likelihood that certain types of people would engage in certain types of actions. Analysis showed scores on the measures of individuation and stereotyping were internally reliable (83 and 85 respectively), and significantly negatively correlated (−.33) with each other Respondents who scored high on the Individuation scale tended to rate the likelihood of others' actions in a manner different from common stereotypes.