Stimulus pairing and statement target information have equal effects on stereotype-relevant evaluations of individuals

Abstract

The present research tested a series of theoretically derived competing hypotheses regarding the extent to which different ways of learning about others influence stereotype-relevant impression formation and reliance on stereotypes in stereotype-relevant target evaluations. First, we examined the extent to which stimulus pairing or statement information about novel White (Study 1) and Black (Study 2) targets’ intelligence influenced implicit and explicit impressions of the targets’ competence. In both studies, we found that the two modes of information presentation produced equal effects on impression formation at both the implicit and the explicit levels. In a third study, we compared the effectiveness of stimulus pairing and statement information at reducing or eliminating the influence of stereotypes on implicit and explicit person perception. We found that stereotyping in implicit person perception was completely eliminated by both types of information, but found no evidence of explicit stereotype bias even in the absence of individuating information. Together, the results of the three studies suggest that stimulus pairing and statement target information are equally influential in the formation of stereotype-relevant impressions of novel targets and in eliminating the influence of stereotypes on stereotype-relevant target evaluations. These findings provide support for propositional models of implicit evaluations and for dual-process theories allowing for interaction between different learning systems, but do not support dual-systems theories.