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A counterstereotype is an idea or object that goes against a stereotype -- a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. [1]
Minority groups within society are often portrayed negatively within popular media. Through psychological processes such as priming, this reinforces consumers’ negative stereotypes toward those groups [2] [3] [4] . Bombarding consumers with these stereotypes causes implicit attitudes - which occurs in the absence of conscious thought - to be negative towards those groups. This has a wide range of consequences, with the most profound effects being seen in exposure to the “negative” group in ambiguous situations [3] . An example of this can be seen with the over-portrayal of African-Americans as criminals in American media: the psychological literature shows that through media reinforcement of a criminal stereotype, consumers of this content evaluate African-Americans as more dangerous than other groups even in ambiguous situations. [3] This demonstrates how media depiction of stereotypes can lead directly to prejudice. This is consequential because it can affect not only inter-group interactions, but the self-identity of the “negative group” (see: Self-fulfilling prophecy). Psychological research has shown that the stereotype associated simply with one’s name can cause changes in behavior and cognition [5] .
Counter-stereotypes work by presenting media consumers with a member of a “negative” group who does not act stereotypically. This challenges consumers’ existing attitudes towards that group, and has been shown to reduce existing prejudices toward them. Exposing consumers to counter-stereotypes may also lead to increased support for policy options aimed at addressing racial disparities, such as affirmative action [3] .
Exemplar-based explanations of counter-stereotyping have gained much support from the psychological literature [3] . Prototypes can best be described as ideas of what a category is, formed by averaging all instances of that category that an individual has come into contact with. Exemplars are specific representations of that “averaged” category, and can serve to change the prototype [3] . By presenting consumers with prototypes not consistent with their existing representation of that group, counter stereotypes can change implicit attitudes toward the target group. The recency and frequency of exposure to the exemplar mediate how stereotypes change over time, with those that are chronically accessible being the most effective of all. [3]
The Categorization Processing Adaptation Generalization model builds upon previous cognitive research as to how diversity experiences, or in essence counterstereotypical experiences can change the way people think. [6] [7] When encountering counter stereotypical events, if a perceiver is motivated to engage in elaborative processing involving stereotype suppression and generative thought, that with multiple experiences resulting in elaborative processing, the perceiver will develop generalized cognitive flexibility. [6] This would mean the use of elaborative thought over heuristics based thinking, and weakens reliance on quick mental representations such as stereotypes.
One major limitation of the Counterstereotype effect is that it may not reach the audience which would benefit most from exposure because that audience chooses not to view content with minority characters. In the last few decades, the ability for audiences to be selective with their choice for media consumption has increased rapidly and led to the rise of the echo chamber. Individuals who hold an explicit negative stereotype of a certain group have the option to avoid all content which contains that group, preventing exposure to the counter-stereotype altogether. [2] Research into this phenomenon also suggests that negative stereotypes don’t have to be held explicitly to affect media viewing habits: implicit attitudes, which are not held consciously, affect the willingness of individuals to consume content depicting certain groups [3] . In short, the counter-stereotype effect is limited not by the process in which it occurs, but by its limited ability to reach individuals who already hold negative attitudes towards the target group.
Not to be confused with the boomerang effect which refers to unintended psychosocial consequences resulting from persuasion, nor backlash effects in sociology, the backlash effect is similar in principle, having to do with psychosocial consequences resulting from perception of being counter stereotypical. Most cited definition of the backlash effect by Rudman in 1998 [8] is where violation of stereotypes may potentially lead to social or economic consequences. Although these counterstereotypical people may be perceived as unique, the backlash effect and its consequences often limit their success, and can lead to a reinforcement of stereotypes.
A 2004 study by Rudman and Fairchild [9] modeled the backlash effect and stereotype maintenance stemming from perceivers and actors, their justification or fear of backlash, and the importance in the maintenance of self-esteem. From the perceivers view, if it is justified by a threat to their self-esteem, backlash towards counter stereotypical people may restore their sense of worth, however this only further reinforces societal stereotypes. The backlash effect can also lead counter stereotypical individuals to fear the potential consequences and thus be more likely to hide their counter stereotypical behavior, maintaining their self-esteem. This also leads to the maintenance of cultural stereotypes.
Bias is a disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, or a belief. In science and engineering, a bias is a systematic error. Statistical bias results from an unfair sampling of a population, or from an estimation process that does not give accurate results on average.
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's perceived personal characteristics, such as political affiliation, sex, gender, gender identity, beliefs, values, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, culture, complexion, beauty, height, body weight, occupation, wealth, education, criminality, sport-team affiliation, music tastes or other perceived characteristics.
An attitude "is a summary evaluation of an object of thought. An attitude object can be anything a person discriminates or holds in mind." Attitudes include beliefs (cognition), emotional responses (affect) and behavioral tendencies. In the classical definition an attitude is persistent, while in more contemporary conceptualizations, attitudes may vary depending upon situations, context, or moods.
In the psychology of self, one's self-concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question "Who am I?".
Stereotype threat is a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their social group. It is theorized to be a contributing factor to long-standing racial and gender gaps in academic performance. Since its introduction into the academic literature, stereotype threat has become one of the most widely studied topics in the field of social psychology.
Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Self-confidence is not the same as self-esteem, which is an evaluation of one's worth. Self-confidence is related to self-efficacy—belief in one's ability to accomplish a specific task or goal. Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as those without it may fail because they lack it, and those with it may succeed because they have it rather than because of an innate ability or skill.
System justification theory is a theory within social psychology that system-justifying beliefs serve a psychologically palliative function. It proposes that people have several underlying needs, which vary from individual to individual, that can be satisfied by the defense and justification of the status quo, even when the system may be disadvantageous to certain people. People have epistemic, existential, and relational needs that are met by and manifest as ideological support for the prevailing structure of social, economic, and political norms. Need for order and stability, and thus resistance to change or alternatives, for example, can be a motivator for individuals to see the status quo as good, legitimate, and even desirable.
Entitativity refers to the extent to which a group is perceived as a cohesive, unified entity. It describes how much a collection of individuals is seen as "group-like" and bonded by common attributes, such as shared goals or traits. Perceived entitativity occurs when people view an aggregate of individuals as a single entity, attributing to them common characteristics or a collective purpose. Thus, a group is seen as a "real" group when its members' behaviors are seen as stemming from shared goals or traits.
Laurie A. Rudman is a social psychology feminist professor as well as the Director of the Rutgers University Social Cognition Laboratory who has contributed a great deal of research to studies on implicit and explicit attitudes and stereotypes, stereotype maintenance processes, and the media's effects on attitudes, stereotypes, and behavior on the Feminism movement. She was awarded the 1994 Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize for her research examining the effects of sexist advertising on men's behavior toward female job applicants.
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group's personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes are often overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. A stereotype does not necessarily need to be a negative assumption. They may be positive, neutral, or negative.
Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others, but also items that have been learned by persons about themselves, either from personal experiences or by internalizing the judgments of others. In some formulations, it is a component of self-concept.
The Proteus effect describes a phenomenon in which the behavior of an individual, within virtual worlds, is changed by the characteristics of their avatar. This change is due to the individual's knowledge about the behaviors that other users who are part of that virtual environment typically associate with those characteristics. Like the adjective protean, the concept's name is an allusion to the shape changing abilities of the Greek god Proteus. The Proteus effect was first introduced by researchers Nick Yee and Jeremy Bailenson at Stanford University in June 2007. It is considered an area of research concerned with the examination of the behavioral effects of changing a user's embodied avatar.
Ambivalent prejudice is a social psychological theory that states that, when people become aware that they have conflicting beliefs about an outgroup, they experience an unpleasant mental feeling generally referred to as cognitive dissonance. These feelings are brought about because the individual on one hand believes in humanitarian virtues such as helping those in need, but on the other hand also believes in individualistic virtues such as working hard to improve one's life.
Benevolent prejudice is a superficially positive prejudice expressed in terms of positive beliefs and emotional responses, which are associated with hostile prejudices or result in keeping affected groups in inferior societal positions. Benevolent prejudice can be expressed towards those of different race, religion, ideology, country, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
The women-are-wonderful effect is the phenomenon found in psychological and sociological research which suggests that people associate more positive attributes with women when compared to men. This bias reflects an emotional bias toward women as a general case. The phrase was coined by Alice Eagly and Antonio Mladinic in 1994 after finding that both male and female participants tend to assign positive traits to women, with female participants showing a far more pronounced bias. Positive traits were assigned to men by participants of both genders, but to a far lesser degree.
Role congruity theory proposes that a group will be positively evaluated when its characteristics are recognized as aligning with that group's typical social roles. Conversely, the stereotype fit hypothesis suggests that group members will experience discrimination in different social roles or positions to the extent that their group stereotypically does not have characteristics associated with success in the position. For instance, women may not be considered a good fit for a managerial position if being aggressive is seen as a characteristic of a successful manager. Due to stereotype fit, men may be considered more qualified for the position and are not only more likely to be hired, but are also more likely to be promoted as well.
An implicit bias or implicit stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a member of some social out group.
In social psychology, a metastereotype is a stereotype that members of one group have about the way in which they are stereotypically viewed by members of another group. In other words, it is a stereotype about a stereotype. They have been shown to have adverse effects on individuals that hold them, including on their levels of anxiety in interracial conversations. Meta-stereotypes held by African Americans regarding the stereotypes White Americans have about them have been found to be largely both negative and accurate. People portray meta-stereotypes of their ingroup more positively when talking to a member of an outgroup than to a fellow member of their ingroup.
In social psychology, social projection is the psychological process through which an individual expects behaviors or attitudes of others to be similar to their own. Social projection occurs between individuals as well as across ingroup and outgroup contexts in a variety of domains. Research has shown that aspects of social categorization affect the extent to which social projection occurs. Cognitive and motivational approaches have been used to understand the psychological underpinnings of social projection as a phenomenon. Cognitive approaches emphasize social projection as a heuristic, while motivational approaches contextualize social projection as a means to feel connected to others. In contemporary research on social projection, researchers work to further distinguish between the effects of social projection and self-stereotyping on the individual’s perception of others.
Outgroup favoritism is a social psychological construct intended to capture why some socially disadvantaged groups will express favorable attitudes toward social, cultural, or ethnic groups other than their own. Considered by many psychologists as part of a variety of system-justifying motives, outgroup favoritism has been widely researched as a potential explanation for why groups—particularly those disadvantaged by the normative social hierarchy—are motivated to support, maintain, and preserve the status quo. Specifically, outgroup favoritism provides a contrast to the idea of ingroup favoritism, which proposes that individuals exhibit a preference for members of their own group over members of the outgroup.
