E-Book Overview
The first comprehensive treatment of stereotypes and stereotyping, this text synthesizes a vast body of social and cognitive research that has emerged over the past-quarter century. Provided is an unusually broad analysis of stereotypes as products both of individual cognitive activities and of social and cultural forces. While devoting careful attention to harmful aspects of stereotypes, their connections to prejudice and discrimination, and effective strategies for countering them, the volume also examines the positive functions of generalizations in helping people navigate a complex world. Unique features include four chapters addressing the content of stereotypes, which consider such topics as why certain traits are the focus of stereotyping and how they become attributed to particular groups. An outstanding text for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, the volume is highly readable and features many useful examples.
E-Book Content
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STEREOTYPING
DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY A Guilford Series KURT W. FISCHER Harvard University
Edited by E. TORY HIGGINS MARCIA JOHNSON Columbia University Yale University
WALTER MISCHEL Columbia University
The Psychology of Stereotyping David J. Schneider The Construction of the Self: A Developmental Perspective Susan Harter Interpersonal Perception: A Social Relations Analysis David A. Kenny
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STEREOTYPING David J. Schneider
THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London
© 2004 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com Paperback edition 2005 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schneider, David J., 1940– The psychology of stereotyping / by David J. Schneider. p. cm.—(Distinguished contributions in psychology) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-57230-929-6 (hc.) ISBN 1-59385-193-6 (pbk.) 1. Stereotype (Psychology) I. Title. II. Series. BF323.S63S36 2004 303.3¢85—dc21 2003008819
To Al Hastorf, mentor and friend
About the Author
David J. Schneider, PhD, graduated from Wabash College in 1962 with majors in psychology and philosophy, and earned a doctoral degree in psychology from Stanford University in 1966. He has taught at Amherst College, Stanford University, Brandeis University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Indiana University. In 1989 Dr. Schneider joined the Department of Psychology at Rice University, where he served as Chair of the Department from 1990 to 1996 and remains today as Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences. Dr. Schneider teaches courses in social psychology and stereotyping, as well as introductory psychology, history of psychology, the psychology of beliefs, and psychology and law. He was founding editor of the journal Social Cognition and has written several books, including Person Perception (1979, Addison-Wesley), Social Psychology (1976, Addison-Wesley), and Introduction to Social Psychology (1988, Harcourt Brace).
vii
Preface
This book has taken a long time to get from my desk to yours. I began work on the manuscript about 15 years ago, and both I and the publisher had assumed I would produce a tidy manuscript in a couple of years. Well, as I discovered, there is nothing tidy about the area of stereotyping. There were times during this process when I had the distinct sense that people were produ