The Contact Hypothesis Reconsidered: Effects of the Atypical Outgroup Member on the Outgroup Stereotype

The contact hypothesis assumes that contact with pleasant outgroup members will help to change negative stereotypes of that outgroup. However, this assumption is doubtful, because it is claimed by various psychologists that an individual who is different from' the prototype will be rejected from the category and placed into a subcategory, without any effect on the group stereotype. This article tackles the issue from three main directions. First, it shows that the atypical group member is linked to the group stereotype and thus bound to affect it. Second, it suggests that an atypical group member may not change the central tendency of the group stereotype, but is likely to change the variability within the group stereotype and the probability of applying the stereotype to an individual group member. Third, it stresses that people who represent their group in a contact situation have a strong interdependence with their group, a factor that has hitherto been ignored by studies in this field.