Images and affect: A functional analysis of out-group stereotypes.

Drawing from research on inter-nation images, the authors proposed and tested a functional theory of out-group stereotypes in 3 experiments. In the theory, it is hypothesized that behavioral orientations elicited by specific patterns of intergroup relationships (goal compatibility, relative power, and relative status) give rise to unique schematic representations of an out-group. The representations specified in the theory include 1 positive image (i.e., ally) and 3 differentiated negative images (i.e., enemy, dependent, barbarian). In all 3 experiments, participants read and imagined scenarios describing an intergroup situation in which the structure of relationships between in-group and out-group was varied. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that relationship cues were sufficient to elicit the predicted images, and some of the images were more likely to be activated under high incidental arousal. In a 3rd experiment an implicit measure was used to demonstrate that the images are activated spontaneously. Overall, results implicate the role of affective state and behavioral intent in shaping the content of social stereotypes.

[1]  Naomi Ellemers,et al.  The social psychology of stereotyping and group life , 1998 .

[2]  G. Bodenhausen.  Emotions, Arousal, and Stereotypic Judgments: A Heuristic Model of Affect and Stereotyping , 1993 .

[3]  Leila T. Worth,et al.  Value‐Guided Attributions: Maintaining the Moral Self‐Image and the Diabolical Enemy‐Image , 1989 .

[4]  S. Fiske,et al.  The Handbook of Social Psychology , 1935 .

[5]  O. Holsti,et al.  Enemies in politics , 1967 .

[6]  Keith L. Shimko.  Images and arms control : perceptions of the Soviet Union in the Reagan administration , 1992 .

[7]  D. Zillmann,et al.  Excitation transfer from physical exercise to subsequent aggressive behavior. , 1972 .

[8]  J. F. Voss,et al.  Images in International Relations: An Experimental Test of Cognitive Schemata , 1997 .

[9]  Ralph K. White,et al.  Nobody wanted war : misperception in Vietnam and other wars , 1968 .

[10]  Robert Jervis,et al.  Dominoes and bandwagons : strategic beliefs and great power competition in the Eurasian rimland , 1991 .

[11]  Amy J. C. Cuddy,et al.  (Dis)respecting versus (Dis)liking: Status and Interdependence Predict Ambivalent Stereotypes of Competence and Warmth , 1999 .

[12]  R. Baron,et al.  Exercise and the illusory correlation: Does arousal heighten stereotypic processing? , 1988 .

[13]  R. Cottam.  Foreign Policy Motivation: A General Theory and a Case Study , 1977 .

[14]  J. Bryant,et al.  Enhancement of experienced sexual arousal in response to erotic stimuli through misattribution of unrelated residual excitation. , 1975, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[15]  A. Eagly.  Sex differences in social behavior : a social-role interpretation , 1987 .

[16]  H. Kelman,et al.  International Behavior: A Social-Psychological Analysis. , 1966 .

[17]  K. Boulding.  National images and international systems , 1959 .

[18]  M. Banaji,et al.  Perceptions of the Collective Other , 1998, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[19]  Michael P. Fischerkeller,et al.  Beyond the enemy image and spiral model: cognitive–strategic research after the cold war , 1995, International Organization.

[20]  J. Turner,et al.  Interdependence, social identity and discrimination. , 1997 .

[21]  C. Judd,et al.  Stereotypes and ethnocentrism: diverging interethnic perceptions of African American and white American youth. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  Diane M. Mackie,et al.  Affect, cognition, and stereotyping: Interactive processes in group perception. , 1993 .

[23]  Jerome S. Bruner,et al.  Opinions and Personality. , 1956 .

[24]  M. Sherif,et al.  Groups in harmony and tension : an integration of studies on intergroup relations , 1954 .

[25]  N. Miller,et al.  Applications of emotion theory and research to stereotyping and intergroup relations. , 1993 .

[26]  R. Jervis.  Perception and misperception in international politics , 1976 .

[27]  B. Silverstein.  Enemy images: The psychology of U.S. attitudes and cognitions regarding the Soviet Union. , 1989 .

[28]  D. Zillmann.  Excitation transfer in communication-mediated aggressive behavior , 1971 .

[29]  S. Fiske.  Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. , 1998 .

[30]  M. Banaji,et al.  The role of stereotyping in system‐justification and the production of false consciousness , 1994 .

[31]  F. Heider.  The psychology of interpersonal relations , 1958 .

[32]  Eliot R. Smith.  Social Identity and Social Emotions: Toward New Conceptualizations of Prejudice , 1993 .

[33]  C. Osgood,et al.  An alternative to war or surrender , 1963 .

[34]  Martha L. Cottam.  Foreign Policy Decision Making , 1986 .

[35]  Richard K. Herrmann.  Perceptions and behavior in Soviet foreign policy , 1985 .

[36]  Martha L. Cottam.  Images and Intervention: U.S. Policies in Latin America , 1994 .