Suppression as a Stereotype Control Strategy

Recent research reveals that efforts to suppress stereotypic thoughts can backfire and produce a rebound effect, such that stereotypic thinking increases to a level that is even greater than if no attempt at stereotype control was initially exercised (e.g., Macrae, Bodenhausen, Milne, & Jetten, 1994). The primary goal of this article is to present an in-depth theoretical analysis of stereotype suppression that identifies numerous potential moderators of the effect of stereotype suppression on the likelihood of subsequent rebound. Our analysis of stereotype suppression focuses on two broad issues: the influence of level of prejudice and the influence of processing goals on the activation versus application of stereotypes. Although stereotype rebound occurs under some circumstances, we suggest that a complete understanding of this phenomenon requires consideration of the full array of possible moderating influences.

[1]  Natalie A. Wyer,et al.  The Roles of Motivation and Ability in Controlling the Consequences of Stereotype Suppression , 2000 .

[2]  C. Macrae,et al.  The self-regulation of intergroup perception: Mechanisms and consequences of stereotype suppression , 1996 .

[3]  F. Pratto,et al.  A Comparison of Symbolic Racism Theory and Social Dominance Theory as Explanations for Racial Policy Attitudes , 1992 .

[4]  K. Larsen,et al.  Attitudes of heterosexuals toward homosexuality: A Likert‐type scale and construct validity , 1980 .

[5]  J. B. Mcconahay,et al.  Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. , 1986 .

[6]  M. J. Monteith,et al.  Self-regulation of prejudiced responses: Implications for progress in prejudice-reduction efforts. , 1993 .

[7]  Shelly Chaiken,et al.  Accuracy motivation attenuates covert priming: The systematic reprocessing of social information. , 1994 .

[8]  R. Wyer,et al.  Cognitive mediators of reactions to rape. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[9]  A. Elliot,et al.  Prejudice with and without compunction , 1991 .

[10]  M. J. Monteith,et al.  Consequences of Stereotype Suppression: Stereotypes on AND Not on the Rebound☆☆☆★ , 1998 .

[11]  J Tudor-Hart,et al.  On the nature of prejudice. , 1961, The Eugenics review.

[12]  P. Devine.  Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. , 1989 .

[13]  C. Sedikides.  Effects of Fortuitously Activated Constructs Versus Activated Communication Goals on Person Impressions , 1990 .

[14]  B. Duncan.  Differential social perception and attribution of intergroup violence: Testing the lower limits of stereotyping of Blacks. , 1976 .

[15]  D. Wegner.  Ironic processes of mental control. , 1994, Psychological review.

[16]  M. J. Monteith,et al.  Contemporary Forms of Prejudice-Related Conflict: In Search of a Nutshell , 1996 .

[17]  Steven L. Neuberg,et al.  A Continuum of Impression Formation, from Category-Based to Individuating Processes: Influences of Information and Motivation on Attention and Interpretation , 1990 .

[18]  Eliot R. Smith.  Procedural knowledge and processing strategies in social cognition. , 1994 .

[19]  J. Schofield,et al.  Racial and Behavioral Cues in Black and White Children's Perceptions of Ambiguously Aggressive Acts , 1980 .

[20]  A. E. Kelly,et al.  Effects of suppression of personal intrusive thoughts. , 1994 .

[21]  D A Wilder,et al.  Role of competition-induced anxiety in limiting the beneficial impact of positive behavior by an out-group member. , 1989, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  E. Higgins,et al.  Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect. , 1987, Psychological review.

[23]  Mark P. Zanna,et al.  The Nonverbal Mediation of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Interracial Interaction. , 1974 .

[24]  Christina T. Fong,et al.  Automatic Activation of Stereotypes: The Role of Self-Image Threat , 1998 .

[25]  Russell H. Fazio,et al.  An Individual Difference Measure of Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions , 1997 .

[26]  G. Miller,et al.  Plans and the structure of behavior , 1960 .

[27]  M. Snyder.  On the Self-Fulfilling Nature of Social Stereotypes. , 1977 .

[28]  A G Greenwald,et al.  Implicit gender stereotyping in judgments of fame. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[29]  T. K. Srull,et al.  The Role of Category Accessibility in the Interpretation of Information About Persons: Some Determinants and Implications , 1979 .

[30]  E. Diener,et al.  Effects of self-awareness on antinormative behavior , 1976 .

[31]  M. J. Monteith,et al.  Affective Reactions to Prejudice-Related Discrepant Responses the Impact of Standard Salience , 1996 .

[32]  Patricia G. Devine,et al.  Exploring the interpersonal dynamics of intergroup contact. , 1996 .

[33]  E.,et al.  Self-Discrepancy : A Theory Relating Self and Affect , 2022 .

[34]  R. Wyer,et al.  Effects of stereotypes on decision making and information-processing strategies. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[35]  M. Brewer.  A dual process model of impression formation. , 1988 .

[36]  R. Fazio,et al.  Variability in automatic activation as an unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes: a bona fide pipeline? , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[37]  Piet Schenelaars,et al.  Public opinion , 2013, BDJ.

[38]  Daniel M. Wegner,et al.  The hyperaccessibility of suppressed thoughts. , 1992 .

[39]  A. Kruglanski,et al.  Effects of Epistemic Motivations on the Use of Accessible Constructs in Social Judgment , 1995 .

[40]  J. Krosnick,et al.  Self-Monitoring and Self-Protective Biases in Use of Consensus Information to Predict One's Own Behavior , 1990 .

[41]  Jerome S. Bruner,et al.  Going Beyond the Information Given , 2006 .

[42]  S. Fernando.  Racial stereotypes , 1991, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[43]  M. Banaji,et al.  Automatic and Controlled Processes in Stereotype Priming , 1996 .

[44]  S. Spencer,et al.  Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others , 1997 .

[45]  J. Dovidio,et al.  The aversive form of racism. , 1986 .

[46]  A. Kruglanski,et al.  The freezing and unfreezing of lay-inferences: Effects on impressional primacy, ethnic stereotyping, and numerical anchoring ☆ , 1983 .

[47]  A. Battersby.  Plans and the Structure of Behavior , 1968 .

[48]  C. N. Macrae,et al.  Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound , 1994 .

[49]  Robert S. Wyer,et al.  Stereotype activation and inhibition , 2013 .

[50]  M. Mead,et al.  Cybernetics , 1953, The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

[51]  A. Elliot,et al.  Are Racial Stereotypes Really Fading? The Princeton Trilogy Revisited , 1995 .

[52]  D M Wegner,et al.  Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[53]  T. K. Srull,et al.  Handbook of Social Cognition , 1993 .

[54]  D M Wegner,et al.  Depression and mental control: the resurgence of unwanted negative thoughts. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[55]  C. N. Macrae,et al.  On resisting the temptation for simplification: Counterintentional effects of stereotype suppression on social memory , 1996 .

[56]  Curtis D. Hardin,et al.  Implicit Stereotyping in Person Judgment. , 1993 .

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

[58]  Charles S. Carver,et al.  Physical aggression as a function of objective self-awareness and attitudes toward punishment , 1975 .

[59]  P. Devine,et al.  The rocky road to positive intergroup relations. , 1998 .

[60]  Patricia G. Devine,et al.  The Role of Discrepancy-Associated Affect in Prejudice Reduction , 1993 .

[61]  P. Gollwitzer,et al.  Goal Effects on Action and Cognition , 1996 .

[62]  M. Zanna,et al.  Need for structure in attitude formation and expression. , 1989 .

[63]  J. Schofield,et al.  Racial and behavioral cues in black and white children's perceptions of ambiguously aggressive acts. , 1980, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[64]  C. Judd,et al.  Evidence for racial prejudice at the implicit level and its relationship with questionnaire measures. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[65]  D M Wegner,et al.  Ironic processes in the mental control of mood and mood-related thought. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[66]  P. Katz.  4 – The Acquisition of Racial Attitudes in Children , 1976 .

[67]  M. J. Monteith,et al.  The Effect of Social Norm Activation on the Expression of Opinions Concerning Gay Men and Blacks , 1996 .

[68]  J. Darley,et al.  A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. , 1983 .

[69]  A. Milne,et al.  Saying no to unwanted thoughts: self-focus and the regulation of mental life. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[70]  J. I. Kim,et al.  Accountability and judgment processes in a personality prediction task. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[71]  S. Chaiken,et al.  Attitude structure and function. , 1998 .

[72]  D. Wegner,et al.  Fanning old flames: emotional and cognitive effects of suppressing thoughts of a past relationship. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[73]  J. Sherman,et al.  Stereotype suppression and recognition memory for stereotypical and nonstereotypical information , 1997 .

[74]  Charlotte Steeh,et al.  Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations , 1985 .

[75]  C. Neil Macrae,et al.  Stereotypes as energy-saving devices: A peek inside the cognitive toolbox. , 1994 .

[76]  D. Gilbert,et al.  The trouble of thinking: Activation and application of stereotypic beliefs. , 1991 .

[77]  K. Deaux,et al.  Explanations of successful performance on sex-linked tasks: What is skill for the male is luck for the female. , 1974 .

[78]  Rupert Brown,et al.  Category and stereotype activation: Is prejudice inevitable? , 1997 .