Cognitive fatigue increases reliance on stereotypes

Evidence

In general, enhanced motivation and sufficient capacity to process fine-grained information increase perceivers’ likelihood of attending to individuating information (rather than applying stereotypes). A striking example comes from a demonstration that “morning people” (vs. “night people”) are more likely to be influenced by their stereotypes when confronted with a judgment task late (vs. early) in the day (Bodenhausen, 1990). In other words, more stereotyping is obtained when perceivers lack the energy to fulfill the judgment task than when they can count on their full intellectual vigor. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1168

In general, enhanced motivation and sufficient capacity to process fine-grained information increase perceivers’ likelihood of attending to individuating information (rather than applying stereotypes). A striking example comes from a demonstration that “morning people” (vs. “night people”) are more likely to be influenced by their stereotypes when confronted with a judgment task late (vs. early) in the day (Bodenhausen, 1990). In other words, more stereotyping is obtained when perceivers lack the energy to fulfill the judgment task than when they can count on their full intellectual vigor. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1168

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ego-depletion / decision-fatigue literature (Baumeister) and to the reader’s interest in how environmental strain degrades cognition. — connects to: Distraction raises stereotype expression but lowers stereotype activation — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 239
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1168; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1168