Even experts apply lazy stereotyping outside their own domain of expertise.
Evidence
While most of us have learned to be critical and open-minded in certain regions of experience we obey the law of least effort in others. A doctor will not be swiped by folk generalizations concerning arthritis, snake bite, or the efļ¬cacy of aspirin. But he may be content with overgeneralizations concerning politics, social insurances, or Mexicans ā¦ Life is just too short to have differentiated concepts about everything. A few pathways are enough for us to walk in. (p. 173) Because, by deļ¬nition, people are experts in different and limited domains, a logical consequence of Allportās view is that most social concepts are underdifferentiated. ā John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1159 (
#expands, via linked claim)
The propensity to conserve cognitive resources in seeking and processing information manifests itself in several forms. First, people prefer simple decision rules and unitary causal accounts to ones that posit a multiplicity of factors and causal paths. In areas in which they are expert, people may reject an explanation as too simple, but even here there may be more lip service than actual avoiding of simplicity. ā John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2555 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Expertise in one domain does not prevent stereotyped thinking in others ā John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Yearsā¦, 1159; Stereotypes can enable efficient thought rather than only distort it ā Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalistsā¦, 505; Even experts give lip service to complexity while relying on simple explanations. ā John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2555
Broader Connections
- Expertise in one domain does not prevent stereotyped thinking in others
#expands(0.96) ā John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1159 - Even experts give lip service to complexity while relying on simple explanations.
#complicates(0.72) ā John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2555