Group members succeeding in new roles redefine stereotypes and reduce prejudice

Evidence

The role-incongruity perspective suggests that even apparently inflexible stereotypes eventually change to the extent that change occurs in the roles that group members typically occupy. … Work on dynamic stereotypes (Diekman & Eagly, 2000) has documented that people perceive women as increasing in masculine characteristics from the past to the present; these new beliefs correspond to women’s shift into traditionally male-dominated roles. … Moreover, perceivers anticipate that the evaluation of women’s male-stereotypical attributes will become more positive over time (Diekman & Goodfriend, 2004). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 222

Categorization

• SEED: A natural essay angle: positive feedback between role change and stereotype update — how the arrow of progress and perception reinforce each other.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 222