Groups are judged on perceived warmth and competence, which drive distinct emotions toward them

Evidence

Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu (2002) developed the Stereotype Content Model, which links two dimensions of group stereotypes (warmth and competence) to emotional reactions to groups (see also Fiske, ch. 3 this volume). A group’s perceived competence is closely connected to its societal status, and warmth to the degree of competitive relationship between the perceiver’s own group and the target group. Warm and competent groups (e.g., middle-class Americans) elicit pride, while groups attributed competence plus a lack of warmth (e.g., Asian Americans, Jews) are targets of envy. Incompetent (low-status, helpless) groups may elicit warm feelings of pity (e.g., the elderly), whereas incompetent groups that are perceived as competing for resources and therefore as cold (e.g., welfare recipients) elicit contempt. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2272

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the two-axis Stereotype Content Model and its four emotion quadrants with concrete examples.
• XREF: The warmth-by-competence matrix recalls status-and-competition models of intergroup relations and could connect to contact hypothesis work. — connects to: Perceived status drives competence judgments while perceived competition strips warmth from envied outgroups — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 42; The warmth dimension bundles sociality with morality but remains purely prosocial. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 161; Enviable outgroups historically split from pitied ones along warmth and competence. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 19 (+2 more)
• CANDY: ‘Warm but incompetent old people get pity; cold incompetent welfare recipients get contempt’ is a compact, tweetable formulation.