Maintaining a stereotype against deviant evidence requires attentional resources people willingly spend

Evidence

The issue is not only whether additional information gives room for the reinterpretation of the evidence, but also whether perceivers enjoy the necessary cognitive resources to actively salvage their cherished beliefs. As a matter of fact, research reveals that perceivers confronted with a deviant group member manage to dismiss this inconsistency (thereby retaining the original stereotype unaltered) unless they face another cognitively demanding task (in which case their general stereotype is weakened) (Yzerbyt, Coull, & Rocher, 1999). “Fencing off” a deviant is a job that comes with its attentional cost, one that people are nevertheless willing to pay if this can help them to maintain their preconceptions. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1178

Categorization

• QUESTION: If fending off disconfirming evidence costs attention, does mental fatigue predict actual stereotype revision in daily life (not just lab tasks)? Could be worth chasing the applied literature.
• XREF: connects to: People often resist or reverse belief updating rather than tracking evidence — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 104; the MOC “The Wound of the Label: When Knowing Someone Becomes a Way of Erasing Them”