Merely reading gender stereotypes boosts support for the status quo

Evidence

Conway, Pizzamiglio, and Mount (1996) demonstrated in a variety of occupational and non-occupational settings that members of low-status groups in general were consistently stereotyped in more communal, socioemotional terms, whereas members of high-status groups were stereotyped in agentic, achievement-oriented terms. Jost and Kay (2005) found that exposure to communal stereotypes of women and agentic stereotypes of men leads people to show increased levels of support for the current state of gender relations as well as for the American political and economic system in general. These studies are among the first to demonstrate that a cause-and-effect relationship exists between exposure to specific stereotypical beliefs and support for the societal status quo (see also Kay & Jost, 2003). This work also suggests that the link between stereotypes and the status quo can be largely implicit, nonconscious, and unexamined (see also Jost et al., 2004). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1407 (#expands, via linked claim)

Kay and Jost (2003) suggested that “poor but happy” and “poor but honest” stereotypes would serve to increase support for the status quo, insofar as such stereotypes maintain the belief that every group in society has some rewards, and no group has a monopoly on valued characteristics. The authors demonstrated in four experiments that exposure to “poor but happy,” “poor but honest,” “rich but miserable,” and “rich but dishonest” stereotype exemplars led people to score higher on a general, diffuse measure of system justification, compared to control conditions. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1410 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Men’s perspective passes as neutral truth while women’s is read as gendered — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 53; Entertainment-education serials can shift viewers’ attitudes toward gender equality; Complementary stereotypes that pair poverty with virtue increase endorsement of the status quo (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Exposing people to group stereotypes increases their support for the status quo #expands (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1407
• Positive complementary stereotypes actually increase support for the status quo #expands (0.92) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1410