Perceivers exaggerate stereotypical group differences beyond what self-reports justify.

Evidence

Focusing on perceived stereotypic discrepancies, both target groups were seen more stereotypically by all participants than they self-described. Thus all participants viewed the groups as more different than in fact their self-ratings revealed them to be. This difference was especially true on the part of African American participants, who particularly overestimated the stereotypicality of both target groups. Interestingly, this overestimation did not depend on target group: both the ingroup and the outgroup were seen more stereotypically than the criterion suggested they ought to be. When attribute valence was taken into account, perceivers tended to overestimate negatively valenced attributes and underestimate positively valenced ones (relative to self-reports). This tendency was particularly strong in the perceptions of the white target group and particularly when judged by African American participants. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 880

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does this overestimation asymmetry - judging both ingroup and outgroup more stereotypically - replicate across non-student samples, or is it specific to college populations rating sorority/fraternity peers?