Positive stereotypes become evaluative liabilities when mismatched to a role’s demands

Evidence

This decline in evaluation can take place toward members of groups whose overall stereotypes are predominantly negative, positive, or ambivalent. Positive stereotypical attributes - for example, the niceness ascribed to women - become a liability in some social roles. When a generally positive attribute such as niceness is mismatched to role requirements, perceivers suspect that this attribute would foster behavior inappropriate to the role. For example, a female prosecuting attorney may be devalued because her presumed niceness jeopardizes her success as a litigator. Similarly, positive qualities commonly ascribed to men, such as independence and assertiveness, can block their access to caretaking roles requiring interpersonally sensitive and nurturant qualities (see also Jackman, ch. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 195

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels how competence versus warmth attributions behave in the vault’s stereotype-content material; also generalizes beyond gender to any ascriptively grouped role incumbent.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 195