Shared information dominates group discussions, amplifying consensus stereotypes

Evidence

And in such interactions, what observations and beliefs are likely to emerge? Group discussions tend to be dominated by shared information – i.e., knowledge available to many members of a group – rather than by unshared information, or the idiosyncratic bits of knowledge possessed by individual people (Larson, Foster-Fishman, & Keys, 1994). Thus, if many individuals have projected specific traits onto an outgroup, those common perceptions are likely to be exchanged and discussed. As a result, stereotypes initially constructed at the level of the individual could be further developed and elaborated at the group level. Furthermore, research by Lambert et al. (2003) shows that when people think about groups in the presence (or even imagined presence) of others, the likelihood that stereotypes associated with those groups will come to mind and be expressed significantly increases. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2368

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does this informational-dominance finding mean that intergroup contact could systematically suppress disconfirming unshared information, undermining contact theory’s optimism?
• XREF: Relates to vault contact-theory claims: mere exposure to a tolerant individual may lose out to group discussion biases favoring stereotype-consistent shared info. — connects to: Echo chambers convert the social-corrective group effect into conformity pressure — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 120; Unipolar opinion convergence dominates deliberation studies more often than bipolar divergence — Didier Caluwaerts et al., Deliberation and Polarization: A…, 88; Mediated rather than face-to-face deliberation tends to polarize groups — Didier Caluwaerts et al., Deliberation and Polarization: A…, 123
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2368