Stereotyped groups unknowingly fulfill others’ negative expectations, locking in their subordination

Evidence

Once in place, stereotypes may reproduce the same old state of affairs by eliciting behavioral confirmation on the part of stereotyped actors (e.g. Geis, 1993; Snyder, 1981). In other words, stigmatized groups may begin to act in such a way that other people’s negative expectancies of them are supported, thereby ensuring their continued subordination. … Thus, stereotyped groups and individuals implicitly may come to deliver what is expected of them, and this may be one way in which stereotypes derived on the basis of social status, position, or role may allow powerless groups to engage in a form of passive resistance (Sunar, 1978) or otherwise perpetuate the target’s occupation of that status, position, or role (see Geis, 1993). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2944

Categorization

• DEFINE: Behavioral confirmation: the mechanism by which stereotypes become self-fulfilling prophecies.
• XREF: The behavioral-confirmation loop parallels Bateson’s double-bind and the ‘deliver what is expected’ dynamic in performance studies; also echoes the self-fulfilling prophecy literature. — connects to: Low expectations for girls produce their own inferiority complex — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1938; Positive stereotypes can justify subordination more effectively than negative ones — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2956; Perceived subordination stems from others’ accessible options, not their probable actions — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 431 (+1 more)