Stereotyped trait clusters cohere only through an intuitive causal theory.

Evidence

For example, social stereotypes often ascribe a wide array of attributes to the members of some target group, even when these specific attributes would not normally be classified together on the basis of semantic meaning, frequency of co-occurrence, or even shared valence. Historically, African Americans were said to be lazy, religious, unintelligent, and musical (e.g., Katz & Braly, 1933). These attributes do not normally “go together,” either in people’s actual behavioral patterns or in their implicit personality theories. As a cluster of beliefs, they would have no meaning for the stereotype holder if it were not for an intuitive theory that ties them together (e.g., Kunda, Miller, & Claire, 1990). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1383

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the vault’s existing Allport-era stereotype content claims; Katz & Braly 1933 historical data supplement.
• SEED: The lazy-religious-unintelligent-musical cluster is a vivid example of how stereotype content resists trait-based logic, useful for a piece on why stereotype lists mislead.