Stereotypes can form by false association between rare events without any kernel of truth

Evidence

To understand where the specific contents of stereotypes come from, a social, cultural analysis is needed to supplement our cognitive analysis of categorization. Hamilton and Gifford (1976) confirmed Allport’s claim that “It is possible for a stereotype to grow in defiance of all evidence” (1954/1979, p. 189). They demonstrated that people could develop false stereotypes through a process of “illusory correlation” (by mistakenly forming a mental association between two or more relatively infrequent events) without there being even a “kernel” of truth. These cognitive biases are shaped and exacerbated by actual inequalities of opportunity in society (which prevent group memberships and achieved outcomes from varying freely) as well as by selective reporting in the mass media (e.g., Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). Members of US society, for example, are disproportionately exposed to associations between “Black” and “criminal” and between “White man” and “politician” or “celebrity” (Banaji & Bhaskar, 2000). As Allport observed, stereotypes are “socially supported, continually revived and hammered in, by our media of mass communication” (p. 200). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1391

Hamilton and Gifford (1976) confirmed Allport’s claim that “It is possible for a stereotype to grow in defiance of all evidence” (1954/1979, p. 189). They demonstrated that people could develop false stereotypes through a process of “illusory correlation” (by mistakenly forming a mental association between two or more relatively infrequent events) without there being even a “kernel” of truth. These cognitive biases are shaped and exacerbated by actual inequalities of opportunity in society (which prevent group memberships and achieved outcomes from varying freely) as well as by selective reporting in the mass media (e.g., Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). Members of US society, for example, are disproportionately exposed to associations between “Black” and “criminal” and between “White man” and “politician” or “celebrity” (Banaji & Bhaskar, 2000). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1391

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines “illusory correlation” as mistakenly associating two or more relatively infrequent events.
• XREF: Connects to system-justification theory and cognitive bias literature in social psychology.
• ADDENDUM: Directly corroborates the core empirical grounding for the vault’s prejudice-psychology claims, updating Allport’s ‘kernel of truth’ position with illusory-correlation findings.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1391; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1391