Since the introduction of Katz and Braly's (1933) classic checklist procedure, stereotypes have been studied as a verbal phenomenon (i.e., trait associations that function and can be measured verbally). However, there is reason to believe that stereotypes also include a visual component. The nature of social interaction suggests that a great deal of information is communicated visually; research has established that visual information is very potent in information processing; and a small but consistent literature has shown that physical appearance is central to our representation of social groups. Nonetheless, there is very little theory or research on the role of physical appearance in stereotyping. The goal of the present proposal is to fill that gap. In particular, we will examine the general hypothesis that the physical features that denote category membership become associated with stereotypic traits and serve as direct cues for those traits. With a focus on stereotypes of African Americans we postulate that, (a) African Americans who have more Afrocentric physical features (e.g., darker skin) will elicit stereotypes to a greater degree than African Americans who have less Afrocentric features; and (b) perceivers who have internalized a more Afrocentric image of the group have stronger stereotypes and are less likely to favor public policies that benefit African Americans. The research will examine these postulates with both explicit and implicit laboratory measures developed specifically for the study of visual associations. The health implications of the work are significant. Sociological surveys have shown that African Americans with more Afrocentric features have poorer life outcomes, such as lower SES and worse health, than those with less Afrocentric features. The proposed research will advance our understanding of the extent to which feature-based stereotypes may contributed to such disparities.

R03MH063372

2001-04-01

2003-09-30