And yet they move [Elektronische Ressource] : the impact of direction of deviance on stereotype change / von Mirjam Dolderer

And Yet They Move:
The Impact of Direction of Deviance on Stereotype Change




Dissertation
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.)




vorgelegt dem Rat der Fakultät für Sozial- und Verhaltenswissenschaften
der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

von Dipl.-Psych. Mirjam Dolderer
geboren am 07.04.1978 in Schwäbisch Gmünd
















Gutachter:
1. Prof. Dr. Amélie Mummendey, Universität Jena
2. Prof. Dr. Klaus Rothermund, Universität Jena
3. Prof. Dr. Stephan Lessenich, Universität Jena


Tag des Kolloquiums: 22.04.2008 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to many people who helped, supported and ‘distracted’ me while I
worked on this dissertation. First of all I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor
Amélie Mummendey for the trust, encouragement and especially for the stimulating theo-
retical discussions, which always reminded me of the ‘big picture’ again. But not just for
the scientific training, also for the encouragement while deciding on the professional future,
I am very grateful. Likewise, I am equally thankful to Klaus Rothermund for very helpful
feedback on the theoretical argument, supportive and fruitful critiques, and additionally the
support in methodological questions. I am much obliged to Thorsten Meiser for his very
helpful advises while starting this project. Furthermore, I am deeply grateful to Vincent
Yzerbyt whom I visited while working on this dissertation. I acquired many scientific skills
while staying in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Thanks to Ilka, Maria, Mauro, Maya, Muriel,
Natascha, Nicole, and Sarah for providing comments on chapters of this thesis. I learned a
lot about English grammar from you. Thanks to the DFG (German Research Council) for
financial support and the great opportunity to travel and meet people from the other sites. I
would also like to express my gratitude to the faculty of the IGC who demonstrated an
amazing instinct when appointing doctoral students. I experienced the fit among the fellows
as ‘supercongruent’. It was a pleasure working and living in this environment. Thank you,
Nicole, without you ‘pre-testing’ the IGC, I might have ended up somewhere else. I would
like to thank the Jena-friends inside and outside the IGC for your support and distraction
and making this place feel like home. Thank you, Marcel, for spending evenings in our fa-
vourite place and discussing everything even research. Lastly, I would like to thank my
brother and my parents who always have been extremely supportive.


4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................................. 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................. 4
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................................ 6
1. Introduction: You’ve Seen One, You’ve Seen Them All… ....................................................................... 7
2. Stereotypes: Cognitive Templates to Simplify Your Life........................................................................ 12
2.1 Stereotypes: How are They Defined? ................................................................................................. 12
2.2 Stereoare They Represented? ..........................................................................................14
2.3 Stereotypes: Why do They Exist?....................................................................................................... 17
2.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 18
3. Exemplar-Category-Relations I: Supercongruent vs. Incongruent........................................................ 19
4. Models of Change........................................................................................................................................ 22
4.1 Antecedents of Categorization............................................................................................................ 24
4.2 Consequences of Categorization ........................................................................................................ 26
4.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 29
5. Exemplar-Category-Relations II: Who’s Typical, Who’s Not................................................................ 31
6. Super- vs. Incongruent: Perceived Typicality and Stereotype Change.................................................. 34
6.1 Hypotheses and Previous Findings..................................................................................................... 34
6.2 Overview of the Present Research...................................................................................................... 38
7. Part I: Asymmetry in Perception and Impact of Super- and Incongruent Exemplars......................... 40
7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 40
7.2 Study 1: Differences Between Incongruent, Congruent and Supercongruent Exemplars .................. 41
7.3 Study 2: Accentuation within Stereotype Change .............................................................................. 45 5

7.4 Study 3: Stereotype Change Following In- and Supercongruent Exemplars...................................... 48
7.5 Study 4: Supercongruent or Incongruent by Means of Different Comparison Categories ................. 54
7.6 Discussion of Part I ............................................................................................................................ 60
8. Part II: Investigating the Underlying Process (Moderator 1: Mind the Deviance)............................... 64
8.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 64
8.2 Study 5: Can Typicality Judgments Impede Generalization?............................................................. 66
8.3 Study 6: Can Typicality Judgments Draw Focus on Similarities or Dissimilarities? ......................... 76
8.4 Discussion of Part II ........................................................................................................................... 83
9. Part III: The Positive Side of Subtyping (Moderator 2: Getting to Know the Deviant)....................... 86
9.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 86
9.2 Study 7: The Impact of Additional Information ................................................................................. 87
9.3 Discussion of Part III.......................................................................................................................... 92
10. General Discussion.................................................................................................................................... 97
10.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 97
10.2 Underlying Processes ....................................................................................................................... 101
10.3 Results in Light of Previous Findings and Theories......................................................................... 107
10.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ............................................................................ 111
10.5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 112
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 114
APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................................... 117
SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................... 117
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG.............................................................................................................................. 117
CURRICULUM VITAE............................................................................................................................... 117
EHRENWÖRTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG...................................................................................................... 117 6

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Means and standard deviations on perceived deviance and perceived typicality of
incongruent, congruent and supercongruent exemplars (Study 1) ..............