Implicit open-mindedness: Evidence for and limits on stereotype malleability

Although stereotypes have traditionally been regarded as stable, research has documented their considerable malleability. One potential source of such malleability is intrusion into the stereotype of other concepts also activated when the stereotype is activated. In three experiments we assessed the extent to which stereotypes were influenced by stereotypic, stereotype-unrelated, or counter-stereotypic traits activated in a completely unrelated context immediately prior to stereotype measurement. Across experiments, priming of stereotype-unrelated traits increased their inclusion in the stereotype, whereas priming of counter-stereotypic traits had no effect in the subsequently assessed stereotype. In Experiment 3 we collected perceived dispersion measures and showed that although priming counter-stereotypic traits had no effect on overall characterization of the target group, it boosted perceptions of the group's variability. We accounted for these results by extending Higgins' (1989) Synapse Model of knowledge accessibility to the stereotype domain.

► One source of stereotype malleability is vulnerability to prior activated concepts.
► We assessed the influence on stereotypes of traits activated in an unrelated context.
► Priming stereotype-unrelated traits increased their inclusion in stereotypes.
► Priming counter-stereotypic traits boosted perceptions of the group's variability.
► Results were accounted for by an extension of the Synapse Model (Higgins, 1989).