Friends or foes: Stereotyping and affective reactions to in-group versus out-group members.

Abstract

In three experiments, the relation between affective reactions to a social group and stereotyping in facial expression decoding (i.e., attribution of stereotypic emotions) was examined. Experiment 1 addressed the relation between stereotyping and overt negative reactions to out-group members (i.e., prejudice). Experiment 2 focused on the relation between stereotyping and overt versus covert negative reactions to out-group members. Experiment 3 explored the relation between stereotyping and overt positive reactions to ingroup members (i.e., liking). As predicted, Experiment 1 showed that people with a low level of prejudice applied negative stereotypes less frequently and less readily when decoding out-group facial expressions than did people with a high level of prejudice. Experiment 2 showed that people with a low level of prejudice applied negative stereotypes when decoding in-group facial expressions, whereas people with a high level of prejudice displayed no difference in stereotypic attribution of emotion to in-group and outgroup expressers. Finally, Experiment 3 indicated that participants, reporting significant in-group liking scores, applied negative stereotypes when decoding out-group facial expressions. Participants reporting low in-group liking scores applied negative stereotypes more frequently to in-group members than to out-group members. Differences in the relation between the attribution of emotions and the affective reactions observed in Experiment 1 as compared to Experiments 2 and 3 are explained in terms of variations in the sample composition.