Stereotype 04 Development of stereotype research

 Development of stereotype research

Stereotype is a relatively complex concept, and depending on the scholars' different disciplinary backgrounds, stereotype has been theoretically explored in a large number of fields such as social psychology and international business and economics. In the field of social psychology, since the 1940s, the structure, content and formation mechanisms of stereotypes have been discussed and analyzed mainly at the level of form, content and information processing, and the causes and cognitive processes of stereotypes have been explained at the interpersonal and intergroup levels, respectively.

Stereotypes exist, and as an important part of social cognitive psychology, the research on them mainly includes occupational stereotypes, personality stereotypes, etc. As shown in Figure 4.1, stereotypes are studied in the psychological space from the content model to the system model. And the measurement methods of stereotypes have also developed from the direct measurement in the early stage to the direct measurement later, especially the endogenous stereotypes. In recent years, with the development of research, the content model theory of stereotypes proposed by Fiske et al. has enriched the research on stereotypes. Fiske once summarized the research on stereotypes: "In the 1960s-1980s, the hotspots of research on stereotypes focused mainly on motivation, then in the early 1970s-1980s mainly on cognition, and after the 1990s on cognition and motivation. The post-1990s focus on cognition and motivation has renewed the interest of researchers."

The current framework of research on stereotypes focuses on two main areas-mechanisms and context. Both types of research are important parts of stereotypes, and both require our attention. There are tremendously important schools of contemporary stereotype research, of which the most prominent theories can be roughly divided into four categories: the psychodynamic school, the sociocultural school, the social conflict school, and the social cognitive school. Let's focus on the first three categories.

Psychodynamic School

In this theory originated from psychoanalysis, which studies stereotypes from three aspects: early human experience, personality and motivation. The peak of research in this school of theory was around the end of World War II decade. It is mainly based on prejudice and discrimination.

Sociocultural school of thought

Classification, prejudice, and discrimination are the main focus of the sociocultural school of thought, and these three aspects are closely related to stereotypes. This school of thought focuses on the macro level of groups and societies. For example, Princeton University scholars have focused on nationalities, ethnicity, and group-specific impressions. Another study focuses on the various ways in which group impressions and attitudes are acquired and maintained through social learning reinforcement. In contrast to the psychodynamic school, this school focuses more on the channels through which impressions and prejudices are transmitted, i.e., how they are acquired and maintained through roles, texts, peer culture, and media propaganda.

The Social Conflict School

This school focuses on stereotypes caused by intergroup conflict. It includes the following elements

Realistic Conflict Theory

This theory focuses on prejudice. When conflict exists, people in the group measure in-group and out-group by double standards, and they are easily distorted from each other, with conflicting interests, and this creates prejudice.

Contact hypothesis

This theory suggests that stereotypes are formed due to a lack of understanding between people or misinformation about other people, and that increased contact can lead to new information and thus new perceptions.

(4.1)

Reference.

An Guihua, Zhang Hai Zhong. A review of domestic research on stereotypes [J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2002