The Psychology of Stereotyping [Hardcover]

The first comprehensive treatment of stereotypes and stereotyping, this text synthesizes a vast body of social and cognitive research that has emerged over the past-quarter century. Provided is an unusually broad analysis of stereotypes as products both of individual cognitive activities and of social and cultural forces. While devoting careful attention to harmful aspects of stereotypes, their connections to prejudice and discrimination, and effective strategies for countering them, the volume also examines the positive functions of generalizations in helping people navigate a complex world. Unique features include four chapters addressing the content of stereotypes, which consider such topics as why certain traits are the focus of stereotyping and how they become attributed to particular groups. An outstanding text for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, the volume is highly readable and features many useful examples.

This is without questiontheauthoritative source on stereotyping. Issues of stereotype formation, representation, content, change, and much more are all covered in superb detail and with enviable clarity. I recommend this volume very highly for undergraduate and graduate courses in stereotyping and intergroup relations. --Miles Hewstone, DPhil, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK

A truetour de force. This text provides wonderfully comprehensive coverage of a literature that has grown exponentially in recent decades. An impressive variety of topics are addressed in a thorough, informative way: theories of stereotypes, how structure influences processing, stereotype development and change, connections to prejudice and discrimination, the content and origins of prominent stereotypes, and more. In each case, state-of-the-art research developments are situated in their historical context and integrated into the 'big picture' of the fiel#"