Social Groups and Social Stereotypes

Abstract

A series of studies by Taylor and Simard (1975) demonstrated that cross-cultural communication can be, in objective terms, as effective as within-group communication. We should ask then, why this is not always the case, and subjectively too. A major part of the answer, we believe, lies in the role played by stereotypes. We therefore consider the nature of stereotypes, their cognitive foundations and consequences, social functions, resistance to change, and relationship to behaviour.