A Cognitive Approach to Stereotyping

Abstract

Over the course of the last two decades, no paradigm in social psychology has had such a profound impact as social cognition. In the area of intergroup relationships, its impact has been to provide a theoretical underpinning for our understanding of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, and intergroup contact (Stephan, 1985). While the cognitive approach cannot replace the earlier emphases on the motivational, affective, and moral aspects of intergroup relationships, it can provide new insights into the ways in which prejudice, discrimination, and especially stereotypes develop and change.