Illusory Correlations: Implications for Stereotype Theory and Research

Abstract

Within the last 15 years a considerable amount of research on stereotyping has been guided by a social-cognitive approach to this topic. This approach, which has a long and rich tradition in the stereotyping literature (cf. Allport, 1954; Ashmore {\&} Del Boca, 1981; Tajfel, 1969), views stereotypes as mental representations of social groups and seeks to understand how these cognitive structures influence information processing, social perception, and interpersonal and intergroup behavior. Several recent reviews and discussions of this literature, which is now quite extensive, are available elsewhere (e.g., Hamilton, 1981a; Hamilton {\&} Trolier, 1986; Jones, 1982; Stephan, 1985). Research within this tradition has also investigated how these cognitive structures develop through information processing mechanisms. The purpose of this chapter is to examine in some detail the research evidence pertaining to one such mechanism that has generated interest among researchers representing this cognitive orientation.