Control Over Stereotype Activation by Preconscious and Temporary Goals

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Stereotyping and prejudice continue to be predominant social problems in modern society. The attacks of September 11, 2001 illustrate this in a variety of ways, from the prejudice of terrorists seeking to destroy the Western way of life, to the reactions of Americans who turned violent against "Arab-appearing" individuals in the United States. These phenomena raise an important question for understanding the nature of stereotyping and its consequences for prejudice and discrimination: How do individuals keep their stereotypes from influencing judgment and behavior? Recent two-stage models of stereotyping suggest that people can do this in two distinct ways: (1) By preventing stereotypic knowledge from coming to mind so it is never relevant to judgment; or (2) by removing the stereotype from one's responses after the stereotype has been activated. Both approaches can be better understood by a more general consideration of how goals determine reactions to members of a stereotyped group. This research focuses specifically on how stereotype activation can be controlled, examining the mechanisms that produce such control. It is posited that stereotype activation is controllable through preconsciously activated goals, and a series of experiments examine this hypothesis. The long-term goal is to better understand the dynamics of social stereotypes and prejudice.