title: How we think they see us? Valence and difficulty of retrieval as moderators of the effect of meta-stereotype activation on intergroup orientations.
abstract: Previous research indicates that meta-stereotypes are predominantly negative. However, the valence of the meta-stereotypes may not be the only factor accounting for the detrimental effects associated with their activation. In addition to valence, we propose that the subjective difficulty of retrieving the meta-stereotype might critically determine whether its activation deteriorates intergroup orientations. An experimental study showed that the effect of the meta-stereotype activation on the desire to interact with outgroup members was moderated by the interaction between the valence of the meta-stereotype and its difficulty of retrieval. In particular, the activation of a positive meta-stereotype deteriorated intergroup orientations when the difficulty of retrieval was high as compared with a condition in which the difficulty of retrieval was low. In sharp contrast, the activation of a negative meta-stereotype worsened intergroup orientations when the difficulty of retrieval was low as compared with a condition in which the difficulty of retrieval was high.
authors: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Alexandra
authors: A
authors: Vázquez
authors: Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education, Unité de Psychologie Sociale, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors: Vincent
authors: V
authors: Yzerbyt
authors: Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: John F
authors: JF
authors: Dovidio
authors: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Ángel
authors: Á
authors: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: Difficulty of retrieval; Intergroup bias; Intergroup contact; Meta-stereotypes