Cognitive models of stereotype change: 1. generalization and subtyping in young peoples views of the police

Miles Hewstone, Nicholas Hopkins, David A Routh

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    44 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We report investigations of change in, and cognitive representation of young people's stereotypes of the police, in response to a police-schools liaison programme. This programme provides a real-life application of the 'conversion' model of stereotype change (in which stereotypes change radically in response to salient instances of disconfirming information). Study 1 revealed that school police officers were rated significantly more positively than the police in general, but that this view did not generalize to perceptions of the police in general. Stereotypes of the police became less positive over one year, although females were more positive than males, and school police officers were not judged typical of the category. Study 2 revealed that subjects categorized their school police officer separately from the police in general, and perceived him to share features with 'caring and welfare' professions, rather than other police officers and authority figures. Both studies converge on the limitations of the conversion model and tend to support the subtyping model (in which extremely disconfirming individuals are isolated from other group members).

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)219-234
    Number of pages16
    JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
    Volume22
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1992

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