Stereotypes as Explanations: The Formation of Meaningful Beliefs about Social Groups - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521800471 ISBN 13: 9780521800471

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Stereotyping is one of the biggest single issues in social psychology, but relatively little is known about how and why stereotypes form. Stereotypes as Explanations is the first book to explore the process of stereotype formation, the way that people develop impressions and views of social groups. Conventional approaches to stereotyping assume that stereotypes are based on erroneous and distorted processes, but the authors of this book take a very different view, namely that stereotypes form in order to explain aspects of social groups and in particular to explain relationships between groups. In developing this view, the authors explore classic and contemporary approaches to stereotype formation and advance new ideas about such topics as the importance of category formation, essentialism, illusory correlation, interdependence, social reality and stereotype consensus. They conclude that stereotypes are indeed explanations, but they are nevertheless highly selective, variable and frequently contested explanations.

About this title

About the Authors

Craig McGarty is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University. Previous books include Categorization and Social Psychology (1999).

Vincent Yzerbyt is Professor of Social Psychology at the Catholic University of Louvain. He has published numerous books and been associate editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology.

Russel Spears is Professor of Social Psychology at Amsterdam University. He has published numerous books and been associate editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521800471
• ISBN 13: 9780521800471
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 242
• Editor: McGarty Craig, Yzerbyt Vincent Y., Spears Russell