Conceptual Approaches to Stereotypes and Stereotyping

Abstract

This volume presents an analysis of stereotyping and intergroup behavior from a \ncognitive perspective. While no single unified theory is articulated, the authors \nof the chapters that follow do share a cognitive orientation. The purpose of the \npresent chapter is to place this orientation within the context of other social \nscientific approaches to the study of stereotypes. Three separate, yet highly \ninterrelated, aspects of stereotype research and theory will be examined. First, a \nhistory of the stereotype concept is presented. Here we discuss the significant \nevents and trends of the past that condition present and likely future efforts in this \narea. Second, the various meanings ascribed to the term stereotype are considered. Implicit as well as explicit and operational as well as conceptual definitions \nare reviewed in order to explicate both areas of agreement and disagreement \nregarding how the construct "stereotype" is best defined. Finally, we discuss the \nbasic orientations taken by social scientists in seeking to understand stereotypes. \nAlthough not sufficiently explicit or complete to be called "theories," three \nperspectives are clearly discernible-sociocultural, psychodynamic, and cognitive. The elements and implications of each of these three orientations are described.