STEREOTYPING: THE EXTENSION OF A THEORY AND INVESTIGATION OF MODERATOR VARIABLES FOR HEARING STATUS TARGETS AND TRAITS
Abstract
Historically, stereotyping research has focused on an agreement of raters for the determination of stereotypes. Stewart, Powell, and Chetwynd (1979) proposed a theory of stereotyping that goes beyond a simple agreement of raters that they called social stereotypes, and included subjective or personal stereotypes that are based in strongly held beliefs or consistency of ratings by the raters. They suggest similarities with person perception and thus expect that stereotyped traits will intercorrelate as they are expected to covary in the targets by the raters. They also proposed that stereotyping is a more specific process thus similar targets would be stereotyped differently. They have investigated their theory using line drawings of body shapes and styles of dress or clothing as targets. The present study was an attempt to test the Stewart et al. theory while utilizing a different set of targets and traits, those related to levels of hearing status. Also the association of rater's background characteristics or moderator variables with the ratings they made was investigated. The study was conducted at the Rochester Institute of Technology which includes the National Technical Institute for the Deaf as one of its colleges. Limited support for a successful extension of the theory was indicated by finding the presence of social stereotypes, subjective or personal stereotypes, differential stereotyping of similar targets, and the existence of implicit expectations about the underlying structure of the traits. The investigation of association of rater's background characteristics or moderator variables with their ratings of targets indicated that for social stereotyping, the age of the rater, the rater's knowledge of deafness and to a lesser extent the rater's job were associated with the ratings of hearing status targets however, the background characteristics of sex of the rater, length of time worked at the Institute, the division of the Institute the rater was associated with, and the rater's contact with deafness were not associated with their ratings. For personal stereotyping, contact with deafness and knowledge of deafness were associated with ratings, to a lesser extent the rater's job and age were associated with ratings and all other moderator variables were not significantly associated. Limitations of the data analysis and research methodology are discussed. Recommendations for future research are offered.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
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