Abstract:
Dr. Katie Coffman will present a model of stereotypes in which a decision maker assessing a group recalls only that group’s most representative or distinctive types. Stereotypes highlight differences between groups, and are especially inaccurate (consisting of unlikely, extreme types) when groups are similar. The critical feature of the researchers’ approach is that representativeness, and stereotypes, can only exist in context, that is, relative to some comparison group. This implies that, as the comparison group changes, so do representativeness, stereotypes, and assessments. Coffman presents experimental evidence supportive of this key prediction. The researchers construct a group of mundane objects, G, and present it to participants next to a comparison group, −G. In the baseline condition, the comparison group is chosen so that no type is particularly representative of group G. In the treatment, the researchers change the comparison group, −G, while leaving the target group, G, unchanged. The new comparison group gives rise to highly representative types within G. In line with the key prediction of the researchers’ model, participants in the treatment condition shift their assessment of G toward the new representative types.

(joint work with Pedro Bordalo, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer)