The effects of meta-stereotypes and egalitarianism on intergroup interactions

Abstract

It has been widely documented that egalitarianism motivates people to avoid stereotype use, which in turn facilitates intergroup interactions. However, in addition to perceptions of how the outgroup is perceived by the ingroup (stereotypes), perceptions of how the ingroup is perceived by the outgroup (meta-stereotypes) may also play an important role in intergroup interactions. We hypothesized that when negative meta-stereotypes are perceived, egalitarianism may increase vigilance toward stereotype use by the outgroup, thus exacerbating feelings of anxiety in intergroup interactions. Japanese participants were asked to report how they felt during an intergroup interaction with a Korean confederate, after being exposed to an article documenting positive or negative views Koreans might have of Japanese. The results were consistent with the notion that when negative meta-stereotypes are perceived, participants with high (versus low) egalitarianism experienced more anxiety in the intergroup interaction.