The Social Psychology of Stereotyping and Group Life

Russell Spears

This new book is about the causes and consequences of stereotyping. It begins from the premise that, in order to understand the nature and function of stereotyping, it is essential to understand its role in, and relationship to, the activities of social groups. In so doing, it provides an alternative to more cognitive approaches that regard stereotyping primarily as a bias produced by the limits of individual information processing. The contributors debate and challenge a range of traditional beliefs about stereotyping by exploring its social functions in intergroup contexts. They also tackle a range of thorny problems in stereotyping and related literatures. In short, this book examines how stereotypes are structured by social identities and the relations between groups.