How Intelligence Leads to Stereotyping

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: July 30, 2017 at 12:05:55 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] How Intelligence Leads to Stereotyping
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> How Intelligence Leads to Stereotyping
> A new study complicates the trope of the stupid bigot.
> By OLGA KHAZAN
> Jul 29 2017
> <https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/intelligent-people-are-more-likely-to-stereotype/535158/>
>
> Upon seeing a young man hoisting a Hitler salute in 2017, most people likely do not think, “there goes a Rhodes 
> Scholar.” Racists stereotype other people, for the most part, but there are also stereotypes about racists. And the 
> stereotype about racists is that, well, they’re kind of dumb.
>
> But a new study complicates the narrative that only unintelligent people are prejudiced. The paper, published 
> recently in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, suggests smart people are actually more at risk of 
> stereotyping others.
>
> The study consisted of a series of experiments, all of which suggested that people who performed better on a test of 
> pattern detection—a measure of cognitive ability—were also quicker to form and apply stereotypes.
>
> First, researchers from New York University showed 271 participants a series of pictures of red, blue, and yellow 
> cartoon aliens with different facial features, paired with a statement of either a nice behavior (“gave another alien 
> a bouquet of flowers”) or a rude one (“spat in another alien’s face”):
>
> Most of the pairings were random, but two were skewed so that keen observers might pick up on a pattern: 80 percent 
> of the blue aliens were paired with unfriendly behaviors, and 80 percent of the yellow aliens were paired with nice 
> ones. The subjects didn’t know if the statements about the aliens were true or false. In this way, the study tried to 
> mimic how people actually form prejudices about certain groups, like through anecdotes in the media or through 
> portrayals in TV shows.
>
> Later, the subjects were asked to pick which alien had committed a given behavior from a lineup:
>
> [snip]
>
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