ABSTRACT
Imagine that you are introduced to a person whose ethnicity differs from yours. As you begin interacting, you will probably be very aware of your conversation partner’s ethnicity, and the stereotype associated with that ethnicity will most likely be on your mind. A considerable amount of evidence suggests that perceivers who encounter a member of a stereotyped group often activate that group’s stereotype immediately and spontaneously (for a review see Bargh, 1999). For the most part, this research has focused on brief encounters ranging from subliminal exposure to photographs (e.g., Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996; Dovidio, Kawakami, Johnson, Johnson, & Howard, 1997; Spencer, Fein, Wolfe, Fong, & Dunn, 1998) to exposure to silent videotapes lasting less than five minutes (e.g., Gilbert & Hixon, 1991; Macrae, Bodenhausen, & Milne, 1995; Pendry & Macrae, 1996). This research has made the important point that stereotypes can be activated spontaneously in reaction to seconds (or even milliseconds) of exposure to stereotyped individuals. But such research does not address the question of what happens to stereotype activation as the exposure to the stereotyped individual continues, a question central to understanding the dynamics of stereotyping in ongoing interactions.
