This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Sanbonmatsu, D. M. Articles by Gibson, B. D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Sanbonmatsu, D. M. Articles by Gibson, B. D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Stereotype-Based Blocking in Social Explanation

University of Utah

Sharon A. Akimoto

University of Utah

Bryan D. Gibson

University of Utah

Explanations for performance and behavior are often biased by stereotypes held by social perceivers. Stereotypes may affect not only judgments of the causal role of members of the stereotyped group but also assessments of the causal influence of people and events that are unrelated to the stereotype. The findings from three experiments indicate that an important mechanism through which stereotypes affect judgments of the causality of stereotype-irrelevant factors is blocking as described by Kamin. Patterns of causality consistent with gender stereotypes blocked, or attenuated, the perception of covariation between causes unrelated to gender and performance outcomes. The blocking of this covariation evidence, in turn, decreased the causality attributed to gender-irrelevant events. The findings suggest that blocking is a distinct process from discounting through which stereotypes and other expectancies bias causal attributions and persevere.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 1, 71-81 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167294201007


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Fiedler, E. Walther, and S. Nickel Covariation-Based Attribution: On the Ability to Assess Multiple Covariates of an Effect Pers Soc Psychol Bull, May 1, 1999; 25(5): 609 - 624. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. J. Rothman and C. D. Hardin Differential Use of the Availability Heuristic in Social Judgment Pers Soc Psychol Bull, February 1, 1997; 23(2): 123 - 138. [Abstract]