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When We Wonder What it all Means: Interpretation Goals Facilitate Accessibility and Stereotyping Effects

University of Amsterdam, d.a.stapel{at}ppsw.rug.nl

Willem Koomen

University of Amsterdam

In four studies, the authors show that interpretation goals facilitate accessibility and stereotyping effects. Study 1 shows that priming traits that are descriptively inapplicable to a target stimulus affect target interpretations when an interpretation goal is primed but not when no such goal is present. Studies 2 and 3 show that the range of judgment dimensions affected by applicable trait primes increases when people are interpretation motivated. Studies 3 and 4 show that behavior that is only weakly related to stereotypical beliefs is interpreted in stereotypical terms when an interpretation goal is activated, whereas no such stereotyping effect occurs when perceivers are not so motivated. Implications for models of accessibility and stereotyping effects are discussed.

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