Stereotyping And Repression Formation

Stereotyping is an adaptive mechanism, adopted by human beings, to assist in the cognitive process of impression formation. Within the social arena, we are subjected to unfamiliar people and places on a regular basis. First impressions are often formed hastily on the basis of very limited information, and assisted by the practice of stereotyping. More specifically, stereotypes can be defined as the cognitive schemas that relate to a particular social group. These cognitive schemas are mental structures that contain knowledge about a particular type of stimulus: attributes, relations, and so on (book). In terms of gendered stereotypes, these schematic structures outline how men and women ought to behave, and contribute to impression formation:

That is, inferences about individual traits could be drawn form situational facial expressions, on the basis of what those facial expressions mean within the domain of gendered stereotypes. To test this plausible theory, Hack recruited 138 undergraduate students. Each pupil was to complete a questionnaire assessing gender stereotype endorsement, subsequent to an impression task: where smiling and non-smiling faces were rated in terms of personality traits relative to warmth and competence. Credibly, traits selected to assess warmth and competence had been plucked from a successful pilot study and strategies to counteract demand characteristics were

Human beings inherently utilise these cognitive structures in order to make immediate inferences about personality. In the 2000 study, Vrugt and Luyerink found that individuals had incorporated certain postural positions within their schematic structures for men and women, and could draw upon these to make inferences about personality and occupation. Females who posed conservatively were deemed more feminine, whilst male who sat less conservatively were deemed more masculine. Similarly, Hack (2014) ascertained that particular facial expressions had been cognitively assigned to either gender. Whereby, via the mechanism of stereotyping, the smiling females were perceived to be more likeable, communal beings, in comparison to the presented smiling male faces. Not dissimilarly, Lindwall and Ginis (2008) found that stereotypical traits existed for males who exercised regularly and those who did not. Based appearance alone, male exercisers were considered to be happy, sociable, hard working, confident and well disciplined. Furthermore, Juodvallkis et al (2003) explored the consequences of stereotyping behaviour in the job screening process. In relation to impression formation, those who displayed a gender appropriate style of communication were deemed to be more appropriate for the position than those who did not. Lastly, Okimoto (2012) extended this line of research and focused on the stereotyping