How do stereotypes gain their specific content? Social psychologists have argued that stereotypes of groups, defined by demographic indicators such as sex and race, gain their content from their locations in the social structure. In one version of this claim, observations of group members’ typical roles shape stereotype content. In another version, observations of intergroup relations shape this content. This research addressed the validity and compatibility of these two claims. Three experiments manipulating the roles and intergroup relations of hypothetical groups demonstrated that stereotype content emerged from both roles and intergroup relations even when both types of information were available. Another study yielded substantial correlations between actual groups’ typical roles and their intergroup relations. We conclude that stereotype content reflects groups’ positioning in the social structure as defined by their typical social roles and intergroup relations. Discussion considers the implications of this conclusion for changing the content of stereotypes.

中文翻译：

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典型角色和群体间关系塑造刻板印象：理解社会结构如何澄清刻板印象内容的起源

刻板印象如何获得其特定内容？社会心理学家认为，由性别和种族等人口统计指标定义的群体刻板印象是从其在社会结构中的位置获得的。在此权利要求的一个版本中，对小组成员典型角色的观察影响了刻板印象的内容。在另一个版本中，对群体间关系的观察影响了这一内容。这项研究解决了这两个主张的有效性和兼容性。操纵假设组的角色和组间关系的三个实验表明，即使两种类型的信息都可用，刻板印象的内容也会从角色和组间关系中出现。另一项研究得出了实际群体的典型角色与其群体间关系之间的实质联系。我们得出的结论是，刻板印象的内容反映了群体在社会结构中的定位，这一定位由其典型的社会角色和群体间关系来定义。讨论考虑了该结论对改变刻板印象内容的影响。