Walter G. Stephan

• New Mexico State University

Explores the stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behavior of individuals and the manner in which these cognitions, feelings, and behaviors both affect others and are affected by others. Stephan and Stephan suggest measures to help overcome bias and improve intergroup relations that utilize techniques for eliminating stereotypes, reducing pr...

A theory of intergroup anxiety is presented and the relevance of intergroup anxiety to intercultural interaction is discussed. First, a definition of intergroup anxiety is provided, followed by a discussion of its three components. Next, its antecedents and consequences are examined along with recent literature to support them. Then intergroup rela...

The overwhelming majority of intercultural interactions are impacted by real or perceived intercultural threats. Most of these threats are either realistic (concern about potentially negative tangible outcomes) or symbolic (concern about potential threat to the ingroup's values, norms, or beliefs). Perceptions of threat are caused by prior or curre...

Few studies have examined the effect of intergroup threat on cognitive outcomes such as memory. Different theoretical perspectives can inform how intergroup threat should affect memory for threat-relevant and neutral information, such as the mood-congruency approach, Yerkes–Dodson law, Easterbrook’s theory, and also evolutionary perspectives. To te...

This study examined the patterns of variables that predict interpersonal trust in three distinct countries. Findings indicated that interpersonal trust is highest in the United States, followed by Ecuador and Zimbabwe. A similar ordering occurred with perceptions of social cohesion, whereas the reverse order occurred for perceptions of competition...

This article reviews studies of intergroup anxiety and places them in the context of a theoretical model that specifies categories of antecedents and consequences of intergroup anxiety. It is proposed that intergroup anxiety is comprised of three interrelated components: an affective component, a cognitive component, and a physiological component....

Each subject evaluated an interviewee on the basis of information in a transcript. The interviewee was portrayed either favorably or unfavorably; he was labeled as “handicapped” or “Chicano,” or he was not labeled. Half the subjects were exposed to a pretreatment designed to induce ambivalent affect toward the physically handicapped. These subjects...

In this article we describe a six stage model for the design of evidence-based intercultural education and training programs. The six stages involve: (1) selecting the cultures or subgroups involved in the program, (2) establishing the goals of the program, (3) choosing relevant theories of culture, culture change, and adaptation, (4) selecting rel...

This entry includes the following topics: stereotypes; prejudice; intergroup conflict; improving intergroup relations; intergroup contact; changing stereotype; applied intergroup relations programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Over the past several decades, a growing number of social scientists have become interested in the role that threats play in intergroup conflict. Threats are believed to be a major cause of conflict as well as an impediment to peace and reconciliation. In this essay we explore these two issues using the intergroup threat theory as a framework. We a...

In this article, I argue that the psychological basis of many of the problems associated with immigration can be traced to tangible threats, cultural threats, fears of change, and the negative attitudes and misperceptions that flow from these threats and fears. Concrete suggestions are made for policies at the societal and individual levels that ca...

Two studies tested predictions from intergroup threat theory concerning emotional responses to intergroup threat. Study 1 employed threatening video clips of the 9/11/01 World Trade Center attacks. Study 2 employed video clips of a threatening “opponent” in a competition. Facial electromyography (EMG) was employed to capture emotion-related muscle...

This article employs Allport's (1954) lens model of the causes of prejudice to analyze the articles in this issue of theJournal of Social Issues. The lens model specifies that historical, socio cultural, personality, and situational factors contribute to prejudice. The articles in this issue examine a number of variables at each of these levels of...

This chapter discusses the goals of reconciliation at the societal and individual level and the antecedent conditions that make reconciliation so difficult. It describes the intervention techniques currently available to address reconciliation and some of the processes by which these techniques work. The societal context variables that can affect t...

This article examines the nature of intergroup conflicts and some of the psychological and communication processes that can facilitate their resolution. It focuses specifically on conflicts between individual members of different social identity groups and elaborates on the differences between interpersonal and intergroup conflict resolution. It co...

This study examined differences between Ecuadorian and Euro-American college students in the perceived acceptability of lies. Six different lie domains were examined: flattery, impression management, conflict avoidance, enhancement of others’ self-esteem, self-aggrandizement, and instrumental lies. Overall, Euro-Americans rated lies as more accepta...

This study examined affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses to members of a stigmatized group – homosexual men. Male participants were placed in a situation in which they anticipated interacting with a gray or a non-stigmatized conversation partner. The topic of the impending conversation was either potentially threatening or non-threatening...

Editors' introduction: Walter Stephan's interest in intergroup relations grew from his early involvement in intercultural relations. He spent substantial time in Latin America as well as Vietnam during his college years. These experiences influenced his choice to study social psychology at the University of Minnesota. His first foray into intergrou...

A matrix game format was employed in a 2 × 2 design to study the effects of within group cooperation and competition under conditions of success and failure on subjects' subsequent treatment of own group and outgroup persons. Subjects in two-person groups either succeeded or failed at a cooperative or competitive game and then awarded points (worth...

The expectancy confirmation and egotism approaches to attributions in achievement settings are contrasted in this study. It was found that students in two psychology classes expected to do well on their exams and that these expectations were based on internal factors (ability, effort). Post-test attributions were determined almost entirely by the s...

Students interacted with a White or a Black partner on an achievement task. It was predicted that the anxiety elicited by interacting with an outgroup member would lead to amplified emotional reactions to achievement outcomes. Consistent with this prediction, emotional reactions to success were more positive with a Black partner than with a White p...

Prior research indicates that information-based intergroup relations programs are only moderately successful (MGregor, 1993; Stephan & Stephan, 1984). In order to explore a means of increasing the effectiveness of techniques used to change attitudes toward out groups, the current study examined the effects of giving Anglo American students informat...

Two studies were designed to test hypotheses concerning self-disclosure during initial interactions with ingroup or outgroup strangers. Based on intergroup anxiety theory it was predicted that ingroup members would disclose less to outgroup strangers than to ingroup strangers. One study involved interaction with handicapped and nonhandicapped confe...

This study examines attributions of blame to the Nazis and the Jews for the events of the holocaust. The sample consisted of Germans and Americans who had viewed the television series “Holocaust” and comparison groups who had not seen the program. It was found that among viewers who identified with the Nazis, attributions of blame to the Jews were...

Two studies were conducted in which college students, acting as simulated jurors, heard the testimony of a defendant in an assault case. The testimony was presented in English or in another language (Spanish in Study 1 and Thai in Study 2) which was translated into English by an interpreter. In Study 1, non-Hispanics judged the defendant to be more...

A laboratory experiment and a reanalysis of data collected in a previous field study examined the effects of cooperation and competition on liking for other group members who varied in competence. It was hypothesized that when other members of a cooperative group are relatively incompetent, they will tend to be disliked because they decrease the su...

Three experiments were conducted to test a two-factor model of the determinants of attributional modesty in women. Women tended to make modest attributions for success when they were concerned about how others would evaluate them and when they were concerned about their own self-image. Specifically, the knowledge that one's attributions would be pu...

Two studies examine differences between Ecuadorians and Euro-Americans in levels of reverence for their mothers. Data collected from college students in Ecuador and the United States show that Ecuadorians display higher levels of mother reverence than Euro-Americans. Ecuadorians also score higher on measures of maternal power, similarity of mothers...

Recent studies have indicated that males make more egotistical attributions than females, that is, males make more internal attributions for success and more external attributions for failure than females do. These sex differences in attributions were examined in terms of male/female differences in expectancies for success and ego-involvement in th...

This set of two studies employed the integrated threat theory to examine attitudes toward affirmative action (AA). The first study found that opposition to the policy of AA was predicted by realistic threats, symbolic threats, and personal relevance; while attitudes toward the beneficiaries of AA were predicted by three of the four threat variables...

Three studies tested the integrated threat theory by examining the causal role that threats play in attitudes toward immigrants. In Study I, students were presented with information about an immigrant group indicating that it posed realistic threats, symbolic threats, both types of threat or no threats to the ingroup. Attitudes toward the immigrant...

Israeli Jewish and Arab experts within Israel have developed innovative intergroup relations programs, educational efforts designed to improve relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Social scientists, educators, and practitioners on both sides of the Arab-Jewish conflict have dedicated themselves to lessening the hostility between these...

Two studies examined people's beliefs about the relative disconfirmability of out-group and in-group stereotypes. In Study 1 (n= 56), Hispanics and White non-Hispanics judged the in-group and out-group stereotypes in terms of the ease with which they could be dis-confirmed. The results indicated that strongly, ethnically identified participants bel...

This article analyzes the role that empathy can play in improving intergroup relations. Three types of empathy are defined: cognitive empathy and twotypes of emotional empathy, reactive and parallel. Research indicating that empathy causes prosocial behavior is reviewed, along with studies indicating that training can be used to increase levels of...

This study employed the integrated threat theory of intergroup attitudes to examine the attitudes of Black and White students toward the other racial group. This theory synthesizes previous research on the relationships of threats to intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling revealed that for both racial groups, realistic threats, symbolic...

Two experiments applied the integrated threat theory of prejudice to predicting attitudes toward people with terminal cancer or AIDS. The measures, which were designed to assess the components of the model (realistic threats, symbolic threats, inter group anxiety, and negative stereotypes), were reliable and generally predictive of attitudes. The t...

Incl. abstracts and bibl. references What do we know about education and diversity and how do we know it? This two-part question guided the Multicultural Education Consensus Panel that was sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington and the Common Destiny Alliance at the University of Maryland. This article i...

On a eu recours aux facteurs cognitifs et des motivations pour expliquer les attitudes négatives envers des groupes minoritaires. Selon la théorie intégrée de la menace de préjudices, les facteurs principaux que constituent les menaces perçues de la part d'un membre d'un groupe minoritaire, permettent de prévoir des attitudes négatives intergroupes...

Examines an array of programs, including multicultural education, diversity training, cooperative learning groups, intergroup dialogues, intercultural training, moral education, and conflict resolutions. The authors provide evaluation models, both qualitative and quantitative techniques, along with measures for practitioners who need help evaluatin...

This study examines the processing of information about culture by Russians and Americans. The participants were induced into either a positive or a negative mood; read identical favorable, unfavorable, and neutral information about Russia or the United States; and completed a recognition task containing both statements they had read and statements...

The research reported here examined whether misanthropic memory occurs for groups, that is, whether people best remember negative behaviors of group members that have been dispositionally attributed and positive behaviors that have been situationally attributed. Experiment 1 established a baseline, showing that behaviors that were not associated wi...

In this paper we examine some conceptual and methodological problems associated with the measurement of racial and ethnic identity. We discuss the initial use of racial terms, examine early racial classification systems and the bases for these systems. We then consider the characteristics of racial and ethnic identity and address common problems of...

Three studies were conducted to measure the antecedents of women's attitudes toward men using the integrated threat model. Four types of threats were hypothesized to produce negative attitudes toward men: (1) realistic threat based on threats to women's political and economic power, (2) symbolic threat based on value differences, (3) intergroup anx...

In this study, the integrated threat theory of prejudice was employed to examine Americans’ and Mexicans’ attitudes toward one another. According to the theory, four types of threat (realistic, symbolic, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes) cause prejudice. These threats are thought to be caused in part by the amount and quality of intergr...

The remarkable technological achievements of this century stand in stark contrast to the plights and sufferings of millions of victims of the large-scale international conflicts that have occurred in the same period. After two world wars, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the cold war, and numerous other regional wars, international conflicts are st...

The important relationship of substance to method was a key insight in the development of the social sciences. Focus on the many different techniques developed — surveys, experiments, focused interviews — shared two common purposes. Primarily, they were designed to make our analyses more systematic and reliable. However, they also had the effect, i...

In the present study, 4 variables (realistic threats, symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes) were used to predict prejudice toward immigrants from Cuba, Mexico, and Asia in samples of students from states in the United States that are affected by immigration from these areas (Florida, New Mexico, and Hawaii, respectively)....

This study used canonical correlation to examine the relationship of 11 individual difference variables to two measures of beliefs in conspiracies. Undergraduates were administered a questionnaire that included these two measures (beliefs in specific conspiracies and attitudes toward the existence of conspiracies) and scales assessing the 11 variab...

In this article we review two theories in which anxiety and its relationship to intergroup relations play a central role: anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory and the integrated threat theory (ITT) of prejudice. The antecedents and consequences of anxiety in each theory are presented and comparisons between the theories are drawn. AUM specif...

Consistent with the proposal that people rely on implicit causal theories that relate different types of attributions to behaviors that differ in valence, 3 studies showed that in addition to predicting more positive than negative behavior in the target, participants produced an attribution–prediction bias. This bias indicated that persons with a...

Despite all the laws and social programs designed to increase racial equality, there are still major problems between racial, ethnic, and cultural groups in the United States. This book was written to assist educators in designing and implementing classroom interventions that will help students to develop more positive racial and ethnic attitudes a...

This elegantly written book (see record 1996-98093-000 ) is a rich source of information on race relations in the twilight of the 20th century. It analyzes survey data from Blacks and Whites concerning their views of social policies, focusing primarily on the period from 1986 to 1992. It also addresses the possible origins of these attitudes. Along...

In this study, the impact of individualism-collectivism at the cultural and individual level on the expression of emotion in Japan and the United States was examined. Individualism-collectivism expectations at the cultural level were partially supported, and only weak effects of individualism-collectivism at the individual level were found. The dat...

An integrated threat theory composed of four variables was used to predict attitudes toward immigrant groups in Spain and Israel. The four threats are symbolic threats based on value differences between groups; realistic threats to the power, resources, and well-being of the in-group; anxiety concerning social interaction with out-group members; an...

Perceptions of injustice are likely to occur in intercultural relations because cultures often define justice and its implementation differently. This article reviews factors and processes that are unique to intercultural relations and that may give rise to feelings of injustice during intercultural interactions. Antecedents that can trigger a sens...

This study examined differences between Brazilians and Americans in preferences for the styles of negotiation outlined in the dual concern model (Pruitt, 1982; Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993). Consistent with theories of individualism-collectivism, it was found that Brazilians, who are more collectivistic than Americans, prefer styles of negotiation that...

This study examined cultural differences in preferences for conflict resolution styles using the dual-concern model. It was found that students in a collectivistic culture (Mexico) preferred conflict resolution styles that emphasized concern for the outcomes of others (accommodation and collaboration) to a greater degree than did students from an i...

Three studies are reviewed that examine the correlates of prejudice. In the first two studies, it was hypothesized that prejudice toward national groups would be associated with an index of stereotyping reflecting the strength and valence of the stereotypes of these groups. In both studies, the relationship between the stereotype/evaluation index a...

Three studies are reviewed that examine the correlates of prejudice. In the first two studies, it was hypothesized that prejudice toward national groups would be associated with an index of stereotyping reflecting the strength and valence of the stereotypes of these groups. In both studies, the relationship between the stereotype/evaluation index a...

Three experiments examined memory for behaviors associated with attributional information. A baseline established in Experiment 1, using behaviors unaccompanied by attributions, indicated that expectancy-inconsistent behaviors were better recalled than consistent ones. Experiment 2 linked these same behaviors to dispositional or situational attribu...

This study examined three hypotheses concerning differences between collectivistic and individualistic-cultures using samples from Costa Rica and the United States. The first hypothesis was that people in individualistic cultures would express emotions affirming independent self-conceptions, whereas people in collectivistic cultures would express e...

This study examined the hypothesis that emotional reactions to national groups would be associated with evaluative responses to the traits forming the stereotypes of these groups. A hierarchical regression analysis of American and Russian subjects' emotional reactions to Americans, Russians, and Iraqis supported this prediction in four of six cases...

[present] a network model of cognitive information processing in stereotypes, and then extrapolate this model to the structure and processing of affect / evidence from previous studies supporting a model of interrelated cognitive and affective networks is reviewed along the way [present] a study that offers support for some aspects of our model /...

The sterotypes of Americans and Russians held by American and Russian students were compared by using three measurement techniques: checklist, percentage, and diagnostic ratio. Two additional techniques were used with American samples: prototype and pathfinder. The high level of agreement that was obtained for the checklist, percentage, diagnostic...

As a result of a brief stay in Morocco, college students' anxiety about interacting with Moroccans decreased significantly. These results provide partial support for our model of intergroup anxiety. An examination of the predictions of change in anxiety showed high ethnocentrism and high attributional complexity to be associated with increased anxi...

Samples of students with mixed heritage were compared to single-heritage students in Hawaii and New Mexico to determine whether bicultural socialization has positive or negative effects on personality, adjustment, and intergroup relations. No evidence of negative effects of bicultural socialization was found on the measures employed in this study....

More than 35 years ago Muzafer Sherif held a conference entitled “Social Psychology at the Crossroads” (Rohrer & Sherif, 1951). The crossroad to which he referred was the intersection between sociological social psychology (SSP) and psychological social psychology (PSP). The metaphor of an overpass might have been more appropriate, since the two di...

Cookie White Stephan and Walter G. Stephan This is a book about the two social psychologies-psychological social psychology and sociological social psychology--written by social psychologists from both disciplines. It focuses on the benefits and costs of interchange between psychological social psychology and sociological social psychology, with th...

Ascertained if being a member of a statistical minority influences children's adjustment in school, as measured by the AML, a teacher-administered adjustment rating scale. Teachers from a southwest school district evaluated elementary students on aggressive, acting-out behaviors, moody-internalized behaviors, and learning difficulties. Analyses con...

A model is presented in which prior intergroup relations and prior individual cognitions are hypothesized to determine the amount of anxiety experienced in intergroup interactions. These hypotheses were tested with Asian-Americans and Hispanics. It was found that Asian-Americans expressed more anxiety about interacting with Caucasians than did Hisp...

The ethnic identity of mixed-heritage individuals may have important implications for the future of minority groups in the United States. Both assimilationists and pluralists believe mixed-heritage individuals are most likely to adopt a single ethnic identity. To address this question, the antecedents of individual-level ethnic identity were invest...

This study examined the effects of giving performance feedback in an administrative or developmental format on subsequent performance, affect, and attributions for performance. Administrative feedback led to improvements in accuracy but not in speed, whereas developmental feedback led to improvements in speed but not in accuracy. This improved spee...

Over the course of the last two decades, no paradigm in social psychology has had such a profound impact as social cognition. In the area of intergroup relationships, its impact has been to provide a theoretical underpinning for our understanding of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, and intergroup contact (Stephan, 1985). While the cognitive...