The Effects of Source Credibility on the Dilution of Stereotype-Based Judgments

The present research investigated the relationship between stereotypical and individuating information in judgemental tasks. In particular, it was hypothesized that, in addition to considering the nature of the individuating information presented to subjects, it is also important to investigate how the credibility of the source of this information can affect stereotype dilution. Extending ideas from the literature on persuasion, the present results supported the prediction that subjects differentiate between high- and low-credibility sources only when they provide stereotype-disconfirming individuating information. They did not, however, support the contention that stereotype dilution is invariably mediated by a reliance on the representativeness heuristic. These findings are considered in the wider context of cognitive approaches to stereotyping and stereotype change.