Date of Award

Spring 8-1-1995

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Thomas J. Johnson

Second Advisor

A. Joy Caldwell

Abstract

Social cognition research has examined the variables involved in stereotyping out-group members. The degree of an individual's domain-specific cognitive complexity has been identified as a mediator. Studies have also examined the tempering effects of individuating versus categorical information upon evaluations of out-group members. Most of the related research had defined out-groups according to gender, age and occupational differences. This study defined group membership according to race, and examined the effects of cognitive complexity and individuating information upon the extremity of evaluations made toward other-race members in a sample of 51 White and 46 Black male college subjects. It was hypothesized that subjects would make extreme out-group versus in-group evaluations when rating categorical information, but that ratings of individuating information would not reflect significant evaluative race differences. It was found that under the categorical information condition, Black and White participants made unexpectedly favorable evaluations of other-race persons compared to same-race persons. Individuating information did result, however, in significantly increased favorable evaluations made toward the depicted target person, regardless of the target person's race. It was also hypothesized that as cognitive complexity increased, the extremity of out-group evaluations would decrease. Results of correlational analyses did not support this prediction. Examination of the data suggested that White participants with high levels of cognitive complexity were less extreme in their evaluations of same-race persons when rating stereotype-consistent information; Black participants did not respond similarly. An exception to this finding was that as Black participants' scores increased on a cognitive complexity subscale of metacognition, evaluations of White target persons became significantly less extreme. When rating stereotypeinconsistent information, the influence of cognitive complexity was diluted for all participants.

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