The University of Texas at Dallas

Course Syllabus
Stereotypes

“There is a story of an Oxford student who once
remarked, ‘I despise all Americans, but have
never met one I didn’t like.’”
Gordon Allport
“The choice is between initiating some form of
action on a limited scale or waiting until-
miraculously- prejudice and discrimination
disappear from our social scene.”
Henri Tajfel

Course Information
Course Number: HCS 7355, Section 002
Term: Fall 2008
Meeting Times: Thursdays 2:30-5:15 PM, GR 4.204

Contact Information
Professor: Lisa H. Rosen, Ph.D.
Office: GR 4.404
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00-2:30 PM or by appointment
Telephone: 972-883-4179
Email: lisa@utdallas.edu

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Requirements

There are no formal prerequisites for this class.

Course Description
This course will review classic and contemporary research on stereotyping and prejudice. Topics will
include methods for studying stereotyping (both direct and indirect measures), the development of
stereotypes and prejudice in children, and means of reducing stereotyping and prejudice. We will
consider the consequences of stereotyping from the perspectives of both the perceiver and the perceived.
We will also consider stereotyping in a variety of contexts including the classroom, workplace,
courtroom, and media.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

With your active participation, this course will allow you to:
• Define and apply major theoretical viewpoints in understanding stereotypes.
• Critique and apply the research methods used in studying stereotypes.
• Demonstrate effective writing skills in creating a research proposal related to stereotypes.
• Demonstrate effective oral communication skills in delivering presentations in class.
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Course Requirements
Discussion Questions (25% of grade). For each assigned reading, students will write a discussion question.
The purpose of these questions is to encourage thoughtful analysis of the material as well as to structure our
course discussion. There are many types of questions that foster good discussion including questions that
critique methods, questions that discuss potential implications of the research, and questions that suggest
connections to other readings.

You should post these questions on WebCT no later than 1 PM on the Wednesday afternoon before we
meet. I will integrate and organize these questions in preparation for our class discussion. I will e-mail these
questions to you on Wednesday evening to review before class.

Class Presentations (25% of grade). Students will be assigned two articles for which they will be
responsible for leading a class discussion. You should be prepared to describe the following in no more
than 10 minutes:

• Purpose of the study

• General methodology
• Major findings
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Overall evaluation including future directions

Presentation of an article also involves preparing a 1-page handout summarizing the article for other
students. If you would like me to make copies of your summary, please submit your summary to me by 10
AM on the day of your presentation. You are exempt from writing discussion questions on the days when
you are presenting.

Research Proposal (50% of grade). Students will develop a research proposal for an empirical study related
to some aspect of stereotyping and prejudice. I encourage you to relate this assignment to your current
program of research. The proposal will be due in installments and I will provide you with detailed feedback
along the way.

Important dates:
Thursday, 9/18 Statement of topic due in writing
Thursday, 10/16 Introduction due
Thursday, 11/6 Revised introduction and method due
Thursday, 12/4 Entire proposal due/Oral presentations of the research proposals

Readings. Prior to each class meeting, you need to read all of the assigned selections. Readings for
presentations are marked by *. These readings are not required unless you are presenting. Readings may be
modified somewhat depending on the needs and interests of this group.

Course Policies
The following policies, along with your active participation, will help ensure a good class experience.
• Students should be open-minded to new information.
• Students should demonstrate respect and professionalism toward fellow students and the instructor
throughout the course.
• Students may leave the classroom if they feel uncomfortable during any of the class discussions or
films.
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Academic Calendar
DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT
8/21 Introduction
8/28 Stereotyping, prejudice, and
discrimination: Defining terms and
introduction to theories
9/4 Research methods for studying Go to the Project Implicit website and complete two any two of
stereotypes the IAT demo tests
(https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.html )
9/11 The content of stereotypes
9/18 Origin and maintenance of Statement of topic due in writing
stereotypes
9/25 Activation and application
10/2 The perceiver: Individual differences
in stereotyping and prejudice
10/9 Stereotypes across development:
Infancy through early childhood
10/16 Stereotypes across development: Introduction due
Middle childhood through late
adulthood
10/23 The target’s perspective: Coping
with prejudice, self-fulfilling
prophecies, and self-esteem
10/30 The target’s perspective: Stereotype
threat, disidentification, vulnerability
to stress
11/6 Stereotypes in context: The Revised research and method due
workplace
11/13 Stereotypes in context: Media, justice
system, and other applied settings
11/20 Reducing stereotyping and prejudice
12/4 Presentation of Research Proposals Entire proposal due
* Note: I reserve the right to change these dates for pedagogical reasons.

Readings
8/28 Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination: Defining terms and introduction to theories

Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Oxford: Addison-Wesley. (Read chapter 1)

Tajfel, H., & Forgas, J. P. (1981). Social categorization: Cognitions, values, and groups. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Social
Cognition: Perspectives on Everyday Understanding (pp. 113-140). New York: Academic Press.

Schneider, D.J. (2004). The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York: Guilford. (Read chapter 1)

Stangor, C., & Schaller, M. (1996). Stereotypes as individual and collective representations. In C. N. Macrae, C. Stangor, &
M. Hewstone (Eds.), Stereotypes and Stereotyping (pp. 3-37). New York: Guilford.

9/4 Research methods for studying stereotypes

Katz, D. & Braly, K. (1933). Racial stereotypes of one hundred college students. The Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, 28, 280-290.
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Devine, P. G., Elliot, A. (1995). Are racial stereotypes really fading? The Princeton trilogy revisited. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 21,1139-1150.

Rudman, L. A., Greenwald, A.G., Mellott, D. S. (1999). Measuring the automatic components of prejudice: Flexibility and
generality of the Implicit Association Test. Social Cognition, 17, 437-465.

Ito, T. A., Urland, G. R., Willadsen-Jensen, E., & Correll, J. (2006). The social neuroscience of stereotyping and prejudice:
Using Event-Related Brain Potentials to study social perception. In J. T. Cacioppo, P. S. Visser, & C. L. Pickett
(Eds). Social Neuroscience: People Thinking about Thinking People (pp. 189-212). Cambridge: MIT Press.

* Hebl, M. R., King, E. B., Glick, P., Singletary, S., & Kazama, S. (2007). Hostile and benevolent behaviors toward
pregnant women: Complementary interpersonal punishments and rewards that maintain traditional roles. Journal
of Applied Psychology, 92, 1499-1511. (Field Study)

* Hebl, M., & Kleck, R. E. (2002). Virtually interactive: A new paradigm for the analysis of stigma. Psychological
Inquiry, 13, 128-132. (For information about IVE please see
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/~loomis/loomis_blascovich_99.pdf ).

9/11 The content of stereotypes

Schneider, D.J. (2004). Content of stereotypes: Gender, race, and age. In The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York:
Guilford.

Langlois, J.H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A.J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty?
A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 390-423.

Madon, S. (1997). What do people believe about gay males? A study of stereotype content and strength. Sex Roles, 37, 663-
685.

* DePaulo, B. M. & Morris, W. L. (2006). The unrecognized stereotyping and discrimination against singles. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 251-254.

* Hebl, M., & Mannix, L. (2003). The weight of obesity in evaluating others: A mere proximity effect. Personality and
Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 28-38.

9/18 Origin and maintenance of stereotypes

Hamilton, D. L., & Gifford, R. K. (1976). Illusory correlation in interpersonal perception: A cognitive basis of stereotypic
judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 12, 392-407.

Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2007). The content and validity of music-genre stereotypes among college students.
Psychology of Music, 35, 306-326. (Kernel of Truth)

Perdue, C. W., Dovidio, J. F., Gurtman, M. B., & Tyler, R. B. (1990). Us and them: Social categorization and the process of
intergroup bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 475-486.

Macrae, C. N., Milne, A. D., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (1994). Stereotypes as energy-saving devices: A peek inside the
cognitive toolbox. Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 66, 37-47.

* Eagly, A. H., & Steffen, V. J. (1984). Gender stereotypes stem from the distributions of men and women into social roles.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 735-754.

* Anastasio, P. A., Rose, K. C., & Chapman, J. (1999). Can the media create public opinion? A social identity approach.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8, 152-155.
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9/25 Stereotype Activation and Application

Nelson, T. (2002). Feeling versus thinking in the activation and application of stereotypes. In The Psychology of
Prejudice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Fein, S., & Spencer, S. J. (1997). Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 31-44.

Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 56, 5-18.

Gilbert, D. T. & Hixon, J. G. (1991). The trouble of thinking: Activation and application of stereotypic beliefs. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 509-517.

* Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2000). Pride and prejudice: Fear of death and social behavior. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 200-204.

10/2 The perceiver: Individual differences in stereotyping and prejudice

Jones, M. (2002). Individual difference in prejudice. In Social Psychology of Prejudice. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Levy, S. R., Stroessner, S. J., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Stereotype formation and endorsement: The role of implicit theories.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1421-1436.

Altemeyer, B. (2003). Why do religious fundamentalists tend to be prejudiced? International Journal for the Psychology of
Religion, 13, 17-28.

10/9 Stereotypes across development: Infancy through early childhood

Whitley, B. E., & Kite, M. E. (2006). The development of prejudice in children. In The Psychology of Prejudice and
Discrimination. Belmont: Thomsom-Wadsworth.

Levy, G. D., & Haaf, R. A. (1994). Detection of gender-related categories by 10-month-old infants. Infant Behavior &
Development, 17, 457-459.

Langlois, J.H., Roggman, L.A., Rieser-Danner, L.A. (1990). Infants' differential social responses to attractive and
unattractive faces. Developmental Psychology, 26, 153-159.

Patterson, M. M., & Bigler, R. S. (2006). Preschool children's attention to environmental messages about groups: Social
categorization and the origins of intergroup bias. Child Development, 77, 847-860.

*Bigler, R. S., Averhart, C. A., & Liben, L.S. (2003). Race and the workforce: Occupational status, aspirations, and
stereotyping among African American children. Developmental Psychology, 39, 572-580.

*Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (1992). Cognitive mechanisms in children’s gender stereotyping: Theoretical and educational
implications of a cognitive-based intervention. Child Development, 63, 1351-1363.

10/16 Stereotypes across development: Middle childhood through late adulthood

O’Bryan, M., Fishbein, H. D., & Ritchey, P. N. (2004). Intergenerational transmission of prejudice, sex role stereotyping,
and intolerance. Adolescence, 39, 882-894.

Brown, C. S. (2008). Children’s perceptions of racial and ethnic discrimination: Differences across children and contexts.
In S. M. Quintana & C. McKown (Eds.) The Handbook of Race, Racism, and the Developing Child (pp. 133-153).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
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von Hippel, W. (2007). Aging, executive functioning, and social control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16,
240-244.

* Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., & Faibisch, L. (1998). Perceived stigmatization among overweight African-American
and Caucasian adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 23, 264-270.

* Hughes, J. M., & Bigler, R. S. (2007). Consequences of learning about historical racism among European American and
African American children. Child Development, 78, 1689-1705.

10/23 The target’s perspective: Coping with prejudice, self-fulfilling prophecies, and self-esteem

Swim, J. K., Cohen, L. L., & Hyers, L. L. (1998). Experiencing everyday prejudice and discrimination. In J. K. Swim & C.
Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The Target’s Perspective (pp. 38-56). NY: Academic Press.

Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling
nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 656-666.

Crocker, J., & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological
Review, 96, 608-630.

* Shelton, J. N., Richeson, J. A., Salvatore, J. (2005). Expecting to be the target of prejudice: implications for interethnic
interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1189-1202.

* Andreyeva, T., Puhl, R.M., & Brownell, K.D. (2008). Changes in perceived weight discrimination among Americans,
1995-1996 through 2004-2006. Obesity, 16, 1129-1134.

10/30 The target’s perspective: Stereotype threat, disidentification, vulnerability to stress

Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A
biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54, 805-816

Krendl, A.C., Richeson, J. A., Kelley, W. M. (2008). The negative consequences of threat: A functional magnetic resonance
imaging investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying women's underperformance in math. Psychological
Science, 19,168-175.

Schmader, T., Major, B., & Gramzow, R. H. (2001). Coping with ethnic stereotypes in the academic domain: Perceived
injustice and psychological disengagement. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 93-111.

* Cadinu, M., Maass, A.,& Rosabianca, A. (2005). Why do women under perform under stereotype threat? Evidence for
the role of negative thinking. Psychological Science, 16, 572-578.

11/6 Stereotypes in context: The workplace

Hebl, M., Foster, J. M., Mannix, L. M., & Dovidio, J. F. (2002). Formal and interpersonal discrimination: A field study of
bias toward homosexual applicants. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 815-825.

Hebl, M., & Kleck, R. E. (2002). Acknowledging one’s stigma in the interview setting: Effective strategy or liability?
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 223-249.

Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (2007). Sex discrimination: The psychological approach. In F. Crosby, M. Stockdale, & S. Ropp
(Eds.), In Sex Discrimination in the Workplace: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 155-187). Malden, MA:
Blackwell.

*Griffith, K., & Hebl, M. (2002). The disclosure dilemma for gay men and lesbians: “Coming out at work.” Journal of
Applied Psychology, 87, 1191-1199.
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*Settles, I. H.. Cortina, L.M., & Malley, J. (2006). The climate for women in academic science: The good, the bad, and the
changeable. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 47-58.

11/13 Stereotypes in context: Media, justice system, and other applied settings

Fiske, S. T., Bersoff, D. N., & Borgida, E. (1991). Social science research on trial: Use of sex stereotyping research in Price
Waterhouse v. Hopkins. American Psychologist, 46, 1049-1060.

Darby, B. W., & Jeffers, D. (1988). The effects of defendant and juror attractiveness on simulated courtroom trial decisions.
Social Behavior and Personality, 16, 39-50.

Graves, S. B. (1999). Television and prejudice reduction: When does television as a vicarious experience make a
difference? Journal of Social Issues, 55, 707-727.

King, E., Shapiro, J. L., Hebl, M., Singletary, S., & Turner, S. (2006). The stigma of obesity in customer service: A
mechanism for remediation and bottom-line consequences of interpersonal discrimination. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 91, 579-593.

* Karris, L. (1977). Prejudice against obese renters. The Journal of Social Psychology, 101, 159-160.

*Hebl, M., Xu, J., & Mason, M. (2003). Weighing the care: Patients’ perceptions of physician care as a function of gender
and weight. International Journal of Obesity, 28, 269-275.

11/20 Reducing stereotyping and prejudice

Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Kawakami, K. (2003). Intergroup contact: The past, present, and future. Group Processes
and Intergroup Relations, 6, 5-21.

Kawakami, K., Dovidio, J. F., Moll, J., Hermsen, S., & Russin, A. (2000). Just say no (to stereotyping): Effects of training
in the negation of stereotypic associations on stereotype activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
78, 871-888.

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