12.3
Stereotype Content Model
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fisk…
Stereotypes of others—the out-groups—aren’t necessarily bad. When people attempt to relate to another group, they may experience mixed feelings that create ambivalent biases.
According to the stereotype content model, an individual may stereotype social groups based on the perception of two factors: warmth—whether a group is viewed as friendly—and competence, or how capable that group is perceived.
For example, during his workday a lawyer encounters diverse groups of people. He stereotypes his secretary as warm—she is friendly and helpful—but not competent, as she is “average” and lacks a law degree. This leads to him feeling sympathy towards her—like a paternalistic pity.
In contrast, he categorizes the firm’s top female lawyer as highly competent—she is educated, assertive and successful—but not warm, as she competes with him for cases. This inspires envy.
However, when his boss’s wife—a philanthropist—visits him, he views her as both warm and competent. He notes her generosity, along with her non-threatening nature, since she does not interfere with his work. As a result, he voices his admiration.
Finally, on his way home, the lawyer meets a homeless woman, who he perceives as highly incompetent—incapable of doing anything useful for society. He also does not see her as being warm; she’s asking for change and must not have good intentions. This leads to contempt.
Thus, how a person stereotypes different people falls into four “content of character” classifications—low competence and warmth; high competence and warmth; or a mix of these factors, high on one dimension and low on the other, which results in ambivalence.
In addition, each category elicits a specific type of prejudiced emotion, which ultimately may be used to predict the types of discrimination that specific groups face.
View the full transcript and gain access to JoVE Core videos
Q1: What are the two main dimensions used in the stereotype content model?
The stereotype content model categorizes social groups based on warmth—whether a group is viewed as friendly and well-intentioned—and competence, or how capable that group is perceived to be. These two dimensions determine how individuals stereotype different groups and predict the emotional responses and behaviors that follow from those stereotypes.
Q2: How does the stereotype content model predict discrimination?
The stereotype content model predicts discrimination by linking warmth-competence categorizations to specific prejudiced emotions. Low warmth and competence groups elicit contempt and active discrimination, while high warmth but low competence groups trigger pity and passive harm like lack of promotion. These emotional responses ultimately determine the types of discrimination specific groups face in society.
Q3: What four emotional responses result from different warmth-competence combinations?
The four emotional responses are admiration for groups high in both warmth and competence, pity for those high in warmth but low in competence, envy for those high in competence but low in warmth, and contempt for groups low in both dimensions. Each emotion corresponds to a distinct warmth-competence classification and predicts specific behavioral outcomes toward those groups.
Q4: How can the stereotype content model be applied beyond social groups?
The stereotype content model extends to product brands and robots, which can be categorized using warmth and competence scales. Popular brands viewed as friendly and capable foster admiration and loyalty, while negative brands evoke contempt. Similarly, robots programmed to appear warm receive more admiration and preference, even when calibrated to appear incompetent, suggesting warmth influences human-machine interaction preferences.
Q5: What is ambivalent bias in the stereotype content model?
Ambivalent bias occurs when individuals stereotype groups as high on one dimension and low on the other, creating mixed feelings. For example, a highly competent but cold professional may inspire envy, while a warm but incompetent person may trigger paternalistic pity. These mixed stereotypes result in conflicting emotional responses and complex discrimination patterns.
Q6: Why do homeless individuals face both passive and active discrimination according to research?
Homeless individuals are stereotyped as low in both warmth and competence, eliciting contempt. This emotion breeds both passive harm, such as being ignored, and active harm, like aggressive harassment. Research shows the homeless fail to robustly activate neural regions involved in social function, suggesting they are dehumanized in the brain, which may explain the intensity of discrimination they experience.
Q7: How can humanization reduce discrimination against low warmth-competence groups?
Encouraging people to imagine themselves in the shoes of disadvantaged groups, such as considering what food homeless individuals like to eat, can humanize them and circumvent dehumanization in the brain. This perspective-taking activates social neural regions typically suppressed for low warmth-competence groups, potentially reducing contempt and discrimination behaviors toward these individuals.