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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.