Group Make Up and Stereotypes 1

Running Head: Group Make Up and Stereotypes

Group Make Up and It’s Effects on Stereotypes of College Students

Autumn Barker

Averett University
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Abstract

Many people upon seeing another person automatically use the others facial features, age

and race to make inferences about the other. When a person looks at another,

unconsciously they employ illusory correlations, which are perceived correlations

between two classes of events that, in reality, are not related (Chapman, 1967). These

correlations can also be used in cases dealing with clothing and desirable or undesirable

characteristics. This study uses pictures of groups consisting of various combinations of

“normal” teenagers dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt, “goth” teenagers dressed completely

in black, and “punk” teenagers dressed in tartan pants and leather coats. Using these

pictures, 40 participants will provide an estimate of the percentage of 16 characteristics

each of the groups possesses. It is hypothesized that groups containing either a “goth” or

“punk” or both will have a significantly less percentage of desirable effects than a group

made of just “normal” teenagers.

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Group Make Up and It’s Effects on the Stereotypes of College Students

Walking in the busy shopping mall, full of people, you notice a group of teenagers

walking together. Upon more observations mostly based on the way the teenagers are

dressed, they appear to belong to the social groups you know as “goth”, “punk”, and

“normal”. What are you immediate thoughts? What if this group only included a “goth”

and a “punk”? Are you likely to think that they are up to mischief because you associate

them automatically with the social group that their clothing style makes up and any of the

behaviors you know of these groups?

Many people believe the way one dresses or looks can be directly associated with

personality traits and behaviors. This statement is very evident in the work of William

Sheldon (1954). His work examined the relationship between personality development

and the way one looks. Based on his somatotype theory, he based personality traits on

embryonic development of the three layers of cells – endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm.

If the endoderm is more prominent in development, which develop into the lungs, heart,

stomach, and intestines, Sheldon believed that you would become an endomorph, focused

on the “gut”, which made them heavy. At the mesoderm layer, from which bones and

muscles form, comes the mesomorph who are solid muscle and bones. The last layer, the

ectoderm, forms nails, hair, and skin, makes up the ectomorph, who has more skin to

body volume, which made them tall and skinny. From these three types, Sheldon

concluded three temperaments or personality types. Endodotonia, associated with

endomorphs, were thought to love relaxation, food, people, and comfort. Mesomorphs

were thought to be mesotonia personality type that assumed they were assertive and

extremely active. Ectotonia which was the personality type of the Ectomorph, focused on
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privacy, restraint, and self-awareness. This was one of the first studies to focus on one’s

appearance and their associated personality (Sheldon, 1954).

From associations between body type and personality, the question arose of what

else can be used to predict personality. Many people use stereotypes to classify,

understand, and predict the behavior of others (Brewer, 1988; Fiske & Neuburg, 1990;

Hamilton & Sherman, 1994; Kunda & Spencer, 2003). Stereotypes refer to the

association of a social group with a certain attitude about others. Stereotypes are

associated with how people established their own social identity (Greenwald, Banaji,

Rudman, Farnham, Nosek& Mellott, 2002).

Persons with similar social identities are seen to be categorized together. Social

categorization have a close (Dovido, Evans, & Tyler, 1986) and automatic (Bargh, 1997)

tie with how people judge and see others. Exposure to a category, through a picture or

actual category member, may be enough for stereotyping, whether one is consciously

aware of it or not (Bargh, 1996). Recent studies of stereotyping have shown that

stereotypes almost occur automatically and immediately with the categories of race, age,

and sex (Kawakami, Dovidio, Moll, Hermesen, & Russin, 2000).

If physical appearance, age, and sex are used to categorize and stereotype people,

is it safe to assume that clothing is also a possible categorizer? Johnson, Schofield, and

Yurchisin (2002) suggested that it is. “Using dress, individuals can unconsciously or

consciously encode multiple messages for others to interpret”. It was also suggested that

dress is a very “systematic means of transmission of information about the wearer”

(Damhorst, 1990).
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This information that others collect about the clothing wearer seems innocent

enough, but is it? Chapman’s (1967) work with illusory correlations suggest that perhaps

it was not as innocent as may be thought. Illusory correlations were defined as

“perceived correlations between two classes of events that in reality, are not correlated at

all” (Chapman, 1967). Illusory correlations are easiest exemplified in situations that

include two groups. A simple example would be a white male in a mostly white college

community watched a black man being overly belligerent and perhaps loud. If the white

man overestimated the rate of belligerence and volume in black men as compared to

white males, he may be lead to negatively stereotype black men. Illusory correlations

were therefore discovered to be possible reason for group stereotyping, as seen in the

example, as well as for minority discrimination (Rooy, Overwalle, Vanhoomissen,

Labiouse, & French, 2003). If such problems existed in race and sex issues, it is easily

assumed that it can exist based on clothing because of the information people transmit

through their apparel.

Many studies have been conducted to examine the social categories through race

and sex, however, social category research through clothing is lacking. Social categories

based on clothing are often associated with the negative of a few extreme members of the

group. In this study, three social categories will be used based on the way they are

perceived by society, especially among parents and school officals. The “punk” category

included descriptions such as “everybody thinks that a punk’s got a leather jacket, a pair

of tartan trousers, and a mohawk (Widdicombe and Wooffitt, 1990) and was depicted

through unusual hair styles and loud jarring music (Gold, 1987). Another group used in

this study will be the “goth” teenager. These are those who dress in total black which
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considered by some parents to indicate depression, rebellion, and even satanic influences

(Michelman, Eicher, and Michelman, 1991). “Goths” are also seen wearing “gender-

bending garments, applied white make-up, accented with black eyeliner, and gray blush-

on (Hine, 1999). The last group to be used in this experiment will be a “normal” teenager

who is seen wearing jeans and a tee-shirt.

The focus of this study is to observe if “goth” and “punk” are seen as possessing

less desirable characteristics than the “normal” teen. Groups are established and will help

observe if associating with a “punk” or “goth” also will give the “normal” teen a lower

percentage of the desirable traits. These groups will be compared to a group of “normal”

teens to observe if they are seen to have more desirable characteristics of a group

comprised only of a “goth” and a “punk”. It is hypothesized that any association with

“goth” or “punk” teenagers will cause a “normal” teenager to have less desirable

characteristics, as well as a group comprised with only a “goth” or “punk”, as compared

to a group only consisting of “normal” teenagers. If these effects are seen, perhaps it will

aid in establishing programs to end or decrease the effects of stereotypes that cause

discrimination.

Method

Participants

The participants who will be invited to participate in this study stereotypes will be

40 undergraduate students at Averett University. In turn for participating, participants can

select to be included in a drawing for fifty dollars or to have extra credit added to their

grades in undergraduate psychology courses.

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Procedure

Each of the 40 participates will randomly be assigned to one of four

manipulations of group make up in pictures to be evaluated. These groups will include a

picture with two people dressed as “goth” and a “punk”, one with three people to act as a

control with each of the groups, “goth”, “punk”, “normal”, one with two people dressed

as a “goth” and a “normal” and a group with two “normal” teenagers. Upon agreement to

participate in this study, participants will be informed that they are participating in a

study of impression formation rather than stereotypes to reduce any participant reactivity.

This study will be done by giving a packet to each participant. Included on the

first page will be an informed consent form with contact information for both the primary

and the supervising experimenter. On the next page will be directions for the participants

to follow: “Observe the group in the following picture, paying particular attention to their

clothing. After observing, turn and follow the directions on the next page.” Following

this page would be the picture of the group belonging to manipulation to which they had

been assigned.

Following the suggestion of Feinburg, Mataro, and Burroughs (1992) pictures of

the groups will be frontal views of the models. Hands will be at the model’s sides and

toes pointed directly forward. Heads and hair will be blocked out to reduce the effects of

confounding variables like facial features using a computer photography editing program.

The same models will be used for the different groups to control for other biases. On the

following page will be Martin’s 1987 percentage survey. On this page will be listed more

directions as well as the 16 characteristics (see Appendix) with percentage fill-in blanks.

Directions will read “For each of the following characteristics, provide your best estimate
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or guess of the percentage of the group in the preceding picture as a whole who possess

each trait.” Following the directions, the sixteen traits are numbered and listed. These

traits include kind, not easily influenced, competitive, aware of other’s feelings,

dominant, makes decisions easily, independent, understanding, never gives easily,

helpful, aggressive, warm, self-confident, stands up well to others, and active. Following

each trait is a blank followed by a percentage sign where the participant can write in the

percentage of each trait they feel the group possesses. Upon completion, each participant

will be debriefed, thanked, and asked not to talk about the study until the results are

publicized.
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References

Bargh, J. (1996). Automaticity in Social Psychology. In 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

Activiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5), 871-888.

Bargh, J. (1997). The Automaticity of Everyday Life. 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

Activiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5), 871-888.

Brewer, M.B. (1988). A Dual Process of Impression Formation. In Kunda, Z. & Spencer,

S.J. (2003). When Do Stereotypes Come to Mind and When Do They Color

Judgment? A Goal-Based Theoretical Framework for Stereotype Activation and

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Chapman, L.J. (1967). Illusory Correlation in Observational Report. Journal of Verbal

Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 151-155.

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Russin, A. (2000). Just Say No (to Stereotyping): Effects of Training in the

Negation of Stereotypic Associations on Stereotype Activiation. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5), 871-888.

 Group Make Up and Stereotypes 10

Feinberg, R.A., Mataro, L., & Burroughs, W.J. (1992). Clothing and Social Identity.

Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 11(1), 18-23.

Fiske, S.T. & Neuberg, S.L. (1990). A Continuum of Impression Formation, from

Category-based to Individuating Processes: Influences of Information and

Motivation on Attention and Interpretation. In Kunda, Z. & Spencer, S.J. (2003).

When Do Stereotypes Come to Mind and When Do They Color Judgment? A

Goal-Based Theoretical Framework for Stereotype Activation and Application.

Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 522-544.

Fiske, S.T. & Taylor, S.E. (1991). Social Cognition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Gold, B.D. (1987). Self Image of Punk Rock and Nonpunk Rock Juvenile Delinquents.

Adolescence, 22(87), 535-544.

Greenwald, A.G., Banaji, M.R., Rudman, L.A., Farnham, S.D., Nosek, B.A., & Mellott,

D.S. (2002). A Unified Theory of Implicit Attitudes, Stereotypes, Self-Esteem,

and Self-Concept. Psychological Review, 109(1), 3-25.

Hamilton, D.L. & Sherman, J.W. (1994). Stereotypes. In Kunda, Z. & Spencer, S.J.

(2003). When Do Stereotypes Come to Mind and When Do They Color

Judgment? A Goal-Based Theoretical Framework for Stereotype Activation and

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Hine, T. (1999). Goths in Tomorrowland. In Thomas Hine, The Rise and Fall of

the American Teenager (pp. 274-295). New York, NY: Avon Books Inc.

Johnson, K.K.P., Schofield, N.A., Yurchinsin, J. (2002). Apperance and Dress as a

Source of Information: A Qualitative Approach to Data Collection. Clothing and

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 Group Make Up and Stereotypes 11

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 Activiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(5),

871-888.

Kunda, Z. & Spencer, S.J. (2003). When Do Stereotypes Come to Mind and When Do

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Activation and Application. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 522-544.

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Appendix

For each of the following characteristics, provide your best estimate or guess of the
percentage of the group in the preceding picture as a whole who possess each trait.

1. kind ________%

2. not easily influenced ________%

3. competitive ________%

4. aware of others’ feelings ________%

5. dominant ________%

6. makes decisions easily ________%

7. independent ________%

8. understanding ________%

9. never gives easily ________%

10. helpful ________%

11. aggressive ________%

12. warm ________%

13. self-confident ________%

14. stands up well under pressure ________%

15. able to devote self to others ________%

16. active ________%