Stereotype-biased search and processing of information about group members

Two studies examined the contribution of biased information search and biased information processing to stereotyping of individual group members. Participants were free to ask any question they thought would help them make an accurate judgment about a target person's attitudes. Despite this opportunity to acquire individuating information, participants' judgments about group members were strongly influenced by their stereotypes. The findings further show that both the content of the questions addressed to stereotyped targets and the manner in which the answers to these questions were processed contributed to stereotyping. It is argued that biased information search is a major obstacle to the reduction of stereotyping in many real-life situations.