Aim:

Procedure and results

Hamilton & Gifford (1976) carried out an experiment with 40 American undergraduates (20 males; 20 females). Participants were shown a series of slides, each with a statement about a member of one of two groups - simply called groups A and B. There were twice as many people in Group A (26) as in Group B (13), so Group B was the minority group.  The participants were told that Group B was smaller than Group A before starting the experiment. Each statement was about one individual in one of the two groups; the statement was either positive or negative. Each group had the same proportion of positive and negative comments.

Participants were then asked to rank members of each group on a series of 20 traits - for example, popular, social, and intelligent.  After completing this task, they were given a booklet in which they were given a statement and then asked whether the person who did this was from Group A or Group B. Finally, they were asked how many of the statements for each group had been "undesirable."

Half of the group changed the order of measuring the dependent variables to avoid interference effects.  So, the booklet was completed before the trait rankings.

The results are as follows:

• On the trait ratings, group A was ranked higher than Group B for positive traits and lower for negative traits.
• In the booklet, participants correctly recalled more positive traits for Group A (74%) than for Group B (54%) and more negative traits for Group B (65%) than for Group A (55%)
• Participants overestimated the number of negative traits in the minority group, but this finding was not significantly significant.

Hamilton & Gifford argued that this was because the minority group was by nature smaller in number, their negative behaviors appeared more distinct and appear to be representative of the group. So, one minority male is caught stealing and it appears to be related to the fact that he is a minority.  This demonstrates why negative stereotypes may be more common for minority groups than for the majority.   Such research has led to the modern practice in many countries not to report the race or ethnicity of people who have been charged with a crime

The study by Hamilton and Gifford (1976) may be used to answer a question on the formation of stereotypes or on cognitive biases.

• Carried out an experiment where participants listened to a series of statements made ABOUT people from two groups, not named, just called Groups A and B
• Group A had 26 people, twice the amount of people there were in Group B, making Group B the minority group
• Each statement made was about one individual from either Group A or B, and each statement was either positive or negative. Both Group A and B had the same proportion of positive and negative statements said about them.
• Hamilton and Gifford then asked participants how many of the people in each group had positive vs negative traits - Which resulted in almost everyone attributing far too many negative traits to the MINORITY GROUP
• Hamilton and Gifford estimated that this was because of the smaller nature of the group, making each person’s behaviour more DISTINCTIVE AND NEGATIVE , and making it seem more representative of their group
• This also demonstrates why MINORITY GROUPS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE MADE STEREOTYPES ABOUT

Evaluation

The researchers created two groups, A and B, for which there would be no pre-existing stereotypes.  This increased the level of internal validity.