EFFECTS OF INFORMATION DIAGNOSTICITY ON STEREOTYPING BEHAVIORS

Age-bias in employment decisions is seen as a likely result of the unwanted effects of stereotypes. The concept of stereotype has long been tied to notions of prejudice, and seen as stemming from uncontrollable unconscious or sociocultural forces. In early conceptions, thus, stereotypes had been seen as resistant to change. More recent formulations in the social cognition area may provide a means for altering at least the more extreme effects at the individual "stereotyper" level. One way this alteration may be accomplished is by manipulating the information input, such that the stereotyper is also led to attend to outcome-relevant information which is not stereotypical. Manipulation of outcome-relevant information had little effect on decision-making. However, information age-relatedness did have an effect on hypothetical hiring decisions. Results indicate that providing non-age-related information can result in significantly less of an age effect on decisions than does providing age-related information. This report discusses the use of the Policy Capturing approach, design-improvement strategies, and the benefits to be derived from this line of research