A posteriori stereotype activation: The preservation of stereotypes through memory distortion

Four experiments investigated memory for stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information after a posteriori stereotype activation. In Experiment 1 it was established that, in comparison with a no stereotype control condition, recall of stereotype-inconsistent behaviors of group members deteriorated after a posteriori stereotype activation, while recall of stereotype-consistent information was not affected. An explanation of this phenomenon in terms of the memory organization of behaviors in trait-behavior clusters was tested in Experiment 2. The results of Experiment 2 suggest that recall of stereotype-inconsistent behaviors suffered from a stereotype activated afterwards when they were stored in a separate trait (i.e., not linked to stereotype-consistent behaviors), while stereotype-inconsistent information that was linked to stereotype-consistent information did not. In Experiment 3 the same pattern of results was obtained when an a posteriori stereotype was activated using an "unrelated prime" (i.e., the stereotype did not pertain to information presented earlier), suggesting the operation of involuntary, unconscious processes in deteriorated recall of stereotype-inconsistent information. Finally, the results of Experiment 4 provide evidence for the idea that the impaired recall of stereotype-inconsistent information may be, at least partly, ascribed to suppressed access to stereotype-inconsistent traits due to a posteriori stereotype activation