Date of Award
8-4-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Advisor(s)
Sara Burke
Keywords
class;gender;intersectionality;race;stereotyping
Subject Categories
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Psychology
Abstract
Across two studies, this research aims to empirically test assumptions of intersectionality theory by comparing the contributions of the additive, multiplicative, and intersectional perspectives for assessing stereotypic beliefs toward intersecting identities. Using the stereotype content model, I further understandings of stereotypes about groups by capturing different types of reactions (e.g., warmth and competence) rather than valanced reactions alone. In study 1, I examine 36 intersectional class-race-gender labels (e.g., “middle-class Asian woman”, “wealthy Black man”) to document quantitative warmth and competence beliefs. Study 1 tests whether class, race, and gender categories have common stereotypes associated with them, and whether combining two or three of these categories evokes different stereotypes. In study 2, I acknowledge that warmth and competence beliefs fall short of capturing stereotypic beliefs about these complex identities. Study 2 examines a narrower subset of 12 groups from study 1; participants provide qualitative data about their potentially stereotypic beliefs toward a hypothetical person. Study 2 identifies both shared and distinct stereotypic traits between each group. By examining the novel and interlocking impressions formed when people evaluate a target with multiple marginalized identities, this work expands current understandings of how class, gender, and race stereotypes interact.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Ess, Mackenzie, "The Stereotype Content of Intersecting Race, Class, and Gender Groups" (2023). Dissertations - ALL. 1758.
https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1758
