Competence, Warmth, And Expectations: An Integration Of Status Characteristics Theory And The Stereotype Content Model

Abstract

Over the last fifty years, researchers in Status Characteristics Theory (SCT) have conclusively demonstrated that within task groups, status differences between members influence the emergence of a power and prestige hierarchy within the group. According to the theory, this is accomplished through the activation of stereotypical expectations of group members' abilities. However, relatively little research has directly examined the cognitive process associated with expectation formation. During this same period, scholars within diverse subfields of psychology have suggested that there are two fundamental dimensions along which social judgments are made. These two dimensions have been referred to by various names, including instrumentality and expressivity, agency and communality, and competence and warmth. The most recent exploration of this idea can be found in the field of cognitive science as part of the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). The purpose of the current research is to integrate the basic propositions of SCT with the cognitive process outlined in SCM. In doing so, I hope to situate SCT within an expansive body of existing research, while suggesting a number of potentially useful directions for future research in SCT.