Cognitive styles and contextual variables as the factors of ingroup bias and outgroup stereotyping in the perception of artificial social groups

Abstract

The problem considered in the article is connected with the establishment of interrelations between cognitive styles and subjectively constructed contextual factors in the process of social perception. Hypotheses about the presence of statistically significant effects and interactions of these factors on the variables of ingroup bias and outgroup stereotyping are tested. Participants (103 students, including 24 males and 79 females, from 17 to 22 years old, M = 19,29, SD = 0,77) were presented with specially constructed target text contained information on artificial social groups, as well as tools for measuring the bias, stereotyping and cognitive styles. It was found that the field-dependency, rigid control, impulsiveness and cognitive simplicity contributed to the stereotyping of the Other (p <0.08 ÷ 0.001), but not to the ingroup bias. It was shown that the growth of field-independence and flexible cognitive control decreased stereotyping faster, if the information about the social groups was of little importance for the subject (p <0,07 ÷ 0,05). The obtained facts indicate that the stereotyping has rather cognitive and the bias presumably motivational causality.