Cognitive Load and Positive Mood Reduce Typicality Effects in Attitude-Behavior Consistency

Abstract

Social category attitudes predict behavior worse toward atypical than typical category members. The present study examined whether this typicality effect involves relatively individuated as opposed to category-based impressions of the behavior target. Cognitive load and positive moods are known to increase reliance on heuristic processing strategies such as using stereotypes. Control condition participants' attitudes toward gay males were less likely to predict willingness to help an atypical than a typical gay transfer student. For participants who rehearsed an eight-digit number or were in a positive mood while they read descriptions of the two gay men, however, no such typicality effect occurred. The results support and extend previous theories of heuristic processing, typicality effects, and the attitude-behavior relationship.