Impact of permeability of the social hierarchy on social perceptions in intergroup relations – PermComp

The dominant ideological climate tends to foster individual mobility as the prevalent way of social climbing. The present project aims to investigate how the permeability of the social hierarchy shapes stereotypes about low and high status groups. Research in social psychology shows that two fundamental dimensions of social perception structure the perception of social groups: the competence dimension (i.e., ability, assertiveness) and the warmth dimension (i.e., sociability, morality). Group stereotypes contents are ambivalent and are based on compensatory attributions: High status group members tend to be perceived (and to perceive themselves) as more competent than warmth, whereas low status group members tend to be perceived (and to perceive themselves) as more warmth than competent. These ambivalent group stereotypes determine intergroup attitudes and contribute to the maintenance of social harmony in unequal social systems. Across six experimentations, we will test the impact of changes in the permeability of the social hierarchy on stereotypes construction among low status group members (Axis 1) and among high status group members (Axis 2). To do so, we will rely on two complementary methodologies. For half of the experimentations, we will use the minimal group paradigm, which allows to create fictional and temporary social group in the laboratory in order to test the impact of specific factor on stereotypes construction while counteracting the impact of a priori knowledge on the groups involved in the experimentation. For the other half of the experimentations, we will conduct conceptual replications on real social groups. Together, these methodologies assure a good internal and ecological validity.