Two experiments investigated whether interpretations of quantitative expressions about described actors’ behaviors are influenced by stereotypic expectancies. Participants rated sentences containing frequency adverbs describing either stereotype-consistent or stereotype-inconsistent behaviors. Results showed that recipients inferred a higher numerical frequency when sentences described stereotype-consistent (vs inconsistent) behaviors. These effects of stereotype consistency were stronger for high (vs low) degree frequency adverbs. The findings show how neutral statements about a person can be interpreted as stereotype-confirming information and thus contribute to stereotype maintenance.
Beukeboom et al. (Sat,) studied this question.