Traits and social stereotypes: Levels of categorization in person perception.

A theoretical distinction is made between trait categorization in person perception and categoriza-tion by means of well-articulated, concrete social stereotypes. Three studies test the prediction thatsocial stereotypes are both more associatively rich and more distinctive than are trait-defined catego-ries. In Study I, subjects sorted adjectives related to extroversion and introversion. A cluster analysisusing similarity measures derived from the sorting indicated that distinct social stereotypes wereassociated with each trait. This supports and extends earlier findings (Cantor Rosenberg Schneider, 1973; Wegner 1972; Collins Q Higgins, Rholes, Srull 'Wyer Deaux Hamilton, 1981;235