Ethnic Stereotypes: Implications of Measurement Strategy

This study investigated the stereotypes about one major ethnic group in Canada, French Canadians, as determined by three different procedures for stereotype assessment: Brigham's (1971) unjustified generalizations, Gardner's (1973) stereotype differential, and McCauley and Stitt's (1978) diagnostic ratio. The correlations among these measures at the item level indicated that the items contributing to these different assessments are different. Investigation of correlates of individual-difference measures based on these procedures revealed a complex factor structure, indicating that different processes underlie stereotyping as defined by the three techniques. The implications of these findings for research and theory involving ethnic stereotypes are discussed.