“My Date Can Call Me Sweet, but My Colleague Can't” Meta-Stereotypic Behavioral Intentions as a Function of Context and Liking of the Outgroup

In two experiments we examined the influence of meta-stereotypes (beliefs regarding stereotypes that the outgroup has about one's ingroup) in different contexts. In Study 1, we demonstrated that women have the same meta-stereotype about men in dating and work contexts, but experience the meta-stereotype as more positive when dating men, rather than when working together with men. In Study 2, we showed that women intended to behave meta-stereotypically when they liked the man they were going to meet and when the meta-stereotype was experienced as positive (i.e., when women were on a date, rather than at work). Meta-stereotyping mediated this effect, such that liking led to more meta-stereotyping, which in the date context, but not in the work context, increased meta-stereotypic behavioral intentions. Together, these findings show that the valence of a meta-stereotype varies across contexts, which elicits different behavioral intentions as a function of liking of the outgroup.