Disambiguating discriminatory acts of typical versus atypical perpetrators: the moderating role of need for cognitive closure

Three studies tested the interaction of the prototype effect, the notion that ambiguous behavior is more likely to be perceived as discriminatory when the executor is prototypical; and the need for cognitive closure, the tendency to seize on an answer. Study 1 provided bolstering evidence of the prototype effect's moderation by need for cognitive closure. Ambiguously sexist behavior enacted by a prototypical (male) executor was perceived as more discriminatory than the same behavior exhibited by a nonprototypical (female) executor, and this effect was exacerbated by higher trait levels of need for cognitive closure. In Studies 2 and 3, via situational induction, prototype reliance again was exacerbated, such that it overrode the influence of individual‐difference levels of need for cognitive closure.