Social Categorization Without Fit

Is intercategory fit a prerequisite of social categorization? Intercategory fit is given if more differences are perceived between than within two or more social categories. We created experimental conditions without objective fit, and ruled out subjective perceptions of intercategory fit, such as arise from expectancy-based illusory correlations. In the first experiment, portraits of men and women were presented together with nonsense syllables. Cued by the nonsense syllables, participants were later able to retrieve gender category information, indicating category salience in the presentation phase. The second experiment replicated these results using male and female first names instead of portraits. Inter-category fit thus does not constitute a necessary precondition for categorization. The results bear on the very early stages in the development of stereotypes.