Effect of Construal Level on Unconscious Evaluation of Stereotype-inconsistent Stimuli

The present study investigates the effect of construal level on unconscious evaluation of the stimuli about Black people who are inconsistent with racial stereotypes. While Black people could be represented abstractly as a "prototype", they could also be represented concretely as an "exemplar". Construal level should moderate which group representation would be used. Especially, people who think abstractly should represent Blacks as a prototype, while people who think concretely should represent them as an exemplar. Sixty-six female undergraduates participated in an experiment in which their construal mindset was manipulated and were asked to do the single category IAT using pictures of competent Black celebrities. Contrary to the prediction, participants in concrete mindset condition evaluated positive black celebrities negatively. It suggests that they might use racial stereotypes(i.e. prototypes). The results are discussed in terms of the availability of exemplars, the contents of stereotypes, and the cognitive structure of group representation.