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Social Psychology Program
Research Interests
I study stereotyping and prejudice, and more specifically, I
focus on how stereotypes affect judgments of and behavior
displayed toward individual members of stereotyped groups
(including the self). My research on the “shifting standards
model” suggests that by virtue of holding a stereotype, we use
category-specific standards against which we judge members of
stereotyped groups. The result is that, for example, an
individual woman might be judged as more aggressive than a
comparable man—a contrast effect—because she is judged relative
to a lower (female) standard. My research has also suggested
that perceivers set lower minimum standards but higher
confirmatory standards (e.g., stringent evidentiary criteria to
document ability in a domain) for members of devalued groups
(women, Blacks), and that zero-sum behaviors(distribution of
valued resources) tend to favor the positively stereotyped,
whereas nonzero-sum behaviors favor the negatively stereotyped
(e.g., the “terrific” female softball player may receive more
pats on the back than a comparable male player, but nonetheless
still find herself benched more often than the male). The
overall theme of this research is that stereotypes guide
judgments of others in subtle, complex, and sometimes
contradictory ways.
Selected Publications
Biernat, M. (2005). Standards and expectancies: Contrast and
assimilation in judgments. New York: Psychology Press/Taylor and
Francis.
Biernat, M. (2003). Toward a broader view of social
stereotyping. American Psychologist, 58, 1019-1027.
Biernat, M., Crosby, F. J., & Williams, J. C. (Eds.) (2004). The
maternal wall: Research and policy perspectives on
discrimination against mothers in the workplace. Journal of
Social Issues, 60.
Biernat, M., & Eidelman, S. (2007). Standards. In A. W.
Kruglanski and E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook
of basic principles, Volume 2 (pp. 308-333). New York: The
Guilford Press.
Biernat, M., & Ma, J. E. (2005). Stereotypes and the
confirmability of trait concepts. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 31, 483-495.
Eidelman, S., & Biernat, M. (2007). Getting the most of success:
Standard-raising as esteem maintenance. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 92, 759-774.
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