Are old folks wise, or are they wiser than youngsters? How the wording of claims about social groups spreads stereotypes.

Verbal messages transmit beliefs about social groups (stereotypes) not just through their content, but also their wording. An important aspect of that wording is the messages’ comparative format – the extent to, and the manner in which they emphasize an intergroup comparison. This project examines how the valence and the distribution of properties in and across social groups shape communicators’ selection of comparative formats. It also examines how comparative formats shape observers’ translation of verbal claims into distributions of the involved properties. Finally, it examines how both processes jointly contribute to the transmission of stereotypes. Through seven social psychological experiments, the project tests three competing hypotheses, derived from theories and findings from social and cognitive psychology, linguistics, and philosophy. The project will clarify processes that are involved in intuitive truth perception and show why claims that are in many respects comparable provoke such different truth judgments. It will also raise awareness among policy makers and journalists of the role of formal aspects of communication in the transmission, perpetuation, and sharpening of stereotypes, and show to what extent and how the strategic use of comparative formats may be an instrument in efforts to mitigate problematic stereotypes.