Positive stereotype

In social psychology, a positive stereotype refers to a subjectively favorable belief held about a social group. Common examples of positive stereotypes include associating individuals of East Asian descent with better math ability, African-Americans with greater athletic ability, and women with being more warm and communal. As opposed to negative stereotypes, positive stereotypes represent a "positive" evaluation of a group that typically signals an advantage over another group. As such, positive stereotypes may be considered a form of compliment or praise. However, positive stereotypes can have a positive or negative effect on targets of positive stereotypes. The positive or negative influence of positive stereotypes on targets depends on three factors: (1) how the positive stereotype is stated, (2) who is stating the positive stereotype, (3) in what culture the positive stereotype is presented (e.g. Western vs. East Asian).

In The Nature of Prejudice (1954), Gordon Allport suggested that the categorization of people into groups is adaptive. Although, this categorization may allow for quicker processing of information present in one's environment, this process may result in stereotyping. Stereotypes have implications for targets of stereotypes and interpersonal interactions generally, because stereotypes assign traits and abilities to members of social groups due simply to their group membership. Much research on prejudice and stereotypes has largely focused on negative stereotypes (e.g., the association of African-Americans with intellectual inferiority) and the result of their prevalence (e.g., stereotype threat) on perceivers and targets.

Composed of three studies spanning nearly 40 years, the Princeton Trilogy (1933) is noted as one of the earliest set of studies documenting the actual content of stereotypes attributed to different ethnic groups and the change in content over time. In the initial study of Princeton students in 1933, students were asked to list the traits that were associated with various racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Germans, Jew, Negroes). In this initial study, students were found to associate distinct traits with each social group and that there was a high consensus among beliefs (e.g., Germans were scientifically-minded and industrious, Italians were artistic, and Negroes were superstitious and lazy). In the follow-up studies in 1951 and in 1969, the researchers found that the consensus and content of the stereotypes had changed in the four decades after the initial study.

...
Wikipedia