Stereotype content model

The stereotype content model (SCM) is a psychological theory that hypothesizes that stereotypes possess two dimensions: warmth and competence. Social groups are perceived as warm if they do not compete with the ingroup for the same resources (e.g., college space) and they are considered competent if they are high in status (e.g., economically or educationally successful). Thus, lack of competition predicts perceived warmth and status predicts perceived competence. The model was first proposed by social psychologist Susan Fiske and her colleagues Amy Cuddy, Peter Glick and Jun Xu.

The SCM postulates that all social groups (e.g., older people, the homeless, drug addicts) fit within each of the four combinations of high and low levels of warmth and competence. Contradicting earlier theories of stereotype content which assumed that stereotypes reflected unidimensional and uniformly negative attitudes, the stereotype content model theorizes that stereotypes are often mixed or ambivalent: groups perceived to be high in one dimension, but low in the other (e.g., old people as rated high on warmth, but low on competence). The groups within each of the four combinations of high and low levels of warmth and competence elicit distinct emotions:

The ingroup, i.e., the group to which an observer personally belongs, close allies, and societal reference groups (e.g., cultural default groups such as the middle class, heterosexuals) tend to be rated as high on both dimensions. However, there are differences between ingroup perceptions between Western and Eastern cultures, with only Western cultures displaying this ingroup favoritism.

The stereotype content model was empirically tested on a variety of national and international samples and was found to reliably predict stereotype content in different cultural contexts and affective reactions toward a variety of different groups. The model has also received support in such domains as interpersonal perception.

The SCM posits that intergroup emotions and stereotypes predict distinct behaviors which can be active, passive, facilitative, and harmful. Active behaviors require effort and engagement (e.g., help or attack) whereas passive behaviors impact the target group either positively or negatively but require less exertion (e.g., passive association or neglect). Facilitative actions are intended to bring about favorable outcomes or gains for a group while harmful behaviors are intended to produce detrimental outcomes or losses.

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