Title: The Pain of Positive Stereotypes | Psychology Today
Headings: The Pain of Positive Stereotypes
Art Markman Ph.D.
The Pain of Positive Stereotypes
Even positive stereotypes make people feel bad.

Content: That happens whether the stereotype used was positive or negative. It is frustrating to realize that someone views you just as a member of a group and not as an individual. And in many situations, that leads you to dislike the person who made the comment. It is fascinating, though, that when you feel more interconnected with others (as you do when you are primed to think of yourself in interdependent terms), the depersonalization caused by hearing a stereotype aimed at you does not lead to the same dislike of the speaker. Finally, I suspect there is an additional factor at play in these studies. When someone uses a positive stereotype to judge you, it is reasonable to assume that it is only a matter of time until they apply negative stereotypes as well. That is, you are making a judgment that the person you are talking to uses stereotypes to make judgments. The studies in this series did find that depersonalization explained the negative effects of positive stereotypes above-and-beyond the judgment that the speaker was racist. But, the judgment that the speaker was racist (and used stereotypes to judge people) also contributed to the effects. Follow me on Twitter.