Typicality and group variability as dual moderators of category-based inferences Alan J. Lambert, a, * Alison L. Chasteen, b B. Keith Payne, c and Lara Shaffer d a Department of Psychology, 1 Brookings Drive/Box 1125, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA b University of Toronto, Canada c Ohio State University, USA d Washington University, USA Received 15 January 2003; revised 15 February 2003 Available online Abstract We propose and test two alternative hypotheses bearing on the dual roles of group variability and typicality when people form impressions of single category members. The latitude of acceptance hypothesis suggests that a wider range of individual group members are likely to be seen as good-fitting members (i.e., typical) if the group is heterogeneous, thereby increasing the extent to which stereotypical attitudes are used as a basis for responding to these persons. In contrast, the typicality-functionality hypothesis suggests that typicality plays different roles depending on group variability. This view suggests that typicality plays the ‘‘gatekeeper function’’ as postulated by Fiske and Neuberg (1990) when the group is homogeneous, but not when it is heterogeneous. Across two studies, stronger support was found for the typicality-functionality hypothesis. Implications for the extant literature on category- based processing are discussed. Ó 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Social psychologists have generated an impressive amount of research on perceived group variability over the past 20 years (see Linville, 1999 for a review). Nev- ertheless, this literature has mainly focused on the an- tecedents, rather than the consequences, of group variability. Hence, more is known about the factors that determine whether a group is seen as heterogeneous vs. homogeneous than about the difference that this factor might make in driving behavior and judgment. This state of affairs prompted Linville (1999) to observe that researchers ‘‘have made only limited progress toward learning the consequences of variability’’ (p. 448) and that there is ‘‘more speculation than empirical fact’’ (p. 454) with respect to the effects of this factor on social judgment. The overriding goal of this paper was to shed more light on this surprisingly understudied issue. Research on the ‘‘gatekeeper’’ function of typicality Psychologists have long recognized that peopleÕs ste- reotypic expectations about social categories (e.g., Blacks, elderly people, college professors) can have a powerful effect on peopleÕs impressions of single group members (Allport, 1954; Lippman, 1922). Nevertheless, stereotype-based responses may not be inevitable given that the person has been identified as a member of the category (Kunda & Spencer, 2003). One well-researched moderator of stereotype application is the typicality of the target person, that is, the perceived ‘‘goodness of fit’’ to the category in question. According to Fiske and Neuberg (1990; see also Brewer, 1988; Lord, Lepper, & Mackie, 1984), typicality could be conceived as a kind of ‘‘gatekeeper,’’ moderating the degree to which category- based sentiments guide subsequent reactions to the tar- get. For example, suppose that you judged a particular individual to be a typical member of the group elderly people. This research suggests that stereotypic precon- ceptions about this group would be more likely to have a positive, assimilative effect on your judgments of this * Corresponding author. E-mail address: alambert@artsci.wustl.edu (A.J. Lambert). 0022-1031/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2004.03.003 Journal of Experimental Social Psychology xxx (2004) xxx–xxx www.elsevier.com/locate/jesp Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Journal of Experimental Social Psychology xxx (2004) xxx–xxx ARTICLE IN PRESS