Social Cognition, Vol. 15, No. 3, 1997, pp. 205-215 STEREOTYPE SUPPRESSION AND RECOGNITION MEMORY FOR STEREOTYPICAL AND NONSTEREOTYPICAL INFORMATION JEFFREY W. SHERMAN Northwestern University STEVEN J. STROESSNER Barnard College, Columbia University SHAY T. LOFTUS AND GLENN DEGUZMAN University of California, Santa Barbara In attempting to inhibit their stereotypes, suppressors may direct greater attention toward the very behaviors whose influence they seek to avoid. In an empirical demonstration of this effect, some participants were instructed to suppress their use of stereotypes while forming impressions of an Asian woman who revealed stereotypical and nonstereotypical behaviors. Unlike a control group who merely formed impressions, these suppressors later recognized stereotypical behaviors significantly more accurately than nonstereotypical behaviors. Because memory was assessed with a recognition measure, these findings minimize the possibility that the results were due to differential reliance on stereotype-based retrieval cues by suppressors and non-suppressors. These findings have important implications for people's ability to successfully avoid stereotyping others. People's ability to inhibit stereotypical thinking has received increasing empirical attention in recent years. The question of whether and how people can avoid stereotyping is important because averting the use of stereotypes yields several desirable consequences. First, for those whose personal belief systems prohibit them from using stereotypes, avoiding stereotype use diminishes feelings of compunction (Monteith, 1993; Monteith, Devine, & Zuwerink, 1993). Second, suppression helps ensure that social norms against stereotyping are not transgressed (Schuman, Preparation of this article was supported by NIMH Grant 55037 to Jeffrey W. Sherman. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jeffrey W. Sherman, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-2710, or to Steven J. Stroessner, Department of Psychology, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027-6598; or, e-mail: sherm@nwu.edu or to ss233@colum- bia.edu. 205