Low-Warmth, Low-Competence, No Excuses: Agency and Controllability in the Stereotype Content Model

Abstract

Some stigmatized identities, such as drug addicts and homeless people, are seen as having control over their circumstances. This perceived control seems contradictory to their being stereotyped as low-agency in stereotype literature such as the Stereotype Content Model. If some agency is necessary to have controllability, then why are some targets stereotyped as low agency perceived to have high controllability? This study aimed to investigate how perceptions of targets’ control affect perceptions of the targets’ agency in the Stereotype Content Model. While previous studies have directly manipulated targets’ control through vignettes and confederate actors, this study utilized a social priming method in order to evoke perceptions of controllability without altering them. Breaking down agency into its two facets of assertiveness and competence permitted separating whether perceptions of assertiveness (perceived motivation/effort) or competence (perceived ability) are implicated in perceptions of high controllability in typically low-agency targets. Results showed a significant interaction between the controllability-prime condition and agency ratings: Targets of all levels on controllability and agency were rated as having higher agency (for both competence and assertiveness facets of agency) indiscriminately when primed. These findings suggest that our priming methods were likely an insufficient means of answering what facets of agency are implied in controllability. Suggestions for future studies using other methods were discussed in light of our main findings and exploratory analyses.