The Effects of Speaker Group Membership and Stereotypes on Responses to Accumulated Underaccommodation

Abstract

This study explored the role of social group membership and stereotypes in evaluating accumulated underaccommodation (i.e., repeated, insufficiently adjusted communication). Participants (N = 229) engaged in three tasks in which they received underaccommodative instructions from another individual, ostensibly a young adult or an older adult. Consistent with hypotheses, speakers’ social group membership predicted stereotype content (with older adults stereotyped as warmer and more competent); warmth (but not competence) stereotypes, in turn, predicted inferred motive (directly) and perceived accommodation (indirectly) for the initial task, which in turn predicted ratings for subsequent tasks. Group membership also affected overall speaker evaluations.