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# Perspective-Taking: Decreasing Stereotype Expression, Stereotype Accessibility, and In-Group Favoritism

## Details

**Authors** Galinsky and Moscowitz

**Year** 2000

**Publisher** Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

**Discipline** Sociology

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.78.4.708) 
10.1037//0022-3514.78.4.708

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Using 3 experiments, the authors explored the role of perspective-taking in debiasing social thought. In the 1st 2 experiments, perspective-taking was contrasted with stereotype suppression as a possible strategy for achieving stereotype control. In Experiment 1, perspective-taking decreased stereotypic biases on both a conscious and a nonconscious task. In Experiment 2, perspective-taking led to both decreased stereotyping and increased overlap between representations of the self and representations of the elderly, suggesting activation and application of the self-concept in judgments of the elderly. In Experiment 3, perspective-taking reduced evidence of in-group bias in the minimal group paradigm by increasing evaluations of the out-group. The role of self-other overlap in producing prosocial outcomes and the separation of the conscious, explicit effects from the nonconscious, implicit effects of perspective-taking are discussed.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To study the potential that Perspective-taking has in reducing bias.

### What they found (results)

In their first experiment, they found that taking Perspective reduced both conscious and unconscious bias as shown with two tasks. Their results showed that taking Perspective, “led to both decreased stereotyping and increased overlap between representations of the self and representations of the elderly, suggesting activation and application of the self-concept in judgments of the elderly.” And in the last experiment, Galinsky and Moscowitz found that in-group bias was reduced through Perspective taking.

## Commentary

### In short

They concluded that if Perspective-taking increases, then negative biases could reasonably be reduced.

### In more detail

The potential that Perspective-taking has in reducing bias was examined by Galinsky and Moskowitz (2000). In their first experiment, they found that taking Perspective reduced both conscious and unconscious bias as shown with two tasks. In their second experiment, they looked at the participants' perceptions of the elderly. Their results showed that taking Perspective, “led to both decreased stereotyping and increased overlap between representations of the self and representations of the elderly, suggesting activation and application of the self-concept in judgments of the elderly.” And in the last experiment, Galinsky and Moscowitz found that in-group bias was reduced through Perspective taking. They concluded that if Perspective-taking increases, then negative biases could reasonably be reduced.

**Patterns it shows** P

**How to cite this** Galinsky and Moscowitz (2000). Perspective-Taking: Decreasing Stereotype Expression, Stereotype Accessibility, and In-Group Favoritism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.