... formed we have a mental list of there characteristics in which we expect them to behave, if they don't match up to our characteristic we tend to say they are an exception as it is easier to say they are one of a kind rather then change our perception. In addition to saving on cognitive effort, stereotype has an important role in the way individual interpret social information. Duncan (1976) showed white participants a video of two actors arguing leading to one actor shoving the second actor. When it was the black actor shoving the white actor the participants described his behaviour as a violent act. However when the white actor was seen shoving the black actor, the participant described his behaviour as playfulness. This shows that the participant had already formed stereotype of black people, that they are more prone to violence then white people. Allport (1958) developed the ...

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