Illusory Correlation

Hamilton and Gifford

(1976)
Stereotype is a generalised belief about a
certain group of people. Sometimes this set of
beliefs is overgeneralised or applied to all
people of a certain group and the result is
prejudice and discrimination

Hamilton and Gifford (1976) created the original

experiment to illustrate the role of illusory
correlation in stereotype formation

Jay Jackson (2000) developed an in-class activity

based on the Hamilton and Gifford experiment

Lets start with an example

In Jay Jacksons first Impressions study, students
are asked to read a series of statements about
26 people identified as Alphas (the majority
group) and 13 people identified as Betas (the
minority group). The statements report either
something that is positive about the person or
something that is negative about the person

John visited a
friend in the
hospital.

Allen dented the

fender of a
parked car and
didnt leave his
name.

Bill is rarely late

for work.

Bob helped a
child.

Tom shared his

lunch with a coworker.

Scott cheated on
an exam.

Alan planted
seedlings in a
park.

Henry went out of

his way to return
a lost wallet to
the owner.

Nathan took
neighborhood
kids swimming.

John is considered
a very
dependable coworker.

Chad always talks

about himself and
his problems.

Josh finished his

homework on
time.

Lane is well-like
by his colleagues.

Davis read a
story to his
daughter.

Ron made prank

phone calls to his
teacher.

Bruce never
returns library
books on time.

Ken helped a lost

child in a
supermarket.

David converses
easily with people
he doesnt know
well.

Fred gave blood

to the Red Cross.

Alex kicked a
dog.

Devin donated his

clothes to charity.

Mark learned how

to fly an airplane.

Gary earned an
A on his
research paper.

Ted ran a red

light.

Jeff volunteered
to tutor needy
students.

Richard yelled at
a boy who
bumped into him.

Eric drove his

elderly neighbor
to the grocery
store.

Vincent forgot
about his job
interview.

Keith organized a
birthday party for
a friend.

Colin works out to

keep himself in
good shape.

Robert talks with

food in his mouth.

Scott received a
promotion at
work.

Norman often
tailgates when he
is driving

Eliot sings in the

church choir.

William rarely
washes his car.

Pete is recognized
as an excellent
musician.

Don took a hurt

stray dog to the
vet.

Roger repaired
his neighbors
lawnmower.

Craig helped a
friend move.

Question

Are the members of Alpha or Beta more likely to engage in negative behaviour?

Results of experiment

Reasonably large datasets have shown that Betas are falsely perceived as more likely to behave
negatively than Alphas
However, the proportion of positive (69%) and negative (31%) statements about Alphas and Betas
is the same.
Hence, objectively there is no reason to believe that Betas is more likely to engage in negative
behaviour than Alphas

Why might Betas be perceived to

be more negative?

The false perception occurs because there are twice as many Alphas than Betas
Memorability is particularly strong for events that are rare and when relatively rare events co-occur,
they tend to be remembered as co-occurring
Hence if people find rare events that co-occur to be more memorable than not-so-rare events, an
illusory correlation that Betas are more negative than Alphas would be established

This tendency has been dubbed the illusory correlation because it involves perceiving a
relation that does not exist or is weaker in reality than perceived
It partly explains the overestimation of the rate at which African Americans engage in criminal
activity (both are distinct or rare events)

A formal definition: Illusory

correlation

Illusory correlation is the phenomenon of perceiving a relationship between variables when no

such relationship exists
This is one way stereotypes form and endure
People form false associations between membership in a statistical minority group and rare
(typically negative) behaviours as variables that are salient tend to capture attention
E.g. A man has a mistaken belief that all people from Town C are very kind. When he meets a very
kind person, he immediately assumes this person is from Town C even though kindness is not
related to city population