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Forbidden and Unasked Questions about Stereotype Accuracy
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Description: In this paper, we argue that there are many unanswered questions crucial to scientific understanding about stereotypes and stereotype accuracy because they are forbidden. To ask these questions risks incurring a ire and backlash of moral outrage one’s colleagues in the social psychological community. In presenting these questions, we explain why each question is unasked or forbidden, and why nevertheless each question needs to be asked. We review the history of the first forbidden question in this area, “Are stereotypes inaccurate?” which went empirically unanswered for about 70 years after the initial social science interest in stereotypes. Current forbidden and unasked questions include: 1. When and how does relying on a stereotype increase the accuracy of person perception? 2. Why are some stereotypes more accurate than others 3. How accurate are implicit stereotypes? 4. Do people ever actually ignore individuating information?. In science there should be few, if any, forbidden questions, but only the most courageous psychologists may adopt this position and thereby investigate the forbidden. Alternatively, though it may sometimes distort investigations, political diplomacy and reframing controversial topics may be less blunt, help disarm moral outrage, and be a good first step forward. Empirically addressing these unasked questions is critical for advancing research in this domain in theoretically and practically important ways.