Abstract
This study has two goals. Firstly, it offers a theory according to which towards the main functions of stereotypes pertain explanation and moral justification of the places different social categories occupy in social hierarchy.
The content of stereotypes is therefore a priori determined by the content of some moral norms. Attention was paid to the meritocratic norm.
Secondly, it informs about results of the research in which some hypotheses derived from the theory were tested. Two main hypotheses were derived and tested: (1) Respondents will infer abilities and industriousness of typical members of different social categories from status of the categories. (2) In the case of status inconsistency, abilities and industriousness which will be ascribed to members of a category will be in accordance with the prestige of the category, not with its wealth.
One sample of adult respondents (N=642) rated prestige and wealth of typical members of 65 different social categories. A different sample (N=269) rated their abilities and industriousness.
Respondents were from 196 different Czech cities and villages. The sample of categories consisted of clusters of 40 professional, 10 ethnic and 15 other categories.
Statistical analyses. The reliabilities of scales were assessed by the means of Intraclass Coefficients of Correlations (ICC), the hypotheses were tested by means of correlation analyses.
The results for all three clusters of categories are very similar and show that the higher the status of a category, the higher intelligence and industriousness ascribed to its members are (global r=0.798). The analyses of partial correlations furthermore show that abilities and industriousness correlate strongly and positively with prestige (pr=0.725), not with wealth (pr=-0.208) of categories.