Stereotypes about age and gender influence the topics we choose and the questions we ask. "In conversations, we subtly seek confirmation of our expectations about another person", says Beukeboom. "Furthermore, your conversation partner often tends to give affirming rather than contradicting answers. This can unconsciously lead stereotypical questions to prejudices and discrimination."
Participants in the study imagined they were having an introductory conversation, for which they evaluated or came up with various questions. They did this based on a photo of their conversation partner, either a man or a woman, young or old.
The experiments show that stereotypes about the conversation partner influence the questioning. Participants who empathized with a conversation with a young person more often asked questions about typically 'youthful' topics, such as gaming or pop music. If they thought about a conversation with an older person, they more often came up with questions about interests stereotypical for that age group, such as reading the newspaper or classical music.
Yoga, shopping, and Formula 1
The gender of the conversation partner also influenced the approach of the conversations. In conversations with a woman, participants found questions about assumed 'female' topics, such as shopping and yoga, appropriate. For conversations with a man, they were more likely to come up with questions about stereotypical 'male' topics, such as Formula 1 and DIY.
Our estimation of the other person not only determines the topics we address but also how we formulate the questions about them. Stereotypes lead to subtle variations in question formulation. For example, participants asked positively framed questions when they expected the other person to confirm their stereotype. For instance, men were asked 'Do you find Formula 1 interesting?' instead of 'Do you find Formula 1 boring?', and older individuals were asked 'Do you often listen to classical music?' instead of 'Do you ever listen to classical music?'
"In short, the questions we ask are often biased by stereotypes," says Beukeboom. "When we become aware of these biases in our language use, we can try to prevent them."