Stereotype Content Model

In social psychology, the stereotype content model, first proposed in 2002, is a model holding that group stereotypes and interpersonal impressions form along two dimensions, warmth and competence. The model rests on the idea that people are evolutionarily predisposed to first judge a stranger's intent to help or harm them, the warmth dimension, and then to judge that stranger's capacity to act on the intention they perceive, the competence dimension. Social groups and individuals seen as competing for resources with one's own group tend to be rated low on warmth, while those with high social status, such as economic or educational success, tend to be rated high on competence, so that a lack of perceived threat is what predicts a positive warmth evaluation.