RESEARCH METHODS FOR MEASURING STEREOTYPES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE APPROACHES

This article examines the diversity of the empirical methods for measuring stereo- types in social sciences. Two major viewpoints in social psychology are analyzed as means for investigating this social phenomenon: the collective and the individual approaches. The result of the comparison of these contrasting perspectives is the emergence of an eclectic ap- proach in studying social stereotypes. A new integrative approach is introduced as an attempt to broaden the understanding of the nature of stereotypes in the field of social psychology