A study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of self-persuasion to change attitudes about the homeless and to examine the contents and the accuracy of current stereotypes of this group. Participants wrote an essay about the plight of the homeless, an essay about an unrelated social topic, or no essay. Participants in the relevant-essay group subsequently had the most sympathetic attitudes toward the homeless . Stereotypes about the personal and the demographic characteristics of the homeless were not affected by this manipulation. Participants were less likely to attribute positive personality traits to the homeless than to people in general. Their judgments were highly variable, suggesting that the stereotype is not crystallized. Comparison between judgments and objective demographic data revealed modest stereotype accuracy.
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