Folk devils? Perceived lack of traditional values explains youth-related stereotypes of sexual minorities and Black men

Sociologists have shown that young people are often rendered societal “folk devils”—portrayed as rejecting traditional values, and thus as a threat to the social order (Cohen, 1972/2011). We suspected that other social groups deemed socially threatening in the United States—namely gay people and Black men—would be ste- reotyped in a similar way as young people, and this shared stereotype content would be accounted for by a perceived lack of traditional values. Analyses of age-related stereotype content of various social groups, varying gender, sexual orientation (Studies 1–3), and race (Study 2–3) showed that the stereotype content of gay people and Black men shared significant overlap with stereotypical youngness compared to other targets. This was mediated by a perceived lack of traditional values for Black men and gay men, but not lesbian women.