In general, the current view of stereotypes is that they are cognitive structures that contain a variety of associations with social groups. Although previous research has been limited to examining the impact of activated cognitive representation of social categories on responses targeted at social category members, recent research demonstrates that priming social categories can produce behaviors that are congruent with, but not targeted towards, the primed category (e.g., Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996). Importantly, these studies demonstrate that social category priming influences personal responses even when these responses are not directly aimed at the primed category. Six studies investigated the impact of social category priming on the self. Specifically, these studies examined how the simple presentation of negative and positive noningroup social categories influences a person's actions, attitudes, and self-concept. Together the results from these studies demonstrate that people assimilate their behaviors, attitudes, self-esteem, the traits they associate with themselves, and their self-perceptions to fit the activated category. The implications of these findings for our understanding of the self and intergroup relations will be discussed.