Abstract: It is argued that people tend to make more inductive inference from behaviors to traits (induction) than deductive inferences from traits to behaviors(deduction). Maass named this phenomenon as Induction-Deduction Asymmetry (IDA) and testified this phenomenon in the western culture. Researches showed that stereotype moderate this phenomenon. Whether the behavioral information consistent with one’s stereotype or not influences people’s induction, not deduction. People make more induction for the information consistent with their stereotype. What is more, the mechanism of IDA differs in different cultures. There is no significant preference for one of the two inference process of induction and deduction among easterners. The article introduced IDA and generalized the underlying reasons of this phenomenon and the advancement of related researches.

Key words: induction, deduction, stereotype, Induction-Deduction Asymmetry, culture difference