Agreeing with a prejudice’s underlying value can disarm the prejudiced person

Evidence

Our neighbor has been going on and on about how he thinks “the foreigners” are social parasites. At first I put up with it, for the sake of good neighborliness, until it was enough for me: “I agree with you that a functioning social system is important and good. That must suck when you get a cancer diagnosis and can’t afford the drugs. Imagine having to take on debt and think about whether it’s going to pay off every time you go through treatment.” He seemed surprised by this turn of events, and we were united in our horror at the idea. At his renewed reference to those he felt were abusing the system, I again agreed with him that people need to feel that equity prevails in the distribution of resources. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 411

Categorization

• XREF: Direct worked example of the tactic described abstractly in para 406; why both passages are strong together.