Allport saw intergroup rejection as escalating from words to discrimination to physical attack

Evidence

Allport delineated three incremental stages of “rejecting” behaviors toward outgroups: verbal rejection (or “antilocution”), discrimination (including segregation), and physical attack (including lynching, riots, and genocide), arranged in a continuum of increasing severity and animosity but decreasing incidence. He argued that “people’s bark (antilocution) is often sharper than their bite (actual discrimination)” (Allport, 1954/1979, pp. 55–6), but each successive stage was dependent on the previous one for its genesis. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 642

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines antilocution and the three-stage escalation model that anchors Allport’s framework.