Categorical treatment activates amygdala vigilance while individuation relaxes it

Evidence

When people treat the other person categorically on one dimension (age), the amygdala also responds categorically on other dimensions (race). But when people treat the other as a unique individual, the amygdala relaxes its vigilance. This exemplifies how new methods can revive old insights. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 352

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the individuation-versus-categorization theme in contact hypothesis and stereotype work in the reader’s social psychology corpus.