Categorization alone cannot produce prejudice without cultural justification

Evidence

It was in chapter 12, entitled “Stereotypes in Our Culture,” that Allport famously proposed that the “rationalizing and justifying function of a stereotype exceeds its function as a reflector of group attributes” (1954/1979, p. 196). There were two major themes that Allport sought to develop and, to some degree, integrate in this chapter: (a) that categorization is a fundamental process that gives rise to stereotyping and prejudice; and (b) that the contents of stereotypes are, above all, culturally shared forms of justification that often turn out to be false. Putting these two points together, we see that categorization is a necessary but not sufficient cause of prejudicial attitudes. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1366

Categorization

• XREF: Corroborates the vault’s existing claim that stereotypes function as cultural justifications for inequality. — connects to: Classification and symbolization alone are harmless unless they escalate to dehumanization; Classification and symbolization alone do not cause genocide — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 11
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1366