Contact benefits fail to generalize when outgroup members are seen as exceptions

Evidence

Nevertheless, as Allport recognized, one major reason why the positive benefits of intergroup contact may fail to generalize to the outgroup as a whole is that the specific outgroup members present are favorably regarded as exceptions and not necessarily typical of their group as a whole (see also Wilder, 1984). Allport (1954/1979) proposed: “When a fact can not fit into a mental field, the exception is acknowledged, but the field is hastily fenced in again” (p. 23). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 573

Categorization

• XREF: Directly anchored to existing vault claims on contact theory; Allport’s ‘exception fences the field in again’ is the canonical framing of the generalization problem.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 573