Individual and intergroup theories of prejudice may share underlying motivational mechanisms.

Evidence

It is interesting that the two dominant intergroup theories of prejudice, Realistic Conflict Theory and Social Identity Theory, suggest similar processes operating at the level of intergroup dynamics; the former sees prejudiced attitudes towards outgroups as being elicited by intergroup threat, whereas the latter sees intergroup attitudes as determined primarily by intergroup competitiveness over relative status and superiority. Both intergroup and individual-difference approaches may thus operate through the same motivational mechanisms, with one approach delineating the intergroup processes that activate these motives, and the other individual differences in proneness to their activation. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2492

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the RWA/SDO dual-process literature and a broader search for consilience between micro and macro explanations in social science. — connects to: Perceived competence in envied outgroups fuels resentment-driven prejudice rather than reducing it. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 302